WEBVTT

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Prof: Before we begin,
I have to make a true

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confession to you,
my class, because you're my

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class, and I have been
confessing things all semester

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but this is--
I basically set myself up for

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this failure and then realized--
at the end of the class someone

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came up to me and asked me a
question,

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and then I realized--Gaa! Okay.

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So remember how I told you how
at UVA for five straight years I

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forgot Thomas Jefferson's
birthday, even though everything

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closed?

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Yeah.

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Guess what I didn't say on
Tuesday?

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I forgot it was Thomas
Jefferson's birthday.

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[laughter] I completely forgot.

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Someone came up at the end and
said,

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"Well, in honor of
Jefferson's birthday we did the

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following"--
and I was like [laughs].

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So it's good to know that I'm
really consistently a horrible

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UVA grad [laughter]
who always forgets Thomas

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Jefferson's birthday.

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It must be a Hamiltonian mental
block [laughter]

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that I--it is not possible for
me to keep that date in my head.

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Anyway, I at least wanted to
say, happy birthday,

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Thomas Jefferson.

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So now, officially,
I'm a little late,

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but he'll get over it--so
anyway [laughter]

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I've confessed to you.

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I feel much better now.

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Okay.

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So today we turn to the
Constitution.

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In the last few lectures and in
today's lecture basically we've

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been looking at the new nation
figure out its shape and form,

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right?--what kind of a nation
is this going to be.

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As people were discovering
throughout the 1780s,

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it was one thing to protest
against things that you didn't

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like in a government,
as the Americans had during the

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Revolution.

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It was quite another thing to
come up with an alternative,

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to come up with something
better and then to get others to

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agree.

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Today's lecture,
I'm sorry--Tuesday's lecture

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discussed part of this process
of figuring out the shape and

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form of the new nation.

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So we looked at the Mount
Vernon Conference,

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we looked at the Annapolis
Convention,

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and we--in doing that,
we're looking at a gradual

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process that was unfolding one
step at a time with no

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inevitable outcome.

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So basically,
what we saw on Tuesday was how

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the Americans were basically
backing their way into what

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would become the Constitutional
Convention.

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So it's not as though everyone
said, "Hey,

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we need a new constitution and
it's got to be stronger.

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Let's go." Right?

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They're--It's a process at
which people are really figuring

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things out as they go.

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And today I want to stress that
same message:

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that the Constitution was not
inevitable.

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And I know that's obvious on
the one hand,

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but on the other hand,
it's so ingrained in us,

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I think, to think that it's a
great idea that of course would

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happen sooner or later,
that I feel the need at the

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outset of the lecture to say
this,

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that obviously it was not
inevitable.

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We think to ourselves:
well, of course the

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Articles--what a goofy
government the Articles of

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Confederation was;
of course they've got to come

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up with something better;
of course it's going to be

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stronger;
of course it's going to end up

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looking like our Constitution.

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And obviously the problem with
that whole river of "of

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courses"
is that if you travel down that

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stream you miss one of the most
important aspects of the process

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of creating the Constitution,
and that is that it was a

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process, that it was a debate.

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It was a national debate during
which people really seriously

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considered what they were doing,
what the implications were of

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what they were doing,
and they did not all agree on

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what was a good or bad idea.

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So the process,
the fact that there actually

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was a debate,
is significant.

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And it's not a process that was
entirely disconnected from the

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Revolution.

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The things that Americans had
been yelling about during the

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Revolution--right?--they talked
in a variety of different ways

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about liberties;
they talked in a variety of

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different ways about
rights--that wasn't just

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rhetoric.

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People were truly arguing about
and defending specific

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fundamental rights and
privileges that they felt they

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deserved as British subjects,
and of course the end result

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about that fight was the
Revolution.

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So now we're years later,
and we're looking at arguments

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over a new form of government,
and some of these same things

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are being yelled about.

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So, as you're going to see in
the course of today's lecture,

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in one way or another people
are still fretting about sort of

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what they consider to be
fundamental liberties,

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basic rights.

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People considered these things
to be the legacy of the

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Revolution and they didn't want
to give them away before they'd

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even really begun to enjoy them.

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So think back for a
minute--many moons ago;

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it's so long ago in the
semester--but think back to when

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we were talking about the vote
for independence,

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and I mentioned Pauline Maier's
book.

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And I talked about how in her
book she has a chapter in which

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she talks about the other
declarations of independence,

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and she really shows how on a
local level people were getting

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together and debating as groups
in towns,

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in counties:
what do you think about

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independence and should we
actually support this?--

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that that was actually a real
debate.

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And what I'm talking about
here, what I will be talking

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about over the course of this
lecture,

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it's a similar process of
debate in which people

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throughout the country were
really trying to figure

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something out.

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They knew it was a major
decision.

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They were hoping whatever was
going to happen was going to be

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a smart decision,
but it's an actual debate.

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And along these lines,
as you'll see by the end of

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today's lecture,
this is not the kind of lecture

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in which I'm going to give you
this deep textual analysis of

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the Constitution.

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Basically, I've got this
lecture and a little bit of the

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next lecture to talk about the
Constitution.

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I'm sure the Founders are
spinning in their graves like:

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"what,
forty-five minutes to give to

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the Constitution?"--
but that's where we are in the

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semester.

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Given that I only have that
amount of time,

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what I really want to focus on
is the process of creating the

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Constitution,
and in doing that I'm also

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going to talk about a handful of
ongoing controversies that we

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have seen before during the
Revolution in an earlier part of

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this course,
and we're going to see them

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again toward the end of this
lecture when we focus on some of

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the main areas that became
controversies for the

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Constitutional Convention.

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Now I think in the same way
that we have all these "of

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courses"--
of course we know what's going

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to happen,
it's the Constitution--I think

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it's also easy for us to walk
down the "of course"

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trail when we think about
nationalists like James Madison

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or Alexander Hamilton.

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On some sort of basic level,
we assume well,

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they're right,
right?

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They're the smart guys;
they're right,

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and anyone who is against them
is sort of a shortsighted,

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limited-minded person who
clearly isn't thinking on a

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broad, smart level.

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Right?

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I think almost instinctively
because we think what we think

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about our Constitution,
we think that way about whoever

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supported it or did not.

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Now certainly,
these nationalists felt like

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they were vindicating the
Revolution, right?

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So if you'd asked them,
they would have told you that

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they felt they were preserving
the achievements of the

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Revolution;
they were fending off chaos and

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a variety of other things that
would defeat what had been won

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in the Revolution.

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And from our vantage point,
we can look back,

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we see that,
and that makes sense,

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but this wasn't the only
argument that was circulating at

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the time.

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So even before the
Constitutional Convention met,

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people had valid fears about
what might result from it,

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and they were fears that were
strong enough that some people

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didn't even think their states
should participate in the

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Convention.

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Never mind arguing about
ratification.

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I'm backing us way up.

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There were many people who just
thought: 'I don't want to--I

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don't think our state should
participate in this whole idea

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of revising the government.'

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In some way or another,
some people feared that

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strengthening the national
government was a kind of

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counterattack against everything
that the Revolution had meant.

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And I want to give you a sense
of the flavor of this debate,

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this actually sort of
pre-Convention debate in which

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the states are figuring out what
to do,

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and I'm going local again.

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Right?

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I sort of--To give you a sense
of on-the-ground reality during

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the Revolution,
I went local when I talked

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about the invasion of New Haven.

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So for just a couple minutes
here I want to go local again

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and just give you a flavor of
the debate that was going on

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here in Connecticut after the
Confederation Congress had

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passed a resolution saying:
okay,

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we think that the states should
select delegates to send them to

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this Convention that's going to
happen to revise the articles.

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Right?

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They're not saying,
'Go destroy the Articles'--but

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they are saying,
'Okay.

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Revising the Articles might be
okay'--and once the

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Confederation Congress makes
that resolution,

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the states now debate what to
do.

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So on May 12,1787,
the Connecticut legislature

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began debating whether
Connecticut should send

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delegates to this proposed
Convention to meet in

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Philadelphia that was coming up
in a couple of--

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was coming up very soon as a
matter of fact.

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Now most newspapers that
reported on what happened

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explicitly mentioned four
members of the Connecticut House

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who came forward and declared
that they were opposed to

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sending delegates to the
Convention.

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All of these men were from
small towns near the

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Massachusetts border.

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And all of them in one way or
another warned that sending a

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delegate to this Convention
would endanger the liberties and

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privileges of Americans.

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So Elijah Fitch--I love the
fact that their names are

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preserved--
Elijah Fitch said the

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Convention might end up
abridging the people's

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privileges by creating some kind
of a big,

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unjust, centralized government
that just wouldn't consider the

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individual person at all.

09:50.149 --> 09:54.149
Daniel Perkins said that the
men who probably would be named

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as delegates to this supposed
Convention would probably be a

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bunch of rich,
aristocratic-type men who

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wouldn't understand or care
about the problems of the

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average person in Connecticut,
never mind the poor of

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Connecticut.

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So Perkins thought,
whatever comes out of this

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Convention is bound to just ruin
the poor;

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it's going to be some weird,
aristocratic decision.

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Hosea Humphrey said that the
Convention would probably

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somehow or other take away the
rights of Connecticut to protest

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against things,
to veto things;

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somehow or other it's going to
be more centralized,

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so Connecticut is going to lose
power in this equation.

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And the fourth representative,
named Abraham Granger,

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was particularly
straightforward.

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He said, he knew that his
constituents didn't want

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delegates to be sent to this
Convention and he represented

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them, so first of all,
there it was.

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He had no choice;
he had to just do what they

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wanted him to do and say,
'No, we should not send

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delegates to the Convention,'
but he added,

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he agreed with them.

10:53.710 --> 10:56.290
He actually thought that this
Convention was a bad idea,

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and he stated specifically,
the reason why he didn't like

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the whole idea of a Convention
was probably it would end up

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creating a monarchy,
and then we'd be right back to

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where we were before.

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So all of these men,
either directly or by

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implication,
clearly they're rejecting the

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idea that the Union or
Connecticut is in such horrible

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shape that something must be
done;

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we need a new government.

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They're not traveling down that
trail.

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Granger actually in the course
of his remarks explicitly said

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that the Confederation Congress
had plenty of power;

11:29.028 --> 11:32.348
the Articles of Confederation
joined with Connecticut's own

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constitution would be just fine
for the people of Connecticut.

11:36.019 --> 11:39.929
Implied in some of the comments
of what these men said is the

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idea that anything could happen
at this Convention,

11:43.450 --> 11:45.220
and obviously that's something
I've talked about before in this

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course as well,
but you can hear it underlying

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a lot of their comments.

11:49.100 --> 11:52.140
Who knows what's going to come
out of this Convention?

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Anything could happen and odds
are whatever happens,

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some fundamental American
privileges and rights are going

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to be taken away,
potentially by a bunch of

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wealthy, aristocratic guys who
are going to be the ones

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standing in that room in
Philadelphia debating.

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So they're basically imagining
the Convention's going to be a

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bunch of aristocrats who are
going to subvert a popular

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revolution and maybe even just
toss the new country right back

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into a monarchical form of
government.

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So those are the four people
who at least the newspapers

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noted as really standing forth
against the Convention.

12:26.668 --> 12:29.848
Now of course,
the newspapers also reported on

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nine men who spoke in favor of
attending the Convention.

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All of them were from
commercial areas.

12:37.428 --> 12:39.408
They all argued,
as you would expect them to

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argue,
that the well-being of the

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Union and the well-being of the
state of Connecticut really,

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really required a stronger
central government.

12:46.899 --> 12:50.749
One of these nine even brought
up an embarrassing example of

12:50.750 --> 12:54.600
how powerless the Congress was
that involved Connecticut.

12:54.600 --> 12:57.210
He said, 'You know,
recently, the Confederation

12:57.206 --> 12:59.956
Congress asked the states,
including Connecticut,

12:59.964 --> 13:01.894
that they requisition money
from us,

13:01.889 --> 13:04.549
and we just decided we didn't
feel like giving them any,

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and they couldn't do anything.

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Remember?

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[laughs]
They asked us for something and

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we said no and that was the end
of that.

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Remember, guys?

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Oh, that's like a sign;
they don't have power because

13:18.293 --> 13:21.523
we watched them not have power
when we just said no.'

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And he--this one delegate went
on to say, 'Well,

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what about--Think about it.

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That's not even a problem.

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What about problems to come?

13:27.690 --> 13:30.370
What if the Union begins to
disintegrate?

13:30.370 --> 13:33.160
What if the Union is invaded?

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What would the Confederation
Congress be able to do about

13:37.388 --> 13:39.048
problems like that?'

13:39.048 --> 13:41.798
So obviously in the end,
it's that kind of an argument

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that wins out and Connecticut
voted to send delegates to the

13:44.868 --> 13:47.528
Convention,
but obviously also not without

13:47.525 --> 13:48.435
a real debate.

13:48.440 --> 13:53.550
So even participating in the
Convention was a big deal that

13:53.549 --> 13:58.219
required serious debate,
and we haven't even gotten to

13:58.219 --> 14:00.069
ratification yet.

14:00.070 --> 14:03.040
As a matter of fact,
it was such a big deal that one

14:03.043 --> 14:04.583
state,
the state of Rhode

14:04.578 --> 14:07.608
Island--Rhode Island is
consistent throughout my entire

14:07.609 --> 14:09.829
class--
Rhode Island decided not to

14:09.827 --> 14:10.317
attend.

14:10.320 --> 14:13.510
They actually just decided:
no, we're not participating,

14:13.505 --> 14:14.545
we're not going.

14:14.548 --> 14:17.518
So there were actually only
twelve states represented at the

14:17.519 --> 14:18.929
Constitutional Convention.

14:18.929 --> 14:21.709
Rhode Island was a holdout.

14:21.710 --> 14:26.050
So clearly, so serious that one
state is just not there.

14:26.048 --> 14:28.258
So ultimately twelve states
sent delegates to the Federal

14:28.256 --> 14:28.766
Convention.

14:28.769 --> 14:31.389
And I should add here,
just to not confuse you,

14:31.389 --> 14:33.979
sometimes I know I'm saying
Federal Convention and sometimes

14:33.976 --> 14:35.726
I'm saying Constitutional
Convention,

14:35.730 --> 14:37.770
and they're two ways of
referring to the same thing.

14:37.769 --> 14:40.169
Some historians say Federal
Convention because if you think

14:40.172 --> 14:41.822
about it,
every state could have a

14:41.815 --> 14:44.675
constitutional convention but
there can actually be maybe,

14:44.678 --> 14:47.828
hopefully one Federal
Convention, but you can use

14:47.827 --> 14:48.677
either one.

14:48.678 --> 14:50.938
You have my full permission to
call it either the

14:50.942 --> 14:53.492
Constitutional Convention or the
Federal Convention.

14:53.490 --> 14:55.890
So twelve states sent delegates
to the Federal Convention.

14:55.889 --> 14:59.729
It met between May and
September of 1787.

14:59.730 --> 15:02.950
Rhode Island obviously,
as I said, was not there.

15:02.950 --> 15:07.800
From those twelve states,
fifty-five delegates attended

15:07.802 --> 15:09.962
the Convention in all.

15:09.960 --> 15:12.240
And I suppose,
as you might expect,

15:12.235 --> 15:14.775
overall they were well-educated
men.

15:14.778 --> 15:16.988
A lot of them were trained as
lawyers.

15:16.990 --> 15:20.100
A lot of them had experience
working in their state

15:20.099 --> 15:20.969
governments.

15:20.970 --> 15:24.520
A good number of them had
experience serving in either the

15:24.522 --> 15:27.952
Continental Congresses or the
Confederation Congress.

15:27.950 --> 15:30.550
Now that said,
this doesn't mean that these

15:30.551 --> 15:33.771
were sort of professional
politicians sitting down to

15:33.770 --> 15:35.320
write a constitution.

15:35.320 --> 15:38.890
It's not as though they've
prepared their lives for this

15:38.894 --> 15:39.484
moment.

15:39.480 --> 15:42.390
They're people who've been
involved in public life but they

15:42.386 --> 15:45.596
certainly have not been training
to sit down and create an entire

15:45.595 --> 15:47.495
constitution for a whole
country,

15:47.500 --> 15:50.140
so despite that experience,
which I'm sure served them

15:50.140 --> 15:52.970
well,
it does not suggest that they

15:52.971 --> 15:55.571
actually are just ready to go.

15:55.570 --> 15:57.080
They're not entirely sure
what's going to happen.

15:57.080 --> 16:01.500
Now in some ways,
these delegates were kind of a

16:01.500 --> 16:05.730
self-selecting group,
because people who were really

16:05.734 --> 16:09.294
dead set against the idea of
strengthening the national

16:09.288 --> 16:13.038
government basically just didn't
go to the Convention.

16:13.038 --> 16:16.598
The problem with that strategy
is--on the part of certainly the

16:16.599 --> 16:19.009
people who didn't like this
whole idea--

16:19.009 --> 16:22.459
by not being there,
they made it easy to achieve a

16:22.460 --> 16:26.540
consensus among the people who
were there who were a little

16:26.543 --> 16:29.853
more comfortable with
strengthening the national

16:29.852 --> 16:31.052
government.

16:31.048 --> 16:33.578
Most of the people who were
there in one way or another

16:33.578 --> 16:35.638
ended up being nationalists in
some form,

16:35.639 --> 16:37.939
and by nationalists I actually
don't just mean the James

16:37.943 --> 16:38.953
Madisons of the world.

16:38.950 --> 16:41.710
There's a pretty wide spectrum
of people thinking about the

16:41.706 --> 16:44.216
fact that the national
government needs to be stronger

16:44.224 --> 16:47.024
and some of them,
Hamilton, Madison,

16:47.017 --> 16:51.057
extremo nationalists,
others not so much--there's a

16:51.061 --> 16:53.811
pretty wide range--
and there were some people at

16:53.807 --> 16:56.957
the Convention who weren't even
necessarily comfortable with a

16:56.961 --> 16:59.651
great amount of increased
strength and did not end up

16:59.649 --> 17:01.199
signing the Constitution.

17:01.200 --> 17:03.860
So I'm not saying everyone
there is a firm nationalist.

17:03.860 --> 17:06.540
But the really firm,
I suppose you'd call them at

17:06.540 --> 17:09.950
this moment anti-nationalists,
didn't go for the most part.

17:09.950 --> 17:14.220
So since they were not there,
it meant that there was a

17:14.220 --> 17:18.330
certain sort of fundamental
level of agreement at the

17:18.333 --> 17:19.523
Convention.

17:19.519 --> 17:23.529
Now two of the delegates there
were particularly well known,

17:23.528 --> 17:27.068
and to people who were
wondering what the heck was

17:27.074 --> 17:31.074
going on in Philadelphia,
the presence of these two men

17:31.074 --> 17:32.644
made a big difference.

17:32.640 --> 17:34.270
George Washington.

17:34.269 --> 17:35.369
George Washington was there.

17:35.368 --> 17:38.288
George Washington ended up
presiding over the Convention,

17:38.288 --> 17:40.738
which ended up being a pretty
important move.

17:40.740 --> 17:43.990
I've already talked in past
lectures about how he gained the

17:43.991 --> 17:47.081
trust of everybody by
continually surrendering power,

17:47.078 --> 17:49.688
so he's already a legend in his
time,

17:49.690 --> 17:52.880
but also he's a trusted leader.

17:52.880 --> 17:56.090
So certainly having him there
gave a certain status to

17:56.093 --> 17:58.943
whatever was going on,
meant that it was important,

17:58.935 --> 18:01.445
and meant that it was something
that was being treated

18:01.446 --> 18:04.146
responsibly because George
Washington had invested it with

18:04.146 --> 18:04.996
his presence.

18:05.000 --> 18:08.550
Benjamin Franklin also attended.

18:08.548 --> 18:12.358
Again he's another man in this
period that--an American who had

18:12.364 --> 18:14.214
an international reputation.

18:14.210 --> 18:16.310
I've talked a little bit about
him as well,

18:16.308 --> 18:18.878
and like Washington his
presence there suggested that

18:18.878 --> 18:21.348
whatever the heck was going on
in Philadelphia,

18:21.348 --> 18:23.658
it was important and it had
some major support.

18:23.660 --> 18:26.510
The fact that these two men
were there was significant.

18:26.509 --> 18:28.569
This is not the reason why he
was there,

18:28.568 --> 18:32.428
but I also am always happy when
anyone is anywhere who has a

18:32.431 --> 18:34.461
sense of humor,
so Franklin had one,

18:34.461 --> 18:37.011
and it's always good to have
the guy with a sense of humor at

18:37.013 --> 18:39.613
any large meeting of men who
have important things to say.

18:39.608 --> 18:42.218
So for that reason I personally
am happy that Benjamin Franklin

18:42.223 --> 18:42.733
was there.

18:42.730 --> 18:47.070
Now as I suggested on Tuesday,
Madison also played a major

18:47.069 --> 18:49.689
role,
and I talked at the end of

18:49.689 --> 18:54.089
Tuesday's lecture about his
amazing notes that he recorded

18:54.093 --> 18:57.033
partly thinking ahead to
posterity.

18:57.029 --> 19:00.879
His notes ended up being even
more significant because it was

19:00.875 --> 19:04.525
agreed at the start of the
Convention that its proceedings

19:04.529 --> 19:06.709
would be kept entirely secret.

19:06.710 --> 19:09.880
The logic of that being that if
it was really,

19:09.875 --> 19:14.025
really kept entirely secret,
the people who were there would

19:14.025 --> 19:16.975
feel free to really speak their
minds.

19:16.980 --> 19:20.580
They really wanted an open,
full, honest debate,

19:20.578 --> 19:23.678
so if people there really
believed that the public would

19:23.682 --> 19:26.842
not know what they were saying,
someone for example might feel

19:26.836 --> 19:28.956
free to stand up and say,
'I personally would like a

19:28.961 --> 19:29.391
monarchy.'

19:29.390 --> 19:29.570
Right?

19:29.567 --> 19:30.877
If people thought the public
was watching,

19:30.880 --> 19:33.270
no one's going to utter the
"m"-word at the

19:33.273 --> 19:36.713
Constitutional Convention,
but if it's really secret,

19:36.705 --> 19:41.375
the idea was it would allow for
much more open and free and

19:41.382 --> 19:43.722
potentially useful debate.

19:43.720 --> 19:47.010
And there's actually--I can't
resist.

19:47.009 --> 19:49.699
There's actually a story about
the secrecy of the Federal

19:49.702 --> 19:52.542
Convention which I will offer
you because it's also a George

19:52.539 --> 19:54.559
Washington--
yet another George Washington

19:54.557 --> 19:54.857
story.

19:54.859 --> 19:56.269
I can't resist it.

19:56.269 --> 19:59.549
And it's actually--it really is
a way of showing how important

19:59.549 --> 20:02.349
people at the time considered
the idea of keeping the

20:02.346 --> 20:03.526
Convention secret.

20:03.528 --> 20:06.728
And it's from the notes of a
delegate who was there at the

20:06.734 --> 20:09.214
convention and his name is
William Pierce.

20:09.210 --> 20:14.020
And supposedly at some point in
the Convention,

20:14.019 --> 20:17.499
somebody found a page of notes
about the proceedings on the

20:17.500 --> 20:20.680
floor of the state house and
brought this up to George

20:20.680 --> 20:23.880
Washington and said,
"Somebody lost these."

20:23.880 --> 20:24.280
Okay.

20:24.280 --> 20:28.780
So Washington takes the lost
notes and at the end of that

20:28.782 --> 20:32.242
day's session he stands up and
he says,

20:32.240 --> 20:35.170
"Before we adjourn--"
I'll read his precise words:

20:35.170 --> 20:38.150
"Gentlemen,
I am sorry to find that some

20:38.150 --> 20:42.420
one Member of this Body has been
so neglectful of the secrets of

20:42.416 --> 20:46.406
the Convention as to drop in the
State House a copy of their

20:46.413 --> 20:49.863
proceedings,
which by accident was picked up

20:49.859 --> 20:52.229
and delivered to me this
Morning.

20:52.230 --> 20:55.400
I must entreat Gentlemen to be
more careful,

20:55.403 --> 20:59.763
lest our premature speculations
disturb the public repose by

20:59.758 --> 21:02.118
getting into the newspapers.

21:02.118 --> 21:04.418
I know not whose paper it
is,"

21:04.420 --> 21:07.300
and then he said "but
there it is,"

21:07.304 --> 21:10.914
and he sort of threw it down on
the table and added,

21:10.910 --> 21:13.970
"Let him who owns it take
it."

21:13.970 --> 21:17.310
And according to Pierce,
he bowed, picked up his hat and

21:17.307 --> 21:20.037
left the room,
quote, "with a dignity so

21:20.038 --> 21:22.698
severe that every Person seemed
alarmed."

21:22.700 --> 21:25.210
Okay, the power of George.

21:25.210 --> 21:25.530
Right?

21:25.527 --> 21:28.337
He just sort of threw his
weight around and everyone's

21:28.335 --> 21:29.125
like: uh oh.

21:29.130 --> 21:31.200
So Pierce writes that
immediately everyone started

21:31.198 --> 21:33.688
checking their pockets and their
notes, like: 'I really hope

21:33.690 --> 21:36.720
those are not my notes;
please don't be my notes.'

21:36.720 --> 21:40.430
Pierce says to his horror he
discovered that his were lost,

21:40.430 --> 21:42.800
so he kind of goes up to the
front of the room,

21:42.798 --> 21:45.988
and he kind of peeks at the
notes and he's really relieved

21:45.994 --> 21:47.794
to discover: they're not mine.

21:47.788 --> 21:48.028
Okay.

21:48.027 --> 21:49.737
That means that his notes are
lost;

21:49.740 --> 21:52.240
[laughter]
that means two people's notes

21:52.242 --> 21:52.952
are lost.

21:52.950 --> 21:56.270
And Pierce then later says that
he remembered,

21:56.269 --> 21:59.929
oh, yeah, I left them in my
coat pocket in the boarding

21:59.930 --> 22:03.570
house where I'm staying--
and he found them and got them

22:03.573 --> 22:05.693
and hopefully everything was
okay.

22:05.690 --> 22:08.450
But I love the fact that he's
really relieved like:

22:08.452 --> 22:10.832
oh, good, at least those aren't
my notes;

22:10.828 --> 22:13.248
they're someone else's really
lost notes.

22:13.250 --> 22:16.400
And according to Pierce,
Washington's reprimand was so

22:16.395 --> 22:19.835
off-putting that nobody ever
claimed the piece of paper.

22:19.838 --> 22:22.038
[laughter]
It will just stay there,

22:22.035 --> 22:24.355
[laughs]
the scary piece of paper.

22:24.358 --> 22:28.228
So obviously Madison's notes
are important also partly

22:28.231 --> 22:31.971
because this was very secret,
but of course,

22:31.971 --> 22:37.081
as I hinted at the very end of
Tuesday's lecture,

22:37.078 --> 22:39.598
what's particularly significant
about Madison's role in the

22:39.597 --> 22:41.987
Convention is his creation of a
plan of government which

22:41.986 --> 22:43.936
ultimately is known as the
Virginia Plan.

22:43.940 --> 22:48.170
Madison arrived at the
Convention with a plan of

22:48.170 --> 22:52.400
government in hand,
so in a sense he immediately

22:52.400 --> 22:54.920
set the terms of debate.

22:54.920 --> 22:58.110
It was a really strategic
move--and I'll add at this point

22:58.112 --> 23:01.472
that when you go off in to the
future and have wonderful jobs

23:01.471 --> 23:04.831
that in one way or another will
require you to have committee

23:04.832 --> 23:07.732
meetings of various sorts,
the little lesson,

23:07.732 --> 23:11.012
the life lesson that James
Madison teaches us here is,

23:11.009 --> 23:13.129
if you set the agenda of the
meeting,

23:13.130 --> 23:16.940
you set the terms of debate and
you make it much more likely

23:16.941 --> 23:17.911
that you win.

23:17.910 --> 23:18.210
Right?

23:18.210 --> 23:21.170
So remember James Madison down
the road in your professional

23:21.167 --> 23:21.617
lives.

23:21.618 --> 23:24.408
He really does something very
brilliant strategically by

23:24.413 --> 23:27.263
walking in and regardless of
what is going to happen--

23:27.259 --> 23:28.319
he doesn't know what's going to
happen,

23:28.318 --> 23:32.688
but he literally at least
started out by setting the terms

23:32.690 --> 23:33.610
of debate.

23:33.608 --> 23:35.808
Now he may have devised this
plan of government,

23:35.808 --> 23:39.758
but given that people already
knew he was sort of an extreme

23:39.756 --> 23:43.426
nationalist,
he wisely decided he would not

23:43.433 --> 23:47.093
stand up and present this plan
himself,

23:47.088 --> 23:49.578
thinking--and probably rightly
so--that if he stood up and made

23:49.577 --> 23:51.607
a recommendation,
some people would immediately

23:51.605 --> 23:54.305
distrust it as coming from some
kind of an extreme nationalist.

23:54.308 --> 23:58.298
So instead, he asked fellow
Virginia delegate Edmund

23:58.301 --> 24:00.731
Randolph to present the plan.

24:00.730 --> 24:03.790
And Randolph was popular and
Randolph was influential and

24:03.787 --> 24:07.227
unlike Madison Randolph was also
a good public speaker so it was

24:07.227 --> 24:08.207
a wise choice.

24:08.210 --> 24:11.570
So on May 29,
just a few days after the

24:11.571 --> 24:15.391
Convention opened,
Randolph stood up and very

24:15.392 --> 24:19.922
diplomatically and very gently
opened the subject of altering

24:19.919 --> 24:22.409
the Articles of Confederation.

24:22.410 --> 24:26.120
Though, as you're about to see,
what he ends up suggesting is

24:26.118 --> 24:27.848
not altering the Articles.

24:27.848 --> 24:31.198
So first he reviewed the
weaknesses of the Articles,

24:31.200 --> 24:35.810
and then he proposed a series
of resolutions,

24:35.808 --> 24:39.328
the first one intended to just
calm the nervous down and sort

24:39.328 --> 24:42.258
of put people off guard:
nothing scary is happening

24:42.261 --> 24:42.791
here.

24:42.788 --> 24:44.758
So he first says,
"Resolved,

24:44.759 --> 24:47.969
that the Articles of
Confederation ought to be so

24:47.970 --> 24:51.920
corrected and enlarged as to
accomplish the objects proposed

24:51.916 --> 24:55.316
by their institution;
namely common defense,

24:55.320 --> 24:59.100
security of liberty,
and general welfare."

24:59.098 --> 25:03.658
So Randolph there says he's
proposing to correct and enlarge

25:03.660 --> 25:04.820
the Articles.

25:04.818 --> 25:09.158
What followed that statement
was a rather radical plan of

25:09.163 --> 25:13.433
government that was not a
correction of the Articles.

25:13.430 --> 25:17.520
Instead it pretty much proposed
to demolish the Articles and

25:17.523 --> 25:21.693
create in their place a strong
national government that would

25:21.686 --> 25:24.876
be grounded not on the
individual states,

25:24.880 --> 25:27.940
but instead on the people
themselves.

25:27.940 --> 25:31.940
This plan of government--the
Virginia Plan is ultimately what

25:31.942 --> 25:36.012
it's called--proposed that the
new government would have three

25:36.011 --> 25:36.881
branches.

25:36.880 --> 25:41.330
The first would be a bicameral
legislature.

25:41.328 --> 25:44.308
The lower house would be
elected by the people.

25:44.308 --> 25:48.078
The upper house would be
selected by the lower house from

25:48.078 --> 25:50.838
candidates named by state
legislatures.

25:50.838 --> 25:54.818
The legislature would have the
power to nullify any state law

25:54.824 --> 25:59.684
contrary to the Constitution,
and representation--as I

25:59.675 --> 26:02.745
mentioned--
in the lower house is based on

26:02.753 --> 26:03.443
population.

26:03.440 --> 26:08.740
The second branch was the
national executive.

26:08.740 --> 26:12.290
In the Virginia Plan,
the executive would have a

26:12.286 --> 26:15.226
qualified veto over acts of
Congress.

26:15.230 --> 26:19.340
The plan didn't specify whether
the executive would be a single

26:19.335 --> 26:21.185
individual or a committee.

26:21.190 --> 26:22.670
People talked about both.

26:22.670 --> 26:25.980
The term of office wasn't
specified either.

26:25.980 --> 26:29.130
And then obviously,
the third branch was the

26:29.134 --> 26:32.624
national judiciary,
which would consist of one or

26:32.623 --> 26:35.663
more supreme judges and some
inferior courts,

26:35.660 --> 26:39.280
to be chosen by the national
legislature to hold office

26:39.278 --> 26:40.818
during good behavior.

26:40.818 --> 26:43.788
So I'll repeat that:
Bicameral legislature;

26:43.788 --> 26:45.638
lower house elected by the
people;

26:45.640 --> 26:48.870
upper house selected by the
lower house from candidates

26:48.866 --> 26:52.406
named by state legislatures;
the legislature can nullify any

26:52.413 --> 26:54.793
state law that violates the
Constitution;

26:54.788 --> 26:57.448
representation is based on
population.

26:57.450 --> 27:01.590
Branch two is the executive who
has a qualified veto over acts

27:01.590 --> 27:03.870
of Congress,
and it's not specified--one

27:03.868 --> 27:04.938
person,
many people,

27:04.943 --> 27:06.803
how long you should be in
office.

27:06.798 --> 27:09.188
And then the third branch,
the judiciary,

27:09.185 --> 27:12.345
with one or more supreme judges
chosen by the national

27:12.346 --> 27:15.446
legislature holding office
during good behavior.

27:15.450 --> 27:20.770
The Virginia Plan also included
a flexible amendment process and

27:20.772 --> 27:24.662
a procedure for the admission of
new states.

27:24.660 --> 27:29.020
Now, as you can hear there,
the basic outline of the final

27:29.017 --> 27:33.067
Constitution is kind of sitting
there in that plan.

27:33.068 --> 27:36.648
A sort of fundamental frame of
what's coming in the next few

27:36.654 --> 27:39.514
months is contained within the
Virginia Plan.

27:39.509 --> 27:42.189
So from the start of the
Convention,

27:42.190 --> 27:45.300
things look a little auspicious
for the nationalists,

27:45.298 --> 27:48.808
and sure enough relatively
early on in the Convention

27:48.810 --> 27:52.590
there's a vote that a new
national government ought to be

27:52.593 --> 27:56.513
established and it should have a
supreme legislative,

27:56.509 --> 27:59.609
executive, and judiciary branch.

27:59.608 --> 28:03.758
Now that's a pretty major thing
to decide.

28:03.759 --> 28:06.959
It's a pretty major victory for
people who are really firm

28:06.958 --> 28:09.798
nationalists;
that, okay, the Convention now

28:09.798 --> 28:13.798
has committed to setting up a
supreme central government with

28:13.798 --> 28:14.998
three branches.

28:15.000 --> 28:18.810
And some more nationalist
victories followed.

28:18.808 --> 28:21.658
So for example,
the Confederation decided that

28:21.663 --> 28:25.153
the executive would be one man
after debating this for a

28:25.152 --> 28:27.042
while--
and I'll talk a little bit more

28:27.038 --> 28:28.688
about this toward the end of the
lecture--

28:28.690 --> 28:31.460
but they ultimately decided
that one man should be the

28:31.460 --> 28:32.710
executive,
and clearly,

28:32.709 --> 28:35.269
in a world where you're scared
of centralized power and

28:35.272 --> 28:38.032
thinking about kings,
that's a big decision.

28:38.029 --> 28:41.229
And then they began to discuss
representation in the lower

28:41.228 --> 28:44.218
house of the legislature,
and I'm also going to come back

28:44.220 --> 28:45.870
to representation in a few
minutes.

28:45.868 --> 28:47.368
But for now I'll simply state
the obvious,

28:47.368 --> 28:50.858
which is: of course this debate
broke down--

28:50.858 --> 28:54.358
as this debate always breaks
down--into small states versus

28:54.363 --> 28:57.023
large states,
small states not liking the

28:57.019 --> 29:00.459
idea of having representation be
based on population,

29:00.460 --> 29:03.750
large states being perfectly
happy with that idea.

29:03.750 --> 29:06.520
And small states had a good
reason to fear that their

29:06.519 --> 29:09.239
influence would just be
eliminated in some degree if

29:09.236 --> 29:11.256
everything is based on
population.

29:11.259 --> 29:16.289
So on June 15,
William Patterson of New Jersey

29:16.287 --> 29:20.307
proposed his own plan,
which becomes the New Jersey

29:20.311 --> 29:22.031
Plan--it's another New Jersey
moment,

29:22.028 --> 29:25.968
the New Jersey Plan--and of
course this is a plan that's

29:25.974 --> 29:29.854
much more popular among
small-state representatives.

29:29.848 --> 29:34.998
The New Jersey Plan suggested a
one-house legislature in which

29:34.999 --> 29:38.629
obviously each state would have
one vote.

29:38.630 --> 29:42.400
There would be a plural
executive--so an executive

29:42.403 --> 29:45.333
consisting of more than one
person--

29:45.328 --> 29:47.578
who would be elected by the
Congress,

29:47.578 --> 29:51.528
and a supreme court chosen by
the executive.

29:51.529 --> 29:54.589
Now you can see how in some
ways that there are little

29:54.593 --> 29:57.543
vestiges of the Articles sitting
there in that plan:

29:57.540 --> 29:59.680
there's a unicameral
legislature;

29:59.680 --> 30:01.330
each state has one vote.

30:01.328 --> 30:05.198
Even so, even though this is
supposedly a less centralized,

30:05.200 --> 30:09.050
less scary alternative to the
Virginia Plan,

30:09.048 --> 30:11.798
still it is giving more power
to the national government than

30:11.798 --> 30:12.898
the Articles had done.

30:12.900 --> 30:16.400
Three days later,
someone successfully moved to

30:16.401 --> 30:20.661
postpone consideration of the
New Jersey Plan and instead

30:20.663 --> 30:23.863
consider simply revising the
Articles.

30:23.858 --> 30:26.508
You can imagine the sort of
"uh"

30:26.505 --> 30:28.565
going around the room:
oh, no.

30:28.568 --> 30:32.778
Now at this point,
Alexander Hamilton stood up and

30:32.781 --> 30:34.761
made a dramatic move.

30:34.759 --> 30:40.949
On June 18, he made what some
describe as a six-hour speech--

30:40.950 --> 30:45.560
I can't imagine giving or
listening to a six-hour speech--

30:45.558 --> 30:49.158
in which he proposed his plan
of government,

30:49.160 --> 30:51.920
which as you'll hear,
is really, really,

30:51.920 --> 30:55.400
really, really centralized and
national.

30:55.400 --> 30:59.000
Basically, Hamilton's plan
reduced the states to

30:59.000 --> 31:01.300
administrative subdivisions.

31:01.298 --> 31:05.178
Each would have a supreme
executive appointed by the

31:05.183 --> 31:09.553
national government;
a chief executive elected for

31:09.553 --> 31:14.573
life during good behavior,
elected by electors who were

31:14.567 --> 31:19.117
elected by electors who were
popularly chosen.

31:19.118 --> 31:19.448
Okay.

31:19.454 --> 31:22.204
How removed can we get the
people [laughs]

31:22.203 --> 31:25.293
from the process of choosing
the executive?

31:25.288 --> 31:29.748
Hamilton also proposed a senate
chosen for life during good

31:29.747 --> 31:33.817
behavior and an executive with
absolute veto power.

31:33.818 --> 31:34.108
Okay.

31:34.108 --> 31:36.188
That's way out there in scary
land.

31:36.190 --> 31:38.400
You can imagine--he gives a
six-hour speech and that's what

31:38.404 --> 31:39.134
he comes up with.

31:39.130 --> 31:41.510
He also during the speech
praised the British government

31:41.512 --> 31:43.682
as the best government on the
face of the earth.

31:43.680 --> 31:44.160
Right?

31:44.160 --> 31:46.400
[laughter]
That's Hamilton.

31:46.400 --> 31:50.000
So basically Hamilton never
lives down this speech.

31:50.000 --> 31:53.000
As a delegate later put it,
Hamilton's dramatic speech was

31:53.002 --> 31:56.062
"praised by everybody,
but supported by none."

31:56.059 --> 31:59.819
[laughs] It was like: thank you;
you can sit down now.

31:59.818 --> 32:02.828
And it really did haunt him to
the end of his days because it

32:02.826 --> 32:05.826
seemed to be eternal proof to
anybody who even vaguely didn't

32:05.833 --> 32:08.593
like him that he was really a
monarchist at heart--

32:08.588 --> 32:11.988
that he's just waiting for a
chance to convert the government

32:11.994 --> 32:14.384
into a monarchy with a king at
its head.

32:14.380 --> 32:17.000
It's--You can see why it was
important to keep the

32:16.996 --> 32:20.306
proceedings secret and you can
see how they did not get--remain

32:20.307 --> 32:21.747
a secret for very long.

32:21.750 --> 32:22.670
Right? Clearly they leaked.

32:22.670 --> 32:25.910
If--this is like the tin can
tied to Hamilton's reputation

32:25.913 --> 32:27.453
for the rest of his life.

32:27.450 --> 32:31.840
Clearly it's leaking,
but--yeah, he never lived down

32:31.843 --> 32:33.053
that speech.

32:33.048 --> 32:35.788
Now the question is:
why did he stand up and give

32:35.789 --> 32:36.589
that speech?

32:36.588 --> 32:39.668
Why did he stand up and praise
the British government as being

32:39.673 --> 32:42.053
the best government on the face
of the earth?

32:42.048 --> 32:43.768
Why did he propose this extreme
plan knowing how people felt

32:43.765 --> 32:44.575
about some of these ideas?

32:44.579 --> 32:47.139
And there is disagreement;
there is not agreement on this.

32:47.140 --> 32:53.060
Some historians assume that
this was a strategic move,

32:53.058 --> 32:55.708
and that Hamilton was trying to
push the Convention past the

32:55.708 --> 32:58.138
weak New Jersey Plan or,
horror or horrors,

32:58.144 --> 33:00.054
just revising the Articles.

33:00.048 --> 33:03.308
So according to this strategy,
Hamilton's plan would have

33:03.307 --> 33:06.617
looked so extreme that the
Virginia Plan would look really

33:06.623 --> 33:09.643
good in comparison,
and sure enough not that long

33:09.637 --> 33:12.317
after Hamilton's speech,
the New Jersey Plan is

33:12.320 --> 33:15.010
defeated, so if this is why
Hamilton did this,

33:15.009 --> 33:17.639
maybe you could say it worked.

33:17.640 --> 33:21.690
However, it's equally possible
that Hamilton wanted at least a

33:21.686 --> 33:25.536
moment to stand up and offer his
ideas and basically state,

33:25.536 --> 33:26.196
'Okay.

33:26.200 --> 33:27.740
Here's my plan of government.

33:27.740 --> 33:29.960
Here's my little moment to
shine.

33:29.960 --> 33:31.790
Here's what I think we should
be doing.'

33:31.788 --> 33:34.868
And I always feel--I don't
which of these is true or not

33:34.867 --> 33:35.257
true.

33:35.259 --> 33:37.939
I think either one could be or
actually both could be,

33:37.940 --> 33:41.570
but certainly the latter theory
has a little credence to it only

33:41.570 --> 33:45.260
because you have to feel sorry
for Hamilton at the Convention.

33:45.259 --> 33:48.009
Here is this guy who for
roughly a decade has been saying

33:48.008 --> 33:50.018
we need a stronger national
government.

33:50.019 --> 33:52.569
He's one of the first;
he's one of the strongest;

33:52.569 --> 33:54.869
he's consistent;
he's out there;

33:54.869 --> 33:56.289
this is his message.

33:56.288 --> 33:58.898
He finally gets the
Constitutional Convention and

33:58.901 --> 34:02.161
the other two delegates from New
York do not like the idea of

34:02.164 --> 34:05.434
really strengthening the
national government very much--

34:05.430 --> 34:08.190
and it's one state,
one vote, so basically his vote

34:08.186 --> 34:09.506
doesn't matter at all.

34:09.510 --> 34:11.300
So, this poor guy.

34:11.300 --> 34:12.930
It's like: 'my mission,
my mission;

34:12.929 --> 34:15.739
hey, finally I'm here and...

34:15.739 --> 34:17.139
I can't do anything.'

34:17.139 --> 34:19.189
And it's like: aw, poor guy.

34:19.190 --> 34:21.510
So it's possible that he did
actually stand up and say,

34:21.514 --> 34:22.294
'Okay, whatever.

34:22.289 --> 34:25.589
Here's what I would do
[laughs]--and I'm going to

34:25.590 --> 34:28.340
announce this and never live it
down--

34:28.340 --> 34:30.030
but here's what I would do
during this,

34:30.030 --> 34:31.840
what should be my prime moment.'

34:31.840 --> 34:34.590
So for one reason or
another--who knows whether it

34:34.592 --> 34:37.912
was strategic or because he
wanted his moment to lay out his

34:37.907 --> 34:39.817
plan--
the fact is that that night

34:39.822 --> 34:42.832
after he gave the amazing speech
he did meet with Madison and

34:42.829 --> 34:45.589
revise Madison's notes so that
they would be an accurate

34:45.585 --> 34:48.635
reflection of what he said just
in case anyone didn't hear him

34:48.641 --> 34:51.701
praise the British government as
the finest on the face of the

34:51.697 --> 34:52.447
earth.

34:52.449 --> 34:53.829
[laughter] Okay.

34:53.829 --> 34:55.969
So a little truth in both,
I think.

34:55.969 --> 35:00.309
Now I'm about to do a really,
really grave injustice to the

35:00.311 --> 35:02.981
Constitution,
and so now is the moment when

35:02.981 --> 35:05.421
the Founders will be spinning in
their graves,

35:05.420 --> 35:08.760
because I'm going to basically
condense my discussion of the

35:08.760 --> 35:11.140
Constitution down to three main
issues,

35:11.139 --> 35:13.739
not because they're the only
issues that should be discussed,

35:13.739 --> 35:16.799
but because certainly they're
all important issues,

35:16.800 --> 35:20.510
and because they show something
about how concerns--

35:20.510 --> 35:23.990
issues--of the Revolution
continued to play a role in

35:23.994 --> 35:27.214
American politics and in
American public life.

35:27.210 --> 35:30.850
I apologize to all Founders for
condensing the Constitution down

35:30.853 --> 35:32.013
into mere minutes.

35:32.010 --> 35:32.410
Okay.

35:32.409 --> 35:37.039
The first issue that I want to
discuss is representation.

35:37.039 --> 35:39.499
And the question here,
the obvious one:

35:39.503 --> 35:41.843
population or one state,
one vote.

35:41.840 --> 35:44.400
Small state, big state battle.

35:44.400 --> 35:46.470
Small states are afraid of
having no influence,

35:46.474 --> 35:48.194
which they continue to be
afraid of.

35:48.190 --> 35:50.390
This is not a battle that stops
once this decision is made.

35:50.389 --> 35:52.639
It continues on,
and in one way or another

35:52.641 --> 35:54.731
states are always sort of
objecting.

35:54.730 --> 35:58.070
There's a secession--potential
secession plot by New England in

35:58.070 --> 36:01.300
the early nineteenth century
because they feel that they have

36:01.302 --> 36:02.222
no influence.

36:02.219 --> 36:05.079
So this doesn't go away,
but certainly at this point

36:05.081 --> 36:06.711
it's a real sticking point.

36:06.710 --> 36:10.100
And ultimately a committee came
up with a solution,

36:10.099 --> 36:13.769
which is known either as the
Great Compromise or the

36:13.768 --> 36:16.868
Connecticut Compromise,
and the reason why it's the

36:16.867 --> 36:19.187
Connecticut Compromise is
because it was proposed by

36:19.190 --> 36:20.920
Connecticut delegate Roger
Sherman.

36:20.920 --> 36:22.880
Roger Sherman is a local boy.

36:22.880 --> 36:25.100
Yet again New Haven appears on
the map.

36:25.099 --> 36:27.309
Roger Sherman lived in New
Haven and actually--

36:27.309 --> 36:30.259
You may have not have noticed
it because I'm probably the geek

36:30.264 --> 36:32.934
who notices every historical
plaque in the universe,

36:32.929 --> 36:35.679
but on the front of the Union
League Caf� there actually is

36:35.684 --> 36:36.974
a plaque to Roger Sherman.

36:36.969 --> 36:37.879
It was his house.

36:37.880 --> 36:40.800
Here was his house and here is
what he did and we like Roger

36:40.804 --> 36:41.304
Sherman.

36:41.300 --> 36:42.940
So he's a New Haven guy.

36:42.940 --> 36:46.130
He's the guy who proposes the
Connecticut Compromise and

36:46.134 --> 36:48.064
basically,
as you could predict,

36:48.063 --> 36:50.643
the compromise says
representation in the lower

36:50.637 --> 36:53.377
house will be based on
population and in the upper

36:53.378 --> 36:55.788
house one state,
one vote.

36:55.789 --> 37:00.539
And that gets passed on July
16,1787.

37:00.539 --> 37:05.019
So representation,
first major issue.

37:05.018 --> 37:07.798
Second major issue--although in
a way the problem with this one

37:07.797 --> 37:09.407
is that it was not a major
issue--

37:09.409 --> 37:13.389
is the question of slavery,
which clearly is linked to the

37:13.385 --> 37:15.405
question of representation.

37:15.409 --> 37:18.129
On August 8,
Northern states attacked

37:18.130 --> 37:22.440
slavery on moral grounds and
proposed taking no account of

37:22.436 --> 37:27.116
slaves as part of the population
when allocating representation

37:27.121 --> 37:29.691
in the national legislature.

37:29.690 --> 37:33.930
Now obviously many Southerners
did not like this idea and they

37:33.927 --> 37:37.397
defended slavery on moral and
economic grounds,

37:37.400 --> 37:40.640
and they were joined by some
Northerners who were afraid that

37:40.644 --> 37:43.354
this issue was just going to
dissolve the Union.

37:43.349 --> 37:46.839
Gouverneur Morris of
Pennsylvania offers a nice sort

37:46.840 --> 37:50.060
of example of the anti-slavery
point of view.

37:50.059 --> 37:52.949
I'll quote Morris here:
"Upon what principle is it

37:52.947 --> 37:56.377
that the slaves shall be
computed in the representation?

37:56.380 --> 37:57.440
Are they men?

37:57.440 --> 38:00.760
Then make them citizens and let
them vote.

38:00.760 --> 38:01.910
Are they property?

38:01.909 --> 38:04.649
Why then is no other property
included?

38:04.650 --> 38:07.130
The houses in this
city--Philadelphia--are worth

38:07.126 --> 38:09.916
more than all the wretched
slaves which cover the rice

38:09.920 --> 38:11.450
swamps of South Carolina.

38:11.449 --> 38:13.569
The admission of slaves into
the representation,

38:13.570 --> 38:15.450
when fairly explained,
comes to this:

38:15.454 --> 38:18.234
that the inhabitant of Georgia
and South Carolina,

38:18.230 --> 38:20.870
who goes to the coast of
Africa, and in defiance of the

38:20.867 --> 38:23.747
most sacred laws of humanity,
tears his fellow creatures from

38:23.753 --> 38:26.483
their dearest connections,
and damns them to the most

38:26.478 --> 38:28.838
cruel bondage,
shall have more votes in a

38:28.840 --> 38:31.680
government instituted for
protection of the rights of

38:31.684 --> 38:34.914
mankind than the citizen of
Pennsylvania or New Jersey,

38:34.909 --> 38:37.539
who views with a laudable
horror so nefarious a

38:37.538 --> 38:38.508
practice."

38:38.510 --> 38:38.870
Wow.

38:38.871 --> 38:42.491
That's a statement--a strong
statement.

38:42.489 --> 38:46.489
Other side of the argument:
Charles Pinckney of South

38:46.485 --> 38:50.865
Carolina was among those who
stood up and tried to justify

38:50.867 --> 38:51.787
slavery.

38:51.789 --> 38:55.579
An example of his argument:
He said, "If slavery be

38:55.581 --> 38:59.721
wrong, it is justified by the
example of all the world....

38:59.719 --> 39:03.339
In all ages one half of mankind
have been slaves."

39:03.340 --> 39:07.260
And he cited Greece and Rome
and other ancient city-states,

39:07.257 --> 39:11.037
as well as sanctions given to
slavery in modern times.

39:11.039 --> 39:14.489
So slavery is mentioned,
slavery has its moment of

39:14.487 --> 39:18.847
debate, but it is important to
note, it was in a sense a little

39:18.851 --> 39:20.471
more than a moment.

39:20.469 --> 39:22.389
It only occupied a few days.

39:22.389 --> 39:25.679
The issue was recognized to be
a deal breaker,

39:25.679 --> 39:28.959
and when the delegates held up
their concern over slavery

39:28.963 --> 39:31.253
against the idea of forming a
Union--

39:31.250 --> 39:33.720
so basically when they saw that
if they really confront the

39:33.717 --> 39:35.587
issue of slavery,
they may never get a chance to

39:35.590 --> 39:38.300
confront the issue of union--
they just decided not to

39:38.298 --> 39:40.198
confront the issue at all.

39:40.199 --> 39:43.959
And they memorialized their
inability to confront the issue

39:43.958 --> 39:47.118
in the document,
the Constitution itself,

39:47.115 --> 39:49.935
in Article I,
Section 9 of the Constitution,

39:49.940 --> 39:51.830
and Article I deals with
Congress.

39:51.829 --> 39:55.109
It states that,
quote, "The Migration or

39:55.108 --> 39:59.578
Importation of such Persons as
any of the States now existing

39:59.579 --> 40:03.199
shall think proper to admit,
shall not be prohibited by the

40:03.197 --> 40:05.357
Congress prior to the Year one
thousand eight hundred and

40:05.360 --> 40:07.490
eight"--
which basically says Congress

40:07.487 --> 40:09.567
can't stop the slave trade
before 1808.

40:09.570 --> 40:12.470
But look at how indirect that
language is.

40:12.469 --> 40:12.819
Right?

40:12.824 --> 40:16.024
It doesn't say what I just said
in very simple terms.

40:16.018 --> 40:19.158
The "Importation of such
Persons as any one of the States

40:19.164 --> 40:21.024
shall think proper to
admit."

40:21.018 --> 40:24.508
Can there be a more indirect
way of referring to slavery?

40:24.510 --> 40:27.820
They're tap dancing around this
issue.

40:27.820 --> 40:31.070
They're finding one way or
another just not to confront it,

40:31.070 --> 40:33.770
so the word "slave"--
the word "slavery"--

40:33.768 --> 40:37.048
does not appear in the
Constitution.

40:37.050 --> 40:40.490
So basically faced with a
pretty fundamental moral

40:40.487 --> 40:44.767
problem, the delegates to the
Constitutional Convention looked

40:44.766 --> 40:46.026
the other way.

40:46.030 --> 40:47.820
In their minds,
the Union was too tenuous for

40:47.822 --> 40:49.742
anything this controversial to
be addressed,

40:49.739 --> 40:53.099
and this kind of sort of
skipping out or not confronting

40:53.096 --> 40:56.816
the issue because it seems like
the deal-breaker would be seen

40:56.818 --> 41:00.238
again and again and again,
and obviously eventually it

41:00.237 --> 41:03.737
becomes the deal-breaker and it
does contribute to the breaking

41:03.744 --> 41:04.654
of the Union.

41:04.650 --> 41:04.960
Okay.

41:04.963 --> 41:08.043
So representation,
slavery, two large issues under

41:08.041 --> 41:11.501
debate or not under debate
depending on which one you're

41:11.496 --> 41:12.686
talking about.

41:12.690 --> 41:16.410
The third issue I want to bring
up concerned the national

41:16.405 --> 41:19.845
executive, and obviously that
really had links to the

41:19.853 --> 41:20.853
Revolution.

41:20.849 --> 41:24.809
The Revolution was a revolt
against strong centralized power

41:24.809 --> 41:27.629
in the form of a monarchy and a
monarch.

41:27.630 --> 41:32.380
We've seen in previous lectures
how state constitutions that

41:32.382 --> 41:37.142
were created in the 1770s really
showed this ongoing fear of

41:37.135 --> 41:40.595
tyrannical centralized executive
power.

41:40.599 --> 41:42.629
So we've seen,
when we were looking at those

41:42.626 --> 41:45.086
state constitutions,
how more often than not

41:45.086 --> 41:48.616
legislatures were given more
power and governors were denied

41:48.621 --> 41:49.461
some power.

41:49.460 --> 41:52.730
It's the same fear,
the same spirit that's charging

41:52.730 --> 41:55.020
the debate during the
Convention.

41:55.018 --> 41:58.048
So questions about the national
executive came up again and

41:58.050 --> 41:58.470
again.

41:58.469 --> 42:00.109
How should he be elected?

42:00.110 --> 42:01.130
By electors?

42:01.130 --> 42:04.370
By electors chosen by state
legislatures?

42:04.369 --> 42:06.069
By state governors?

42:06.070 --> 42:07.810
By the national legislature?

42:07.809 --> 42:09.329
By popular election?

42:09.329 --> 42:11.799
How long should he serve?

42:11.800 --> 42:16.640
Proposals ranged from two years
to life during good behavior.

42:16.639 --> 42:19.669
The ultimate compromise
suggested that the President

42:19.668 --> 42:23.468
would serve for a four-year term
and it didn't set a limit on how

42:23.469 --> 42:25.369
often he could be reelected.

42:25.369 --> 42:28.729
And he would be elected by
electors in the separate states,

42:28.730 --> 42:31.370
which reassured delegates who
were worried about state

42:31.371 --> 42:34.311
rights--
and each state could decide for

42:34.311 --> 42:37.071
itself how to select its
electors.

42:37.070 --> 42:40.590
So if a state wanted to select
electors by popular election,

42:40.585 --> 42:41.355
they could.

42:41.360 --> 42:43.930
If a state wanted to have their
legislature pick electors,

42:43.925 --> 42:44.505
they could.

42:44.510 --> 42:48.010
Again, they're sort of allowing
the states to come up with their

42:48.007 --> 42:49.337
own way of doing this.

42:49.340 --> 42:50.790
States still have rights.

42:50.789 --> 42:53.939
But still, big,
scary issue of the executive.

42:53.940 --> 42:57.420
So in a way this--all of these
sort of compromises and

42:57.418 --> 43:00.438
decisions end up creating an
executive who--

43:00.440 --> 43:03.970
at least it felt like he was
being controlled in some way

43:03.974 --> 43:06.884
every four years by having to
face election.

43:06.880 --> 43:09.790
Now in some ways,
considering everything that I

43:09.788 --> 43:12.568
just said about being scared of
monarchy,

43:12.570 --> 43:15.730
kings, America sort of slipping
right back into a monarchy,

43:15.730 --> 43:19.030
this executive is granted a
surprising amount of power.

43:19.030 --> 43:21.610
He's Commander in Chief of the
armed forces.

43:21.610 --> 43:23.720
He could carry on diplomacy.

43:23.719 --> 43:28.069
He could recommend measures to
Congress.

43:28.070 --> 43:31.410
He could exercise a veto,
although obviously it could be

43:31.407 --> 43:35.047
overturned by a two-thirds vote
in each house of Congress.

43:35.050 --> 43:37.520
Part of the reason for this
amount of trust in the executive

43:37.518 --> 43:39.108
was the idea of checks and
balances.

43:39.110 --> 43:41.780
So people really actually did
believe in checks and balances

43:41.777 --> 43:43.947
and think that this isn't a
single executive,

43:43.949 --> 43:47.439
sort of scary and alone with no
way to check his power--

43:47.440 --> 43:50.120
that the Constitution actually
seems to be kind of nicely

43:50.123 --> 43:52.223
balanced,
so that maybe this person

43:52.217 --> 43:55.797
actually has some restraints or
some reins pulling him in.

43:55.800 --> 44:00.570
Now obviously this is
the--I'm--I feel so bad.

44:00.570 --> 44:02.380
Hamilton, Madison--I'm so sorry.

44:02.380 --> 44:05.010
This is the most vast
overgeneralization of the

44:05.010 --> 44:07.930
Constitution that I can almost
possibly imagine,

44:07.929 --> 44:10.189
and I will come back to it
because we have to get it

44:10.188 --> 44:12.578
ratified,
which is part of what we're

44:12.577 --> 44:14.227
going to do on Tuesday.

44:14.230 --> 44:19.260
But in the interest of time:
on September 16,1787,

44:19.264 --> 44:22.864
the Constitution was agreed
upon.

44:22.860 --> 44:26.450
On September 17,
it was signed and sent to the

44:26.445 --> 44:31.225
Confederation Congress to pass
along to the individual states

44:31.228 --> 44:33.858
so that they could ratify it.

44:33.860 --> 44:37.610
And there needed to be nine
states to ratify the

44:37.608 --> 44:40.878
Constitution for it to go into
effect,

44:40.880 --> 44:44.090
and each state would have its
own ratifying convention to

44:44.090 --> 44:45.180
decide the issue.

44:45.179 --> 44:46.409
So what we're going to be
looking at,

44:46.409 --> 44:50.489
at least at the beginning of
next Tuesday's lecture is this

44:50.492 --> 44:52.822
second debate,
which is: what do we really

44:52.817 --> 44:54.067
think about the Constitution?

44:54.070 --> 44:57.210
And part of what we'll be
pulling from that is,

44:57.208 --> 45:01.368
what kind of a sort of status
check does it show us about what

45:01.369 --> 45:04.029
Americans are thinking at the
time?

45:04.030 --> 45:06.490
In what way do the different
arguments for and against tell

45:06.485 --> 45:08.345
us something about America at
that moment?

45:08.349 --> 45:11.589
So we'll see the sort of highly
contested debate.

45:11.590 --> 45:14.830
We'll see states that say no
and then say yes.

45:14.829 --> 45:17.949
Rhode Island is still over here
somewhere waiting to see what

45:17.949 --> 45:18.469
happens.

45:18.469 --> 45:21.899
And it's really something that
people are watching closely.

45:21.900 --> 45:24.640
I'll talk a little bit more
about this on Tuesday,

45:24.639 --> 45:27.099
but I once again also turn to
Ezra Stiles.

45:27.099 --> 45:30.429
I'm basically always looking
for something that makes this

45:30.427 --> 45:32.817
real, so that it's not just:
the document,

45:32.822 --> 45:34.752
the debate, the Constitution.

45:34.750 --> 45:37.500
So Ezra Stiles' diary--I love
Ezra Stiles' diary,

45:37.496 --> 45:40.356
so I'll mention it a little bit
more on Tuesday.

45:40.360 --> 45:44.240
But he talks about what he
thinks about what's going on,

45:44.237 --> 45:48.537
and he talks about watching
states ratify the Constitution.

45:48.539 --> 45:50.699
I'll mention some of that as
well, because it again,

45:50.695 --> 45:53.225
shows one guy that's kind of
responding to what's going on in

45:53.233 --> 45:54.463
a really interesting way.

45:54.460 --> 45:55.430
I will stop there.

45:55.429 --> 45:57.569
I will see you on Tuesday.

45:57.570 --> 45:58.590
Have a good weekend.

45:58.590 --> 46:04.000