The U.S. Constitution
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rom Paris, where he held a diplomatic post,
Thomas Jefferson described the delegated who convened in Philadelphia to draft
the U.S. Constitution an "assembly of demigods."
Yet
the Constitution was not handed down from on high. It was the product of the
painstaking, halting and often argumentative application of intelligence and
experience to problems of governance. The new Constitution was the product of
four months of secret negotiations and dozens of compromises.
The framers of the
Constitution were all white males. Most
were wealthy but not all had started out that way. There were the sons of
cobblers, clothiers, blacksmiths, and farmers as we as the sons of wealthy
planters. One was Roman Catholic. 30 had participated in the drafting of state
constitutions. 32 were lawyers, though few had attended law schools. Two were
college presidents, five were planters, eight were merchants or traders, and
three were physicians.About 25 owned slaves. Six had served or sere serving as
governors. Of the 55 delegates; two
became president; one became vice president; four served in the cabinet; 14
became senators and five became representatives.
The
average age of the delegates was 43. The oldest delegate was Franklin, 81; the
youngest, Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey, 26.
James Madison was 36 and Alexander Hamilton just 32. A third had fought
in the Revolution. Eight had signed the Declaration of Independence and six had
signed the Articles of Confederation. 44 of the 55 had served in the
Continental Congress or in the weak Congress established under the Articles of
Confederation.
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ost of
the delegates highly educated men, who were fluent in Latin and Greek and
knowledgeable about history and philosophy. Washington was embarrassed because
he had only five years of formal schooling. But the delegates were also highly
practical politicians who knew how to maneuver. Those who opposed the idea of a
stronger central government, such as Virginia's Patrick Henry, who said he "smelt
a rat," mostly stayed away.
Most of the delegates took a
skeptical, realistic view of human nature. They considered self-interest and
the lust for power universal human characteristics, which could be controlled
but not eliminated. They believed that even
good people in government cannot be trusted with unchecked power and that
governmental authority must be hedged with structured limitations. They saw
society as permanently conflict-riven.
The
framers of the Constitution had a profound respect for history. In contrast to
Jefferson, they looked to history and experience as a guide, not to reason or
nature. They combed history for lessons about the rise and fall of great
nations. They were especially interested in the history of the early Greek and Roman
republics. Looking at history, they were convinced that a loose confederation
would inevitably become weaker and would degenerate into monarchy or tyranny.
Weak confederations tended to emphasize the differences among their constituent
units and minimize their similarities and common interests.