Constitution Thursday

Getting started on Rutledge's' draft of the Constitution, some members noticed that there are some very odd things contained in the document. Rufus King of Massachusetts can keep quiet no longer. He has agreed to things so far because he believes that a strong central government must emerge from the Convention. But what he sees on paper now, is a nation divided by avarice and slavery. Either what Rutledge has written must change or the three-fifths must be eliminated. He won't say the word, but the room senses he means abolition. 

Gouverneur Morris has no such limits. He will rail once more, passionately and deeply about the evils and morality of slavery.

The Convention listens, then gets down to work. Realizing that the entire room is unwieldy and that the best and fastest work gets done in committee, they form several such groups, including, the committee on all the stuff we forgot or are too busy to work on...

As the Delegates return from their vacation, so does the summer heat. Sitting down to work, they begin to read and digest the draft that Rutledge of South Carolina has put together while they were gone.

There are many points of contention, but also many points of agreement.

One agreement is that they are moving too slowly and that the nation is growing impatient.

Despite the progress, there remains much to be done. James Madison feels that the work could take many more months. Washington and most of the other delegates know that they do not have that much time.

The first solution offered is to work longer days.

From 10am until 4pm with no changes to the schedule now allowed.

With the new plan in place, they take up the qualification for electors.

Should property ownership be considered? The draft of the Constitution says that it should not be considered, but some, like Gouverneur Morris, vehemently disagree.

After some "housekeeping" about what is going on with Dave, the discussion moves to the idea of who and what makes a "Hero?"

We begin with a picture of a Soldier in Vietnam. What can we glean from the picture? Is he a "War Hero?"

The ancient Greek ideals of heroes are useful, but they have been modified in the modern era with the addition of an element that the Greeks did not specifically consider. In modern interpretations "morality" has become as big an element as the Greek Element of facing mortality.

Dave shares four of his own personal "War Hero's," including his Grandfather and friend. A listener shares his story of how his Father became his hero.

We close with the death of the Solider in the picture and ask the question, is he a "War Hero?"

The small States have won their battle for Equal representation in what will become the Senate. The Slave States have held on to their three fifth's compromise. For now, the Convention will move another element of the plan, the Presidency.

Ideas of how he should be elected and for how long dominate the discussion. Throughout the discussion, one man cats his shadow over the debates.

Every man in the room knows that the first President under the proposed new government will be the Convention's leader, General George Washington.

To a man, they are happy to know this. What concerns them, and what the controls the debate, is a single question.

Who will be the second man to become President of The United States?

For some weeks, Gouverneur Morris of New York has been absent from the Convention. Now, at the lowest point of the proceedings, he arrives with a single purpose: to derail the 3/5th's compromise. The tensions rise as the Slave States begin to believe that there are those, "within or without doors" who mean to take their slaves away. This will never be acceptable to the Slave States, and indeed, there is at least one non-Slave State that admits that it feels the same way.

The debate boils down to one simple thing, do we unite with slavery, or do we dissolve without it? Morris will attempt to force the latter, but like all others before him, he will fail.

When the dust settles, the Connecticut Compromise passes, and the Convention begins to move forward again.

As tension rise, George Mason of Virginia is a man on the outside. everything he supports is being voted down and he has deep fears about where the convention is headed. As others walkout in protest and disgust, Mason decides that he cannot do that.

He makes a promise to the rest of the remaining delegates

As the Convention prepares to adjourn for the Independence Day holiday, there is a great deal of anger and frustration in the room. Luther Martin expresses it best when he says that the convention hangs by no more than the width of a human hair.

To move forward, a committee of Eleven is chosen to come up with a compromise plan to present after the break.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin will lead the committee, which - over the objections of Madison and Wilson - is stacked with small State supporters.

Can he get them to agree on a compromise that will please both the convention and the nation, which is waiting with great expectations to celebrate the new government and the Independence Day holiday?

The stage is set for the celebration, as Washington sits for a portrait and speeches extol the glory of Independence day. But the Delegates must surely be worried about letting everybody down if they fail...

Since June 11th, the Convention has been stuck on one question - will the representation in the proposed senate be equal (one state, one vote), or proportional?

But now, the debates are becoming personal. James Madison will stoop to personal insults. Gunning Bedford (Delaware) will threaten to seek a foreign alliance. And Luther Martin will annoy everybody with his three-hour screed about States Rights and his body odor.

Through it all, General Washington knows that those he believes to be demagogues are on the verge of destroying everything. 

When the dust settles on Monday, July 2, 1787, one more vote will be taken on the matter. This time, if the small States lose, the Convention will almost certainly break up. But how can they win? The numbers arrayed against them are too strong and too committed to the big State ideal of proportional representation. 

There is not even a prayer that they can prevail, or at least... not lose again. There doesn't seem to be any chance of saving the convention or avoiding the feared destruction of The United States of America. 

With the clock ticking to the Independence Day celebrations, Ben Franklin will remind the delegates, that if He cares about the sparrow, that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel..."

Two days after the Committee of the Whole accepts the 3/5th's Compromise and adds another four resolutions to the Virginian's Plan, it is now clear that the Virginian's mean to abolish the Articles of Confederation and establish a new government based on the principles of liberty and freedom. This presents a difficult moral challenge to them as a group and represents the apex of their ideas presented at the Convention.

New Jersey steps up with an alternate plan, which, like the Virginia Plan promises to fix and improve the Articles of Confederation, but unlike the Virginia Plan, actually does. Now comes the moment that the two plans are laid before the Convention, debated, and it is decided to pursue one and abandon the other. But which plan will go forward?

As the Convention prepares to call for the vote, one ma, New Yorker, Alexander Hamilton, stands to have his say. He will speak for the entire day, and he will come to rue this day...

NOTE: At one point Dave refers to Hamilton being on the $20 Bill. Obviously he meant the $10 Bill...

The Virginian's introduce their plan for a new National Government, which officially shocks the Convention since they believed (officially) that they were there only to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation. 

The Convention adjourns to the Committee of the Whole - which is the same people, in the same room with the same purpose as the Convention but without General Washington sitting on the dais. So who is in charge of the discussion and debates that will begin with the Virginia Plan and end up with what we know so well as our Government?

He was the 14th President of the United States, and he died in disgrace and failure. But for the moment, he is the man who is so well respected that he is chosen to lead the Committee of the Whole in its important work. His name is Nathaniel Gorham.

He will control the discussions of The Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan (and eventually the Connecticut Compromise) in the first days of the Convention.