WEBVTT 00:01.230 --> 00:05.640 Prof: Before we begin, I have to make a true 00:05.640 --> 00:09.000 confession to you, my class, because you're my 00:09.000 --> 00:12.370 class, and I have been confessing things all semester 00:12.372 --> 00:15.032 but this is-- I basically set myself up for 00:15.033 --> 00:18.033 this failure and then realized-- at the end of the class someone 00:18.028 --> 00:19.508 came up to me and asked me a question, 00:19.510 --> 00:21.850 and then I realized--Gaa! Okay. 00:21.850 --> 00:25.350 So remember how I told you how at UVA for five straight years I 00:25.345 --> 00:28.555 forgot Thomas Jefferson's birthday, even though everything 00:28.559 --> 00:29.179 closed? 00:29.180 --> 00:29.490 Yeah. 00:29.490 --> 00:31.730 Guess what I didn't say on Tuesday? 00:31.730 --> 00:34.860 I forgot it was Thomas Jefferson's birthday. 00:34.860 --> 00:37.340 [laughter] I completely forgot. 00:37.340 --> 00:38.760 Someone came up at the end and said, 00:38.760 --> 00:40.170 "Well, in honor of Jefferson's birthday we did the 00:40.165 --> 00:42.255 following"-- and I was like [laughs]. 00:42.260 --> 00:45.670 So it's good to know that I'm really consistently a horrible 00:45.666 --> 00:48.206 UVA grad [laughter] who always forgets Thomas 00:48.206 --> 00:49.646 Jefferson's birthday. 00:49.650 --> 00:52.470 It must be a Hamiltonian mental block [laughter] 00:52.465 --> 00:56.355 that I--it is not possible for me to keep that date in my head. 00:56.360 --> 00:58.670 Anyway, I at least wanted to say, happy birthday, 00:58.666 --> 00:59.576 Thomas Jefferson. 00:59.580 --> 01:01.610 So now, officially, I'm a little late, 01:01.609 --> 01:03.909 but he'll get over it--so anyway [laughter] 01:03.912 --> 01:05.342 I've confessed to you. 01:05.340 --> 01:07.150 I feel much better now. 01:07.150 --> 01:09.230 Okay. 01:09.230 --> 01:12.750 So today we turn to the Constitution. 01:12.750 --> 01:17.600 In the last few lectures and in today's lecture basically we've 01:17.601 --> 01:22.611 been looking at the new nation figure out its shape and form, 01:22.610 --> 01:25.070 right?--what kind of a nation is this going to be. 01:25.069 --> 01:29.419 As people were discovering throughout the 1780s, 01:29.420 --> 01:33.270 it was one thing to protest against things that you didn't 01:33.269 --> 01:36.279 like in a government, as the Americans had during the 01:36.281 --> 01:36.821 Revolution. 01:36.819 --> 01:40.639 It was quite another thing to come up with an alternative, 01:40.635 --> 01:44.445 to come up with something better and then to get others to 01:44.450 --> 01:45.120 agree. 01:45.120 --> 01:47.920 Today's lecture, I'm sorry--Tuesday's lecture 01:47.919 --> 01:51.669 discussed part of this process of figuring out the shape and 01:51.672 --> 01:53.392 form of the new nation. 01:53.390 --> 01:55.750 So we looked at the Mount Vernon Conference, 01:55.750 --> 01:58.120 we looked at the Annapolis Convention, 01:58.120 --> 02:02.220 and we--in doing that, we're looking at a gradual 02:02.216 --> 02:06.656 process that was unfolding one step at a time with no 02:06.656 --> 02:08.616 inevitable outcome. 02:08.620 --> 02:11.980 So basically, what we saw on Tuesday was how 02:11.982 --> 02:16.282 the Americans were basically backing their way into what 02:16.283 --> 02:19.963 would become the Constitutional Convention. 02:19.960 --> 02:21.620 So it's not as though everyone said, "Hey, 02:21.621 --> 02:23.681 we need a new constitution and it's got to be stronger. 02:23.680 --> 02:24.830 Let's go." Right? 02:24.830 --> 02:27.810 They're--It's a process at which people are really figuring 02:27.806 --> 02:29.036 things out as they go. 02:29.038 --> 02:32.878 And today I want to stress that same message: 02:32.883 --> 02:36.643 that the Constitution was not inevitable. 02:36.639 --> 02:38.209 And I know that's obvious on the one hand, 02:38.210 --> 02:40.220 but on the other hand, it's so ingrained in us, 02:40.220 --> 02:42.910 I think, to think that it's a great idea that of course would 02:42.906 --> 02:45.406 happen sooner or later, that I feel the need at the 02:45.411 --> 02:47.201 outset of the lecture to say this, 02:47.199 --> 02:49.219 that obviously it was not inevitable. 02:49.220 --> 02:51.600 We think to ourselves: well, of course the 02:51.602 --> 02:54.392 Articles--what a goofy government the Articles of 02:54.390 --> 02:56.500 Confederation was; of course they've got to come 02:56.502 --> 02:58.302 up with something better; of course it's going to be 02:58.304 --> 03:00.884 stronger; of course it's going to end up 03:00.877 --> 03:03.117 looking like our Constitution. 03:03.120 --> 03:07.210 And obviously the problem with that whole river of "of 03:07.213 --> 03:10.323 courses" is that if you travel down that 03:10.319 --> 03:14.769 stream you miss one of the most important aspects of the process 03:14.768 --> 03:19.878 of creating the Constitution, and that is that it was a 03:19.876 --> 03:23.056 process, that it was a debate. 03:23.060 --> 03:25.780 It was a national debate during which people really seriously 03:25.775 --> 03:28.845 considered what they were doing, what the implications were of 03:28.854 --> 03:32.234 what they were doing, and they did not all agree on 03:32.229 --> 03:34.419 what was a good or bad idea. 03:34.419 --> 03:37.669 So the process, the fact that there actually 03:37.668 --> 03:40.008 was a debate, is significant. 03:40.008 --> 03:44.778 And it's not a process that was entirely disconnected from the 03:44.782 --> 03:45.802 Revolution. 03:45.800 --> 03:48.590 The things that Americans had been yelling about during the 03:48.591 --> 03:51.531 Revolution--right?--they talked in a variety of different ways 03:51.526 --> 03:53.856 about liberties; they talked in a variety of 03:53.855 --> 03:56.075 different ways about rights--that wasn't just 03:56.081 --> 03:56.691 rhetoric. 03:56.690 --> 04:00.280 People were truly arguing about and defending specific 04:00.276 --> 04:03.796 fundamental rights and privileges that they felt they 04:03.798 --> 04:08.658 deserved as British subjects, and of course the end result 04:08.663 --> 04:12.053 about that fight was the Revolution. 04:12.050 --> 04:14.790 So now we're years later, and we're looking at arguments 04:14.788 --> 04:17.728 over a new form of government, and some of these same things 04:17.725 --> 04:19.065 are being yelled about. 04:19.069 --> 04:21.849 So, as you're going to see in the course of today's lecture, 04:21.850 --> 04:25.250 in one way or another people are still fretting about sort of 04:25.247 --> 04:28.077 what they consider to be fundamental liberties, 04:28.079 --> 04:29.979 basic rights. 04:29.980 --> 04:33.300 People considered these things to be the legacy of the 04:33.300 --> 04:37.180 Revolution and they didn't want to give them away before they'd 04:37.184 --> 04:39.444 even really begun to enjoy them. 04:39.440 --> 04:43.150 So think back for a minute--many moons ago; 04:43.149 --> 04:46.039 it's so long ago in the semester--but think back to when 04:46.041 --> 04:48.511 we were talking about the vote for independence, 04:48.512 --> 04:50.672 and I mentioned Pauline Maier's book. 04:50.670 --> 04:53.320 And I talked about how in her book she has a chapter in which 04:53.324 --> 04:55.894 she talks about the other declarations of independence, 04:55.889 --> 04:59.439 and she really shows how on a local level people were getting 04:59.442 --> 05:02.052 together and debating as groups in towns, 05:02.050 --> 05:03.900 in counties: what do you think about 05:03.903 --> 05:06.713 independence and should we actually support this?-- 05:06.709 --> 05:08.699 that that was actually a real debate. 05:08.699 --> 05:11.759 And what I'm talking about here, what I will be talking 05:11.762 --> 05:14.092 about over the course of this lecture, 05:14.088 --> 05:16.548 it's a similar process of debate in which people 05:16.550 --> 05:19.170 throughout the country were really trying to figure 05:19.166 --> 05:20.106 something out. 05:20.110 --> 05:22.260 They knew it was a major decision. 05:22.259 --> 05:25.519 They were hoping whatever was going to happen was going to be 05:25.519 --> 05:28.019 a smart decision, but it's an actual debate. 05:28.019 --> 05:32.029 And along these lines, as you'll see by the end of 05:32.026 --> 05:35.296 today's lecture, this is not the kind of lecture 05:35.300 --> 05:38.580 in which I'm going to give you this deep textual analysis of 05:38.579 --> 05:39.689 the Constitution. 05:39.690 --> 05:41.750 Basically, I've got this lecture and a little bit of the 05:41.752 --> 05:43.482 next lecture to talk about the Constitution. 05:43.480 --> 05:46.060 I'm sure the Founders are spinning in their graves like: 05:46.062 --> 05:48.002 "what, forty-five minutes to give to 05:47.995 --> 05:51.405 the Constitution?"-- but that's where we are in the 05:51.411 --> 05:52.171 semester. 05:52.170 --> 05:54.790 Given that I only have that amount of time, 05:54.790 --> 05:58.450 what I really want to focus on is the process of creating the 05:58.452 --> 06:01.012 Constitution, and in doing that I'm also 06:01.012 --> 06:04.722 going to talk about a handful of ongoing controversies that we 06:04.723 --> 06:08.313 have seen before during the Revolution in an earlier part of 06:08.314 --> 06:11.084 this course, and we're going to see them 06:11.084 --> 06:14.804 again toward the end of this lecture when we focus on some of 06:14.802 --> 06:17.722 the main areas that became controversies for the 06:17.718 --> 06:19.638 Constitutional Convention. 06:19.639 --> 06:22.139 Now I think in the same way that we have all these "of 06:22.137 --> 06:24.077 courses"-- of course we know what's going 06:24.077 --> 06:25.917 to happen, it's the Constitution--I think 06:25.920 --> 06:28.690 it's also easy for us to walk down the "of course" 06:28.689 --> 06:31.749 trail when we think about nationalists like James Madison 06:31.754 --> 06:33.074 or Alexander Hamilton. 06:33.069 --> 06:35.289 On some sort of basic level, we assume well, 06:35.291 --> 06:36.481 they're right, right? 06:36.480 --> 06:38.370 They're the smart guys; they're right, 06:38.372 --> 06:41.552 and anyone who is against them is sort of a shortsighted, 06:41.548 --> 06:44.498 limited-minded person who clearly isn't thinking on a 06:44.497 --> 06:45.857 broad, smart level. 06:45.860 --> 06:46.200 Right? 06:46.197 --> 06:49.457 I think almost instinctively because we think what we think 06:49.464 --> 06:52.514 about our Constitution, we think that way about whoever 06:52.505 --> 06:54.135 supported it or did not. 06:54.139 --> 06:57.799 Now certainly, these nationalists felt like 06:57.800 --> 07:01.810 they were vindicating the Revolution, right? 07:01.810 --> 07:04.390 So if you'd asked them, they would have told you that 07:04.387 --> 07:07.017 they felt they were preserving the achievements of the 07:07.016 --> 07:09.616 Revolution; they were fending off chaos and 07:09.622 --> 07:13.232 a variety of other things that would defeat what had been won 07:13.228 --> 07:14.488 in the Revolution. 07:14.490 --> 07:17.130 And from our vantage point, we can look back, 07:17.129 --> 07:19.109 we see that, and that makes sense, 07:19.110 --> 07:22.470 but this wasn't the only argument that was circulating at 07:22.470 --> 07:23.370 the time. 07:23.370 --> 07:28.080 So even before the Constitutional Convention met, 07:28.079 --> 07:32.179 people had valid fears about what might result from it, 07:32.180 --> 07:34.840 and they were fears that were strong enough that some people 07:34.836 --> 07:37.306 didn't even think their states should participate in the 07:37.314 --> 07:37.994 Convention. 07:37.990 --> 07:40.160 Never mind arguing about ratification. 07:40.160 --> 07:41.930 I'm backing us way up. 07:41.930 --> 07:45.540 There were many people who just thought: 'I don't want to--I 07:45.541 --> 07:49.091 don't think our state should participate in this whole idea 07:49.091 --> 07:51.051 of revising the government.' 07:51.050 --> 07:53.440 In some way or another, some people feared that 07:53.440 --> 07:56.040 strengthening the national government was a kind of 07:56.038 --> 07:59.518 counterattack against everything that the Revolution had meant. 07:59.519 --> 08:03.759 And I want to give you a sense of the flavor of this debate, 08:03.759 --> 08:06.309 this actually sort of pre-Convention debate in which 08:06.310 --> 08:08.410 the states are figuring out what to do, 08:08.410 --> 08:10.100 and I'm going local again. 08:10.100 --> 08:10.370 Right? 08:10.367 --> 08:13.097 I sort of--To give you a sense of on-the-ground reality during 08:13.098 --> 08:14.928 the Revolution, I went local when I talked 08:14.932 --> 08:16.592 about the invasion of New Haven. 08:16.589 --> 08:19.849 So for just a couple minutes here I want to go local again 08:19.851 --> 08:23.111 and just give you a flavor of the debate that was going on 08:23.113 --> 08:26.263 here in Connecticut after the Confederation Congress had 08:26.261 --> 08:28.551 passed a resolution saying: okay, 08:28.550 --> 08:33.350 we think that the states should select delegates to send them to 08:33.346 --> 08:38.216 this Convention that's going to happen to revise the articles. 08:38.220 --> 08:38.450 Right? 08:38.450 --> 08:40.330 They're not saying, 'Go destroy the Articles'--but 08:40.331 --> 08:41.331 they are saying, 'Okay. 08:41.330 --> 08:44.310 Revising the Articles might be okay'--and once the 08:44.311 --> 08:46.991 Confederation Congress makes that resolution, 08:46.988 --> 08:49.238 the states now debate what to do. 08:49.240 --> 08:52.850 So on May 12,1787, the Connecticut legislature 08:52.846 --> 08:56.446 began debating whether Connecticut should send 08:56.453 --> 09:00.223 delegates to this proposed Convention to meet in 09:00.221 --> 09:04.551 Philadelphia that was coming up in a couple of-- 09:04.548 --> 09:06.708 was coming up very soon as a matter of fact. 09:06.710 --> 09:10.240 Now most newspapers that reported on what happened 09:10.240 --> 09:14.350 explicitly mentioned four members of the Connecticut House 09:14.350 --> 09:18.240 who came forward and declared that they were opposed to 09:18.241 --> 09:21.271 sending delegates to the Convention. 09:21.269 --> 09:24.499 All of these men were from small towns near the 09:24.495 --> 09:26.105 Massachusetts border. 09:26.110 --> 09:29.760 And all of them in one way or another warned that sending a 09:29.760 --> 09:33.480 delegate to this Convention would endanger the liberties and 09:33.476 --> 09:35.236 privileges of Americans. 09:35.240 --> 09:38.180 So Elijah Fitch--I love the fact that their names are 09:38.176 --> 09:39.966 preserved-- Elijah Fitch said the 09:39.969 --> 09:42.239 Convention might end up abridging the people's 09:42.239 --> 09:44.559 privileges by creating some kind of a big, 09:44.558 --> 09:48.428 unjust, centralized government that just wouldn't consider the 09:48.433 --> 09:50.153 individual person at all. 09:50.149 --> 09:54.149 Daniel Perkins said that the men who probably would be named 09:54.154 --> 09:58.164 as delegates to this supposed Convention would probably be a 09:58.159 --> 10:01.039 bunch of rich, aristocratic-type men who 10:01.042 --> 10:04.352 wouldn't understand or care about the problems of the 10:04.354 --> 10:07.644 average person in Connecticut, never mind the poor of 10:07.638 --> 10:08.298 Connecticut. 10:08.298 --> 10:11.218 So Perkins thought, whatever comes out of this 10:11.216 --> 10:14.066 Convention is bound to just ruin the poor; 10:14.070 --> 10:17.310 it's going to be some weird, aristocratic decision. 10:17.308 --> 10:20.138 Hosea Humphrey said that the Convention would probably 10:20.135 --> 10:23.435 somehow or other take away the rights of Connecticut to protest 10:23.442 --> 10:25.312 against things, to veto things; 10:25.308 --> 10:27.948 somehow or other it's going to be more centralized, 10:27.953 --> 10:30.973 so Connecticut is going to lose power in this equation. 10:30.970 --> 10:34.440 And the fourth representative, named Abraham Granger, 10:34.436 --> 10:36.766 was particularly straightforward. 10:36.769 --> 10:39.629 He said, he knew that his constituents didn't want 10:39.629 --> 10:42.959 delegates to be sent to this Convention and he represented 10:42.955 --> 10:45.285 them, so first of all, there it was. 10:45.289 --> 10:47.799 He had no choice; he had to just do what they 10:47.798 --> 10:50.258 wanted him to do and say, 'No, we should not send 10:50.264 --> 10:52.424 delegates to the Convention,' but he added, 10:52.423 --> 10:53.713 he agreed with them. 10:53.710 --> 10:56.290 He actually thought that this Convention was a bad idea, 10:56.288 --> 10:59.468 and he stated specifically, the reason why he didn't like 10:59.471 --> 11:02.771 the whole idea of a Convention was probably it would end up 11:02.769 --> 11:05.899 creating a monarchy, and then we'd be right back to 11:05.903 --> 11:07.163 where we were before. 11:07.158 --> 11:10.598 So all of these men, either directly or by 11:10.601 --> 11:13.461 implication, clearly they're rejecting the 11:13.462 --> 11:16.392 idea that the Union or Connecticut is in such horrible 11:16.394 --> 11:18.444 shape that something must be done; 11:18.440 --> 11:19.410 we need a new government. 11:19.408 --> 11:22.188 They're not traveling down that trail. 11:22.190 --> 11:25.790 Granger actually in the course of his remarks explicitly said 11:25.788 --> 11:29.028 that the Confederation Congress had plenty of power; 11:29.028 --> 11:32.348 the Articles of Confederation joined with Connecticut's own 11:32.352 --> 11:36.022 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 11:39.929 --> 11:43.449 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 11:45.216 --> 11:47.566 course as well, but you can hear it underlying 11:47.567 --> 11:49.097 a lot of their comments. 11:49.100 --> 11:52.140 Who knows what's going to come out of this Convention? 11:52.139 --> 11:55.369 Anything could happen and odds are whatever happens, 11:55.370 --> 11:59.040 some fundamental American privileges and rights are going 11:59.038 --> 12:01.908 to be taken away, potentially by a bunch of 12:01.912 --> 12:05.282 wealthy, aristocratic guys who are going to be the ones 12:05.284 --> 12:08.414 standing in that room in Philadelphia debating. 12:08.408 --> 12:11.798 So they're basically imagining the Convention's going to be a 12:11.798 --> 12:14.848 bunch of aristocrats who are going to subvert a popular 12:14.849 --> 12:18.289 revolution and maybe even just toss the new country right back 12:18.293 --> 12:20.783 into a monarchical form of government. 12:20.778 --> 12:23.698 So those are the four people who at least the newspapers 12:23.697 --> 12:26.667 noted as really standing forth against the Convention. 12:26.668 --> 12:29.848 Now of course, the newspapers also reported on 12:29.846 --> 12:33.936 nine men who spoke in favor of attending the Convention. 12:33.940 --> 12:37.430 All of them were from commercial areas. 12:37.428 --> 12:39.408 They all argued, as you would expect them to 12:39.405 --> 12:40.945 argue, that the well-being of the 12:40.953 --> 12:43.663 Union and the well-being of the state of Connecticut really, 12:43.658 --> 12:46.898 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, 13:04.549 --> 13:06.859 and they couldn't do anything. 13:06.860 --> 13:07.870 Remember? 13:07.870 --> 13:11.030 [laughs] They asked us for something and 13:11.033 --> 13:14.443 we said no and that was the end of that. 13:14.440 --> 13:15.420 Remember, guys? 13:15.419 --> 13:18.289 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.' 13:21.519 --> 13:23.819 And he--this one delegate went on to say, 'Well, 13:23.820 --> 13:25.240 what about--Think about it. 13:25.240 --> 13:26.550 That's not even a problem. 13:26.549 --> 13:27.689 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? 13:33.158 --> 13:37.388 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 13:41.803 --> 13:44.873 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