It is a little over one week to September 17th, a truly important date in America’s history but a date most people are unaware of. On September 17, in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was approved by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
While all of us are aware of the U.S. Constitution, many of us are not aware of the fierce and bitter fight between the delegates that almost lead to the failure of the convention.
Here is a quick view of the history of the Constitution:
The 13 colonies had united to free themselves from the rule of England.
But now the war was won, the common enemy defeated. Now the 13 colonies turned to battle with each other over the design of the new government.
The states were very different in terms of their economies and their social interest yet they held three things in common.
- To create a successful government they needed each other
- The fear of a powerful central government
- The belief that each state and all of the people have a voice in the central government
The Convention was called to order by Robert Morris, the financier of the revolution, on May 25, 1787 but some of the delegates didn’t arrive until August 6th.
Fierce and bitter battles arose between different factions at the Convention:
- Large versus small states over representation in the congress
- Manufacturing versus agricultural states over the role of the new government in regulating commerce and taxation
- Northern versus southern states over slavery
Even George Washington who was unanimously elected President of the Convention almost decided not to attend.
When the delegates approved the Constitution the battle to define the new government was not over. A bigger challenge than reaching agreement at the Constitutional Convention now had to be faced– ratification of the Constitution by 9 of the 13 states. Madison helped set the stage for victory by getting the delegates to agree that ratification in each state would be by a convention of the people not by members of the state government.
If you would like to know a little bit more, click on this link and you will find a short and unscholarly summary of the history of the U.S. Constitution. Many books have been written about this subject, some with over 900 pages, mine is not an attempt to compete with great scholars but rather to provide a brief, headline version of the difficult times our Founding Fathers faced in the crafting of our Constitution. In light of all the discussion today about what is constitutional and what is not I thought revisiting what happened at the beginning would be helpful to you and with this information you can make up your own mind about the many arguments we hear today between people in Washington DC who are supposed to be representing us. I hope you enjoy it and learn at least one little piece of information that you didn’t know before-Happy Constitution Day!