America’s Secret Reboot： The Making of the U.S. Constitution ｜ The American Story ｜ Ep 8
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Toxicity
1
sentences flagged
Hate speech
5
sentences flagged
Summary
A government on the run, bouncing from one temporary home to another, like a bad house guest who can t find a permanent couch to crash on. This is the American story, The Beginnings, adapted from the book of the same title by David Barton and Tim Barton.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
When you travel well, your KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ticket takes you to more than just your destination.
00:00:06.280
It takes you to winding streets, spontaneous detours,
00:00:10.360
and the realisation that neither of you is actually good with directions.
00:00:15.680
And when the final shortcut taken isn't exactly short,
00:00:20.400
our crew is here to give you a trip home that goes just as planned.
00:00:25.660
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. When you travel, travel well.
00:00:30.000
it's june 20th 1783 philadelphia the heart of the american experiment 400 armed soldiers of
00:00:42.940
the continental army march toward independence hall the war is over last shots of the revolution
00:00:48.640
have been fired but the peace that hasn't quite yet arrived the treaty of paris that final
00:00:55.420
diplomatic bow tying off the conflict is still two months from being signed, and now the soldiers
00:01:00.860
who fought for American independence are turning their weapons on the very Congress they once
00:01:05.980
defended. James Madison watches from inside Independence Hall and writes later that the
00:01:12.280
soldiers were pointing muskets to the windows, quote-end-quote. He said that they were drunk,
00:01:17.360
angry and, quote, becoming increasingly abusive. They want their pay.
00:01:26.200
America, this patchwork of 13 states, is buried under a mountain of war debt, loans from France,
00:01:33.440
obligations to the Dutch bankers, and worst of all, back pay owed to the very soldiers who bled
00:01:39.280
for the nation's freedom. The young republic has no real treasury, no power to tax, and barely
00:01:45.180
the power to function. These men, who stared down the redcoats and endured brutal winters
00:01:51.380
of near starvation, are now facing a bitter truth. They might never ever see a dime of what was
00:01:57.760
promised. Whispers in the barracks turn to shouts and suddenly 400 Continental Army troops erupt
00:02:04.520
into action. The soldiers bar the door of Independence Hall. The delegates are now trapped
00:02:10.640
inside, held hostage by their own troops. The crowds outside grow more and more restless,
00:02:16.640
fueled by the rum and their sense of betrayal. It's a full-blown mutiny, a powder keg ready
00:02:23.040
to explode, the fragile unity of a nation barely born. It takes Alexander Hamilton,
00:02:30.800
himself a veteran of revolutionary battles, to calm things down. He negotiates, convincing the
00:02:36.880
soldiers to stand down just enough for congress to leave the building without harm but when congress
00:02:42.560
then begs the pennsylvania state militia for protection the state refuses without any
00:02:48.560
explanation maybe state leaders sympathize with the unpaid troops or perhaps they're too cowardly
00:02:55.200
to confront armed veterans so no help arrives hamilton's blood boils over at the lack of
00:03:01.760
assistance. He later writes to the governor of his home state, New York. The conduct of the
00:03:07.100
executive of this state was to the last degree weak and disgusting. Two days later, the mutiny
00:03:15.200
still simmers. No sign of soldiers backing down. The Confederation Congress makes a humiliating
00:03:22.680
run for it. They flee Philadelphia entirely, packing up what little dignity they have,
00:03:29.700
and they moved the national capital to Princeton, New Jersey.
00:03:34.020
For a nation just born, it feels like a breakdown.
00:03:40.260
and it now looks like it's eating itself alive.
00:03:42.980
The government that had won the war can't even protect itself from its own soldiers,
00:03:47.860
and yet this moment of near-mutiny becomes one of the sparks that ignites an essential reboot.
00:03:54.640
Because in 1783, America was not a strong union.
00:03:58.580
It was a fragile experiment, one paycheck away from total collapse.
00:04:03.760
The brand new nation was really not off to a great start.
00:04:16.180
Adapted from the book of the same title by David Barton and Tim Barton.
00:04:28.580
Picture this. A government on the run, bouncing from one temporary home to another like a
00:04:36.960
bad house guest who can't find a permanent couch to crash on. After that humiliating escape to
00:04:43.020
Princeton, New Jersey, the Confederation Congress just kept moving. Next, to Annapolis, Maryland,
00:04:48.160
then Trenton, New Jersey, and finally it landed in New York City. Each move felt less like progress
00:05:01.880
captured the frustration perfectly when he grumbled,
00:05:14.320
without giving them a power to perform engagements
00:05:22.500
had been born out of the revolution itself. The name came from none other than Benjamin Franklin
00:05:28.640
who sat on the original drafting committee in 1776. Under the articles, each of the 13 states
00:05:35.900
had one vote in Congress, no matter their population. Virginia, with nearly 20 times as
00:05:41.900
many people as Georgia, counted the same. The number of delegates sent to Congress by the states
00:05:47.280
varied over the years. If those delegates disagreed and split their state's single vote,
00:05:52.900
it didn't count at all. They served one-year terms, unpaid by Congress, relying on their
00:05:58.820
home states to cover the expenses, which many did not. A quorum required seven states just to get
00:06:05.760
any business started, and any matter involving the military, foreign policy, or finances
00:06:14.900
It was a government by committee, strangled by procedure.
00:06:19.760
And when it came to money, the Confederation Congress had absolutely no power to tax.
00:06:35.860
While George Washington didn't have to imagine,
00:06:37.700
the abysmal funding situation tortured him throughout the Revolutionary War.
00:06:42.620
The states issued their own currencies, had bitter trade wars with each other,
00:06:49.620
Congress could declare war, but it couldn't raise an army.
00:06:53.460
It could sign treaties, but it couldn't enforce them.
00:06:56.560
It could appoint ambassadors, but it couldn't pay for any expenses.
00:07:00.960
Just about any of these factors could be fixed by amending the Articles,
00:07:05.440
But any change to the Articles required unanimous approval from all 13 states.
00:07:11.860
Even one holdout could kill a vital reform that an overwhelming majority wanted.
00:07:19.700
Britain refused to vacate its forts in the Northwest Territory and hinted at carving off more land to attach to Canada.
00:07:26.560
Spain schemed in the South, even bribing a retired American general to deliver Tennessee to Spanish control.
00:07:34.140
Spain also closed the lower Mississippi River to all-American trade.
00:07:38.360
Meanwhile, the Barbary pirates in North Africa seized American merchant ships.
00:07:43.500
And the United States, having no navy, couldn't do anything but negotiate ransom.
00:07:52.280
Yet, and this is something our history books often gloss over,
00:08:00.860
they were crafted by men who were deeply suspicious of centralized power after years
00:08:06.120
under Britain's thumb. But this framework did manage to win the war against the world's top
00:08:11.560
military power at the time. It created the first federal departments of foreign affairs, war,
00:08:17.120
and finance, and it navigated the complex treaty of Paris. Most impressively, it created the
00:08:24.180
Northwest Ordinance, which laid out a roadmap for settling western lands, admitting new states,
00:08:29.000
and even banned slavery in those new territories.
00:08:33.360
Still, there was a growing sense that the Articles of Confederation
00:08:40.840
That it is necessary to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation,
00:08:49.380
But what may be the consequences of such an attempt is doubtful.
00:08:53.760
Yet something must be done, or the fabric must fall.
00:09:03.760
To pay off crushing war debt, Massachusetts raised land taxes to punishing levels.
00:09:09.760
Farmers, many of them veterans, lost their land in foreclosures.
00:09:13.760
They saw this as betrayal by the government that they had fought to create.
00:09:21.760
Farmers stormed into courts and shut down the foreclosures.
00:09:24.960
The state's Supreme Judicial Court labeled them, quote,
00:09:36.440
He was a Revolutionary War captain wounded in battle.
00:09:39.520
He was a man who risked everything for independence,
00:09:44.480
Now, he led 1,500 rebels calling themselves regulators
00:09:48.640
determined to bring down what they called the tyrannical government of Massachusetts.
00:09:53.720
Many of them wore their old continental uniforms.
00:09:56.620
They invoked the same revolutionary spirit that once had united the colonies.
00:10:02.000
Many of George Washington's friends wrote to warn him about this movement.
00:10:07.240
In one word, my dear General, we are all in dire apprehension
00:10:11.100
that a beginning of anarchy, with all its calamities, has approached.
00:10:14.960
Washington's trusted ally from the war, Henry Knox, told him that these rebels wanted to turn private property into, quote, the common property of all.
00:10:25.180
He feared that the movement could spread and plunge the country into civil war.
00:10:31.140
In January 1787, Shays' rebels marched on the Springfield Armory, intent on seizing its muskets and its gunpowder.
00:10:44.980
because Congress didn't have any funds to pay them.
00:10:51.100
On the eve before the clash that seemed inevitable,
00:10:53.820
a message was intercepted that revealed the rebels' plan.
00:11:12.420
More than 4,000 rebels signed confessions for amnesty.
00:11:17.200
Daniel Shays, he was indicted but later pardoned.
00:11:21.020
He lived another 37 years drinking heavily and scraping by on the small pension he eventually
00:11:27.220
received for his service in the revolution.
0.93
00:11:30.080
Shays' rebellion, it sent shockwaves across the states.
00:11:33.980
a wake-up call that the article's weaknesses could lead to outright collapse.
00:11:39.920
Few felt that fear more than George Washington.
00:11:42.580
He was back at Mount Vernon, and he had tried to settle back into the quiet farm life that he loved.
00:11:48.060
But the reports of the rebellion and unrest pained him.
00:11:53.340
I am mortified beyond expression when I view the clouds that have spread over the brightest morn that ever dawned in any country.
00:12:02.600
What a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions.
00:12:07.680
What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves
00:12:14.640
and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious.
00:12:23.340
That letter captured the mood of an entire generation.
00:12:30.900
But liberty without order was starting to look a lot like anarchy.
00:12:37.220
A safer Ontario means more police and prosecutors making sure my car doesn't get stolen.
00:12:42.840
It means building new jails to keep criminals behind bars.
00:12:46.360
And it means there's no need to worry when I play at the park.
00:12:49.420
We're making every corner of Ontario safer to make all of Ontario safer.
00:12:56.220
for all of us. Learn how at Ontario.ca slash SaferOntario. Paid for by the Government of Ontario.
00:13:07.440
Some people feel kind of stuck right now. On one hand, they built up a lot of equity in their home
00:13:11.780
over the years. But on the other hand, they're looking at that low mortgage rate that they've
00:13:15.740
had for a long time, like it's a family heirloom that you need to protect at all costs. I get it.
00:13:20.320
If you locked into a really good rate a few years ago, the idea of refinancing your entire mortgage
00:13:25.760
right now probably feels like a horrible financial decision. That's why I want you to know about the
00:13:31.040
Smart Equity Loan from American Financing. It is designed to help you access the equity in your
00:13:37.460
home without giving up your low first mortgage rate. So whether you're trying to pay off high
00:13:42.900
interest credit card debt, handle a big expense, make improvements to your home, or just give
00:13:46.940
yourself some financial breathing room, this could be a really smart option to look into.
00:13:51.220
Call American Financing. They actually will take the time to talk you through your specific situation.
00:13:56.500
There's no upfront fees to find out if you even qualify.
00:13:59.500
So call them now, 800-906-2440, 800-906-2440, or AmericanFinancing.net.
00:14:07.560
Hey, if you're enjoying this and you want to keep going, you don't have to wait a week for the next episode.
00:14:11.880
Torch insiders already have access to the first 10 episodes of The American Story right now, ad-free.
00:14:18.160
Just go to glenbeck.com slash torch and unlock the full experience today.
00:14:23.740
Shays' Rebellion revealed giant cracks in the Young Republic.
00:14:27.820
In September 1786, just weeks after the rebellion began,
00:14:31.540
leaders from several states gathered in Annapolis, Maryland to talk about the crisis.
00:14:37.700
Officially, the meeting was supposed to be about commerce and how to address trade disputes between states.
00:14:43.260
But everyone in the room knew it was really about something much, much bigger.
00:14:48.720
Only five states showed up to the meeting in Annapolis.
00:14:52.080
It could have been a disaster, just another symbol of dysfunction.
00:14:56.100
But one of the delegates was named James Madison.
00:14:59.520
He was a 35-year-old Virginian who had been quietly preparing for this moment for a very long time.
00:15:06.780
He had spent the past few years studying ancient and modern confederacies,
00:15:12.960
He was trying to understand what made all of them collapse.
00:15:16.320
As part of this effort, he received trunkloads of books from his close friend Thomas Jefferson,
00:15:21.480
who was serving as the minister to France at the time.
00:15:25.280
Madison convinced the small group in Annapolis that patchwork fixes would not save the Union.
00:15:31.240
The articles weren't just flawed, they were doomed.
00:15:34.540
He pushed for something radical, overhauling the entire system.
00:15:41.100
he drafted a provocative resolution calling for a follow-up convention in Philadelphia the next May
00:15:47.020
with the sweeping goal of comprehensive reform.
00:15:52.840
Later that fall, James Madison rode to Mount Vernon to visit George Washington.
00:15:57.620
The Virginia legislature had voted to send seven delegates to the Philadelphia convention,
00:16:02.700
and they wanted George Washington to lead them.
00:16:10.400
he was content with his life at Mount Vernon. He thought about it for a while and ended up
00:16:15.720
writing to Virginia's governor Edmund Randolph, formally declining the offer. But the nation's
00:16:22.180
troubles kept tugging at Washington. Letters poured in from Madison, from Henry Knox, from
00:16:26.860
Hamilton, all begging him to reconsider. They needed him to lend his name, his authority,
00:16:32.740
his reputation to a government on the brink. By February 1787, the Confederation Congress
00:16:41.880
finally agreed to endorse the call for a convention in Philadelphia. Officially,
00:16:47.380
Congress said it would be, quote, for the sole express and purposes of revising the Articles
00:16:52.600
of Confederation. But Madison, Hamilton, and others knew the phrase revising the Articles
00:17:11.300
Washington changed his mind about the Philadelphia Convention.
00:17:14.880
He still had reservations, but he wrote to Governor Randolph once again.
00:17:18.920
I declare to you that my assent is given contrary to my judgment.
00:17:23.820
I have yielded, however, to what appeared to be the earnest wishes of my friends, and I will hope for the best.
00:17:33.580
Washington and his enslaved valet, William Lee, rode north that May.
00:17:39.280
Lee was by Washington's side through every step of the Revolutionary War, even in battle.
00:17:44.840
In Washington's will, he provided for the eventual freedom of all of his slaves at Mount Vernon, but Lee's freedom was immediate.
00:17:51.540
He also gave Lee an annual pension and the right to live in Mount Vernon for life.
00:17:58.200
When Washington arrived in Philadelphia, he stayed in the home of Robert Morris.
00:18:02.720
He was one of the wealthiest men in America and a delegate from Pennsylvania.
00:18:07.060
The city buzzed with rumors about what the secret convention just might do.
00:18:16.380
Its citizens were just too distrustful of a strong central government.
00:18:20.100
That defiance earned them the nickname Rogue Island.
00:18:24.920
The convention met daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Pennsylvania Statehouse,
00:18:30.160
better known as Independence Hall, since that's where the declaration had been approved and signed almost 11 years earlier.
00:18:38.260
There were 55 delegates, though not all would stick around to the end.
00:18:45.380
They were planters and lawyers, merchants and judges.
00:18:53.260
Most had served in the Continental Congress, and eight had signed the Declaration itself.
00:18:59.140
On the Convention's first day, Benjamin Franklin, now 81,
00:19:03.520
nominated Washington to serve as President of the Convention.
00:19:12.640
If Washington led the proceedings, it would help the public trust whatever came out of that room.
00:19:17.860
The delegates made a pledge of total secrecy, and Washington enforced it with military precision.
00:19:24.740
The windows were shut tight, the curtains were drawn, no one spoke to the press, not a single word of debate leaked out.
00:19:32.680
Americans had no clue as to what was really going on inside of Independence Hall.
00:19:38.040
One day, a delegate accidentally dropped a copy of the proposed resolutions in the hall.
00:19:43.860
Someone found them and brought them to George Washington.
00:19:47.040
Like a schoolteacher, Washington stood at his desk at the front of the hall and addressed the convention.
00:19:52.460
Gentlemen, I am sorry to find that some one member of this body has been so neglectful of the secrets of the convention
00:20:01.260
as to drop in the statehouse a copy of their proceedings, which by accident was picked up and delivered to me this morning.
00:20:10.480
I must entreat the gentleman to be more careful, lest our transactions get into the newspapers and disturb the public repose by premature speculations.
00:20:24.060
I do not know whose paper it is, but there it is.
00:20:34.260
Inside that locked room, James Madison took meticulous notes, often word for word. He vowed
00:20:41.660
never to release them until every delegate had died. True to his word, he outlived them all,
00:20:48.380
dying in 1836. Madison, with approval from the Virginia delegation, had spent months before the
00:20:54.740
convention drafting a master plan. Virginia's governor, Edmund Randolph, presented this plan
00:21:00.840
on opening day. It called for three branches of government, legislative, executive, and judicial,
00:21:08.080
each one with checks and balances on the other. The legislature would have two chambers, both
00:21:15.140
based on proportional representation, giving big states more power than the small ones.
00:21:20.640
It also proposed that Congress could veto any state law it deemed unconstitutional.
00:21:26.820
Only parts of the Virginia plan made it into the final constitution,
00:21:31.180
but Virginia succeeded in setting the agenda for the convention.
00:21:35.620
The delegates realized this convention wasn't about revising the articles.
00:21:44.300
This was a bombshell proposal that made smaller states furious.
00:21:50.180
Over the next four months, through sweltering summer heat,
00:21:52.920
they argued, they compromised, they slowly invented an unprecedented system of government.
00:21:59.320
Tempers flared, delegates stormed out, and 12 eventually quit altogether. On many days,
00:22:07.260
the experiment seemed seconds away from collapse. Slavery, of course, proved to be a political
00:22:13.300
landmine. The convention blew their opportunity to rid the nation of slavery almost right away,
00:22:18.340
Yet, there's no way slave states would have signed on if an outright ban was the only option.
00:22:25.500
Ben Franklin had recently been named the president of the Philadelphia Abolition Society.
00:22:31.680
He planned to propose condemning slavery in a new constitution, but the northern delegates persuaded him not to.
00:22:39.320
Instead, the framers avoided the word slavery entirely, tiptoeing around it as if it didn't exist.
00:22:45.820
and every clause that dealt with it was a compromise.
00:22:52.280
from ending the slave trade for 20 years until 1808.
00:22:57.240
Then came the notorious three-fifths compromise.
00:23:01.140
This was proposed by James Wilson of Pennsylvania
00:23:06.760
It counted each slave as three-fifths of a person
00:23:10.100
for the purpose of determining representation in Congress.
00:23:13.160
That proposal drew an angry response from another Pennsylvania delegate, Governor Morris.
00:23:19.240
The admission of slaves into the representation, when fairly explained, comes to this,
00:23:26.400
that the inhabitant of Georgia and South Carolina, who goes to the coast of Africa
00:23:31.260
and in defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity,
0.94
00:23:35.720
tears away his fellow creatures from their dearest connections
00:23:39.460
and damns them to the most cruel bondages shall have more votes in a government instituted for
0.59
00:23:46.480
protection of the rights of mankind than the citizen of Pennsylvania or New Jersey who views
00:23:52.900
with a laudable horror so nefarious a practice. Many people, even today, misinterpret the
00:24:00.720
compromise as a declaration that enslaved people were three-fifths human. The truth was crueler.
00:24:07.160
The slaveholders were the ones demanding that their slaves count fully to increase their
00:24:13.160
political power. The northern delegates didn't want them to be counted at all.
00:24:18.460
The compromise was about political clout, not humanity. And yet, as divisive as the slavery
00:24:25.940
question was, it wasn't the issue that almost ended the convention. That fight was just getting
00:24:33.460
started. Being prepared has always been a good idea, but Jace Medical is taking that idea to
00:24:38.680
the next level with the Jace Plus and the Pocket Paramedic. Most people get supplies and then hope
00:24:43.700
they never have to use them, but preparedness doesn't end there. Supplies run low, and when
00:24:47.140
something actually happens, you don't want to be figuring it out in real time. I asked Jace to
00:24:50.920
solve this issue for anybody who's like me and is prepared. Jace Plus, it's a membership designed
00:24:55.680
to help you stay ready over time. With membership, you get 15% off all of their products at Jace.com,
00:25:00.540
50% off replenishment medications, free shipping insurance, early access to new product launches
00:25:06.300
and exclusive promotions, and 5% cash back on every purchase as easy to use as store credit.
00:25:11.820
Then there is the Pocket Paramedic. Knowing how to use your kit when it matters is everything.
00:25:15.940
So they have real-time guidance for everyday injuries and situations. So you're not guessing,
00:25:20.120
you're responding with confidence. This is all about responsibility and self-reliance and being
00:25:24.120
ready without overcomplicating it. Jace Plus and the Pocket Paramedic. They're available now
00:25:28.820
only at jace.com j-a-s-e.com use the promo code free month for one month free jace.com
00:25:35.460
want to see your rewards go further now at shell scene plus members can fill up on points at the
00:25:42.220
pump on snacks car wash and more plus scotia bank and tangerine card holders can get up to 10 cents
00:25:49.160
per liter in value with a linked card new rewards partners new ways to save and earn at shell
00:25:57.500
At participating Shell locations, conditions and limits apply.
00:26:05.940
When an unexpected pregnancy happens, the focus is almost always on the mother and the dads.
00:26:11.620
Too often, they're overlooked, pushed to the side, left feeling like their voice doesn't matter.
00:26:17.720
You want to be supportive, you want to do the right thing, but fear sets in.
00:26:26.660
John wrote to me and he said, me, dad, that didn't even feel possible.
00:26:30.620
I didn't know the first thing about being a good father, but then we found pre-born.
00:26:36.880
We got free ultrasound, and that's when it all came together for me, that we could do
00:26:42.820
Today, you can help another father experience the same moment of hope.
00:26:47.000
For $28, you can sponsor an ultrasound through pre-born and help expectant parents see a
00:26:52.420
future filled with life and compassion and the hope of God's love. Donate. Dial pound 250. Say
00:26:58.660
the keyword baby. That's pound 250 keyword baby or visit preborn.com slash Glenn. That's preborn.com
00:27:05.100
slash Glenn. The convention had been simmering for weeks. Nothing came easy. But the issue that
00:27:15.740
almost imploded the convention was proportional representation. Who should hold power in the new
00:27:22.160
Congress, the people, or the states. The Virginia Plan, with its proportional representation,
00:27:29.000
basing congressional seats on population, gave the larger states like Virginia and Pennsylvania
00:27:34.320
much more influence. The smaller states had no intention of surrendering equal power that
00:27:40.300
they'd enjoyed under the Articles of Confederation, so they came back with their own idea. The New
00:27:45.680
Jersey plan. One chamber, one vote per state, no matter the population. 13 sovereign entities
00:27:53.480
side by side. James Wilson of Pennsylvania, one of the most articulate men in the room,
00:27:59.400
stood to argue for proportional representation. He was an immigrant from Scotland who spoke with
00:28:05.240
a strong Scottish brogue. Can we forget for whom we are forming a government? Is it for men or for
00:28:20.340
Then William Patterson of New Jersey rose to respond.
00:28:26.620
of 13 independent sovereign states for federal purposes.
00:28:32.500
Can we consolidate their sovereignty and form one nation
00:28:58.060
you have to understand what the word federal meant back then.
00:29:03.640
Under the articles, federal meant a partnership,
00:29:07.200
a loose association of equal states. Sovereignty ultimately rested with the states and, by
00:29:13.300
extension, the people. The nationalists, like Madison and Hamilton, were redefining that word.
00:29:19.660
They envisioned a shared sovereignty, where state and national governments cooperated in parallel,
00:29:27.100
but ultimate authority rested with the national one. In other words, not a partnership, but a
00:29:33.440
hierarchy. Then came the quiet voice from the back of the room, Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
00:29:41.380
He was a man who was on the committee to write both the Declaration of Independence
00:29:44.660
and the Articles of Confederation. He suggested a middle ground. What if the lower house,
00:29:52.160
the House of Representatives, was based on population, while the upper house,
00:29:56.020
the Senate, gave each state equal votes. This had potential, but the delegates set it aside and
00:30:04.380
held a vote for the proportional representation in the House. It passed, yet emotions were still
00:30:09.620
running hot. They weren't ready for Sherman's meet-in-the-middle approach yet. The debate
00:30:14.360
about the Senate raged on. Luther Martin of Maryland, fiery and long-winded, took to the
00:30:21.280
floor for a three-hour tirade. He accused the big states of scheming for domination. He thundered
00:30:27.920
that if Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts insisted on control, the smaller states would walk
00:30:33.860
out and form their own confederation. The tension was unbearable. Then Gunning Bedford of Delaware
00:30:42.920
spoke up. Referring to the big states, he said, they insist they never will hurt or injure the
00:30:49.640
lesser states. I do not, gentlemen, trust you. Adding that if the smaller states form their
00:30:57.260
own confederation, the fault will be yours and all the nations of the earth will justify us.
00:31:03.460
The large states dare not dissolve the confederation. If they do, the small ones will
00:31:10.500
find some foreign ally of more honor and good faith to take them by the hand and do them justice.
00:31:24.980
Alexander Hamilton, exhausted, slipped away to New York on business.
00:31:33.000
I fear that we shall let slip the golden opportunity of rescuing the American empire from disunion, anarchy and misery.
00:31:40.400
One of Washington's former French officers visited him in Philadelphia and said,
00:31:45.740
The expression on his face reminded me of its expression during the terrible months we were in Valley Forge camp.
00:31:55.480
Delegates muttered that the convention might collapse entirely.
00:31:59.100
And then, on June 28th, the oldest man in the room stood up.
00:32:10.160
Every day he was transported from his house to the hall in a chair
00:32:17.340
When he had something to say during the convention,
00:32:19.500
he usually handed prepared statements to James Wilson, who just read them aloud.
00:32:24.400
But this time, Franklin stood and spoke on his own.
00:32:29.240
In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain,
00:32:32.040
when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.
00:32:38.200
Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.
00:32:43.580
All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.
00:32:51.020
To that kind providence, we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity.
00:33:01.560
And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?
00:33:03.780
I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this
00:33:11.600
truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without
00:33:19.480
his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir,
00:33:37.200
And I also believe that without His concurring aid,
00:33:40.040
we shall succeed in this political building
0.96
00:33:45.380
We shall be divided by our little partial local interests.
0.93
00:33:57.280
And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance
00:34:02.540
despair of establishing governments by human wisdom
00:34:10.580
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers
00:34:15.080
imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations
00:34:19.300
be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business,
00:34:33.200
The doctor sat down, and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted
00:34:39.680
as was that of Washington at the close of the address.
00:34:43.880
Nor were the members of the convention generally less affected.
00:34:51.200
Hamilton and others objected that bringing in clergy would violate their vow of secrecy,
00:34:55.940
and besides, the convention had no funds to pay for ministers.
00:34:59.320
But Franklin's words changed something intangible.
00:35:06.140
and just in time, because the biggest vote of the summer was coming.
00:35:20.980
should every state have equal votes in the Senate?
00:35:25.120
The roll was called, and when the final tally came in, it was a deadlock.
00:35:32.200
The solution, a special committee, one delegate from each state to hammer out a deal.
00:35:38.560
Two days later, July 4th, the convention recessed for Independence Day celebrations.
00:35:49.380
the delegates were reminded at least for a day of what they had fought and sacrificed so much for.
00:35:55.740
When they reconvened, the committee presented its plan. The House of Representatives would
00:36:00.740
be based on population. The Senate would give each state two seats, chosen by state legislators.
00:36:08.180
Senators would not be elected by popular vote until the progressive 17th Amendment was passed
00:36:14.640
in 1913. The delegates debated, then they voted, and the compromise passed.
00:36:22.700
This was the turning point, the moment when the convention shifted from despair to hope.
00:36:29.680
James Wilson said, we should consider that we are providing a constitution for future
00:36:35.480
generations, and not just for the circumstances of the moment. Alexander Hamilton later marveled
00:36:44.340
For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which, without the finger of God,
00:36:50.040
never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.
00:36:54.820
After months of chaos, sweat, and near collapse, they had finally found common ground.
00:37:02.140
But they still had to get across the finish line.
00:37:05.480
for 250 years americans have believed in one powerful idea we're meant to live free we're
00:37:14.520
free to work hard free to move free to enjoy life without being held back but every day i don't know
00:37:19.260
about you my body hurts aches and pains if they're slowing you down it might be time to declare your
00:37:24.220
independence from pain i started taking relief factor years ago to get my life back to thrive
00:37:28.580
again and i still take it every day because it works for me relief factor is 100 drug free
00:37:33.820
It's a research-based formula that is designed to help your body fight inflammation,
00:37:39.460
It's not a quick fix. It's not a temporary mask.
00:37:45.200
Created so people can get back to living life on their own terms.
00:37:48.080
Walking, working, exercising. Enjoy the moments that matter.
00:37:51.020
This year, as we celebrate 250 years of American independence,
00:37:55.560
To commemorate, they're offering a special patriotic price, just $17.76.
00:38:00.060
Declare your independence from pain. Take control.
00:38:02.480
1776 three-week quick start ready for you right now visit relieffactor.com 800-4-RELIEF
00:38:09.360
for more of the history that inspired this podcast series be sure to read
00:38:17.660
the american story the beginnings by david barton and tim barton available now at wallbuilders.com
00:38:32.480
By September of 1787, the heat had finally broken in Philadelphia, but inside Independence Hall, the atmosphere was still thick with exhaustion, tension, and the smell of ink and candle wax.
00:38:48.560
For four long months, the delegates had argued, compromised, and nearly walked out more times than anybody could count.
00:39:00.440
The final draft had been polished by a special committee that included James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Governor Morris.
00:39:07.940
This was the moment that Madison had dreamed of.
00:39:11.840
Though he never really wanted credit years later when somebody called him the father of the Constitution,
00:39:19.620
You give me a credit to which I have no claim in calling me the writer of the Constitution of the United States.
00:39:26.820
This was not, like the fabled goddess of wisdom, the offspring of a single brain.
00:39:32.880
Morris drafted the preamble that echoes still today through American history.
00:39:37.680
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
00:39:42.220
establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
00:39:48.180
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
00:39:54.200
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
00:40:01.640
Monday, September 17th, 1787. The delegates gathered one final time. George Washington,
00:40:10.640
stoic and reserved as ever, called the meeting to order and recognized Benjamin Franklin.
00:40:16.780
Franklin once again rose from his seat and handed a written statement to James Wilson, who read it aloud.
00:40:23.620
I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution that I do not at present approve,
00:40:30.620
but I am not sure that I shall never approve them.
00:40:34.580
For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information
00:40:41.720
or fuller consideration to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right
00:40:49.860
but found to be otherwise. In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this constitution with all its
00:40:58.200
faults, if they are such. I consent, sir, to this constitution because I expect no better
00:41:05.440
and because I am not sure that it is not the best.
00:41:10.040
I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of this convention,
00:41:14.500
who may still have objections to it, would with me on this occasion
00:41:21.960
and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.
00:41:33.620
But in that moment, unity mattered more than perfection.
00:41:39.540
One by one, the delegates stepped forward to sign.
00:41:59.100
George Mason and Edmund Randolph, both Virginians, declined as well.
00:42:03.620
Randolph had been one of the two to introduce the Virginia Plan four months earlier,
00:42:08.120
but now he feared the Constitution went too far in creating a powerful central government.
00:42:17.040
Washington's 30-year friendship with George Mason collapsed over the disagreement.
00:42:24.500
As Franklin stepped forward to sign, tears streaked his face.
00:42:28.340
When it was done, he looked towards Washington's chair,
00:42:31.320
which had a carved sun at the top of the high back.
00:42:35.340
He turned to those around him, and James Madison recorded his words.
00:42:39.500
I have often, in the course of the session, looked at that sun behind the president
00:42:47.080
without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting.
00:42:52.440
But now at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.
00:43:07.600
Signing the U.S. Constitution was only half the battle.
00:43:11.980
It still had to be ratified by at least nine of the 13 states.
00:43:19.300
Should everything proceed with harmony and consent according to our actual wishes and
00:43:25.580
expectations, it will be so much beyond anything we had a right to imagine or expect 18 months ago
00:43:33.960
that it will, as visibly as any possible event in the course of human affairs,
00:43:41.020
demonstrate the finger of providence. The public ratification fight did not proceed
00:43:54.500
lit up with editorials both for and against the new Constitution.
00:44:01.040
who had walked out of the convention in protest,
00:44:16.760
a federal court system, the presidency, even the idea of a permanent capital city.
00:44:21.660
Some worried the new executive branch looked too much like a monarchy.
00:44:26.040
Benjamin Franklin had suggested a small executive council instead of a single president.
00:44:31.780
To shape the debate, the Constitution's supporters got creative with branding.
00:44:36.600
The Nationalists, Madison, Hamilton, and their allies,
00:44:40.360
knew the word national sounded threatening to a lot of Americans.
00:44:43.960
So they rebranded themselves as Federalists, a term that evoked balance and cooperation.
00:44:51.680
Their opponents, who feared centralized power, became known as the Anti-Federalists.
00:44:57.720
It wasn't entirely accurate as a label since they weren't opposed to a federal system in the traditional sense.
00:45:04.560
They just simply believed power should rest primarily with the states.
00:45:08.200
To win over skeptics, Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay launched a coordinated campaign in New York newspapers under the shared pen of Publius.
00:45:18.760
The essays they wrote are called the Federalist Papers.
00:45:22.820
They became a defense of the Constitution's logic, structure, and necessity.
00:45:31.260
What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?
00:45:36.200
If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
00:45:41.720
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men,
00:45:49.040
You must first enable the government to control the governed,
00:45:53.080
and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.
00:45:57.700
The Anti-Federalists, meanwhile, warned of tyranny,
00:46:01.620
not from a king, but from the new government itself.
00:46:04.680
They worried about the absence of explicit protections for individual rights, but even
00:46:11.340
they agreed that the current system under the Articles could not survive.
00:46:16.060
Ultimately, the argument wasn't over whether to fix the government, but how.
00:46:30.000
In June, New Hampshire became the ninth, pushing the document into law.
00:46:34.240
But everyone knew that without Virginia and New York, the Union might fracture anyway.
00:46:40.060
The vote in Virginia was close, but they did ultimately approve it.
00:46:44.680
So did New York, after Hamilton's relentless campaigning.
00:47:01.500
The Revolution had won independence, but now the Constitution had secured survival.
00:47:09.140
In the end, what happened inside that locked, sweltering room in 1787 wasn't just a political
00:47:16.660
It was a fusion of ambition, vision, and insight about human nature that somehow produced something
00:47:25.940
The United States was finally, hopefully, off and running.
00:47:30.860
But there was one top priority for the Anti-Federalist, which for many of them was the number one
00:47:36.540
incentive for ratifying the Constitution, the creation of a Bill of Rights.
00:47:45.360
Coming up on The American Story, The Beginnings.
00:47:50.280
He looks out over his farm, it's the place he loves more than any battlefield, any council
00:47:55.580
chamber, any capital city, and he understands. If he says yes, his life will once again no longer
00:48:03.740
be his own. Washington closes his eyes, and in that moment, he knows. He's under no illusion
00:48:13.000
about how difficult it will be. I should consider myself as entering upon an unexplored field,
00:48:19.980
Enveloped on every side with clouds and darkness
00:48:36.340
I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast