Thursday, October 9, 2008
Chronicles of Today's Debate
Today was a day of great happenings. A day that will go down in the history of America for the rest of eternity. Today, the 25th of May (1787) was the first official day of the Constitutional Convention. You might be wondering, fellow Virginians, well why did James Madison leave for Philadelphia two weeks ago? Well the answer is simple. He is THAT dedicated. Along side the wonderful James Madison was Governor Edmund Randolph and James Wilson. In total there were 55 delegates and presumably 3 journalists. I, just one of the lowly journalists, was fortunate enough to be in the presence of such great men. It amazed me how such great men could spend so much time arguing. But I assure you that all of this extensive debate will eventually be for the better of our Nation. For these great men, namely James Madison, surely will not do us wrong.
I sit here now in the luxury of my cousin’s (A Pennsylvania resident) home, reviewing my notes and pondering on behalf of what I witnessed today. And to be honest my fellow citizens, I wish you all could have been there to see the starting formation of what will eventually become our constitution. But for now, my chronicles will have to do.
It was approximately eight o’clock in the morning, when we all convened into the Pennsylvania State House. My first thoughts were in awe with the extravagant décor, yet overwhelmed by the crowded chaos. Set up and small talk took up the first 30 minutes, but conversation was soon halted by the announcement of Benjamin Franklin’s opening speech.
As he walked up to the podium to give his words of wisdom, his presence was felt by all. Seeing a man, who has been a part of all of the most significant moments regarding the founding of the United States, made me realize exactly how important this convention is to the future of our Nation.
Following Benjamin Franklin’s address was the presentation of the Virginia Plan. Virginia Delegate James Madison introduced the plan with a speech explaining the entirety, as well as issuing a commercial and radio ad to give a more thorough presentation. His idea is to recreate the United States under an entirely different form of government - a republic. In a republic, the people are the ultimate power, and the people transfer that power to representatives. This is certainly a contrast from our current Confederation, considering it is the individual state that appoints the members of the Congress. His vision includes separate authorities with separate responsibilities, allowing no one to control too much of the government; and a dominant national government, curbing the power of the states.
Once the Virginia Plan was stated, all of Madison’s fellow delegates, including James Wilson joined him to help back up his plan. The main topic of debate seemed to be the smaller state’s concern of not being equally represented in the Congress. The Virginia Plan believed that representation should be based on population because all men should be regarded as equals. In other words, it would be unfair for the smaller states to have the same number of representatives as the larger, because there are more people that should be accounted for. Delegate William Patterson strongly disliked the idea of representation being based off of population, and his opinion on this was heavily repeated. The concern for the number of representatives was the main matter of dislike in regards to this plan.
After a great deal of debate on the Virginia Plan, Delegate William Patterson put aside his fury and presented what he believed to be the better plan. With a radio ad and commercial as well, Patterson stated the main points of the New Jersey Plan. I am sure all of you are well aware by now about all of the main ideas of each plan, so I will spare you the details of this New Jersey Plan. Quickly after Patterson’s speech, another debate emerged. Radical Patrick Henry was a part of this plan, but it almost seemed as though he was not. His thoughts seem to be completely different from everyone else’s and I am not sure if he was even on the same page as the other New Jersey Plan delegates. This debate was much like the attack on the Virginia Plan when it comes to the issue on the number of representatives, but somewhat had a different twist. The delegates for the Virginia Plan were not too happy with the New Jersey Plan call for a weaker central government. A weak central government might as well not even be a central government in the first place, for it will not do any good. If the central government is weak, the overall economy and trade will be unbalanced; therefore our Nation will be weak. All of these concerns were adequately debated among all of the delegates. Another issue with the New Jersey Plan was that it was basically advocating our current government situation under the Articles of Confederation. The whole reason that this convention took place was because our old style of government is clearly not working and we strongly need to come up with a new one. In essence, all of the delegates were still arguing excessively and after seeing all of this I realized that it was going to be a long summer.
Finally a “somewhat” compromise was presented in the same format of the other plans. Representatives for the Connecticut Compromise consisted of Delegate Roger Sherman and Benjamin Franklin. Because Benjamin Franklin did not wish to debate the matters of this convention, as he stated in his speech, Delegate Ellsworth stepped into plate to assist Sherman. Debate on this compromise varied between the Virginia and New Jersey Plan (who will most likely never come to an agreement). The Virginia Plan delegates sufficiently debated the matter of how it was unfair and unjust for the Senate to be represented equally by all states, for the people from the largely populated states would not have equal voice in the government. If all the states had the same number of representatives, it would be possible to pass laws that only a minority of the population actually agreed with. Secondly, the Virginia Plan thought that their idea of having a larger legislature electing members to the supreme court was much more effective than the Compromise’s plan to have a tiny executive branch choose the entire Supreme Court. Lastly the Virginia Plan felt that the Compromise does not give the central government as much power as it should. If the individual state governments have too much power, it will be difficult to keep our country united. Once again the debate from the New Jersey side was brought back to the point about equal representation because they seemed to be fearful of not having enough power.
After witnessing all of these debates, I am well aware of the fact that it will be a long time until I return home to the south, for this convention has a lot to discuss and accomplish. Luckily, the summers up here are not quite so hot, but I will surely miss the sereneness of the south. Keep praying for a quick conclusion and a population based representation. I plan to keep you all informed on the matters of this debate.
Until next time,
Conley Fendler
Journalist for The Virginia Gazette
I sit here now in the luxury of my cousin’s (A Pennsylvania resident) home, reviewing my notes and pondering on behalf of what I witnessed today. And to be honest my fellow citizens, I wish you all could have been there to see the starting formation of what will eventually become our constitution. But for now, my chronicles will have to do.
It was approximately eight o’clock in the morning, when we all convened into the Pennsylvania State House. My first thoughts were in awe with the extravagant décor, yet overwhelmed by the crowded chaos. Set up and small talk took up the first 30 minutes, but conversation was soon halted by the announcement of Benjamin Franklin’s opening speech.
As he walked up to the podium to give his words of wisdom, his presence was felt by all. Seeing a man, who has been a part of all of the most significant moments regarding the founding of the United States, made me realize exactly how important this convention is to the future of our Nation.
Following Benjamin Franklin’s address was the presentation of the Virginia Plan. Virginia Delegate James Madison introduced the plan with a speech explaining the entirety, as well as issuing a commercial and radio ad to give a more thorough presentation. His idea is to recreate the United States under an entirely different form of government - a republic. In a republic, the people are the ultimate power, and the people transfer that power to representatives. This is certainly a contrast from our current Confederation, considering it is the individual state that appoints the members of the Congress. His vision includes separate authorities with separate responsibilities, allowing no one to control too much of the government; and a dominant national government, curbing the power of the states.
Once the Virginia Plan was stated, all of Madison’s fellow delegates, including James Wilson joined him to help back up his plan. The main topic of debate seemed to be the smaller state’s concern of not being equally represented in the Congress. The Virginia Plan believed that representation should be based on population because all men should be regarded as equals. In other words, it would be unfair for the smaller states to have the same number of representatives as the larger, because there are more people that should be accounted for. Delegate William Patterson strongly disliked the idea of representation being based off of population, and his opinion on this was heavily repeated. The concern for the number of representatives was the main matter of dislike in regards to this plan.
After a great deal of debate on the Virginia Plan, Delegate William Patterson put aside his fury and presented what he believed to be the better plan. With a radio ad and commercial as well, Patterson stated the main points of the New Jersey Plan. I am sure all of you are well aware by now about all of the main ideas of each plan, so I will spare you the details of this New Jersey Plan. Quickly after Patterson’s speech, another debate emerged. Radical Patrick Henry was a part of this plan, but it almost seemed as though he was not. His thoughts seem to be completely different from everyone else’s and I am not sure if he was even on the same page as the other New Jersey Plan delegates. This debate was much like the attack on the Virginia Plan when it comes to the issue on the number of representatives, but somewhat had a different twist. The delegates for the Virginia Plan were not too happy with the New Jersey Plan call for a weaker central government. A weak central government might as well not even be a central government in the first place, for it will not do any good. If the central government is weak, the overall economy and trade will be unbalanced; therefore our Nation will be weak. All of these concerns were adequately debated among all of the delegates. Another issue with the New Jersey Plan was that it was basically advocating our current government situation under the Articles of Confederation. The whole reason that this convention took place was because our old style of government is clearly not working and we strongly need to come up with a new one. In essence, all of the delegates were still arguing excessively and after seeing all of this I realized that it was going to be a long summer.
Finally a “somewhat” compromise was presented in the same format of the other plans. Representatives for the Connecticut Compromise consisted of Delegate Roger Sherman and Benjamin Franklin. Because Benjamin Franklin did not wish to debate the matters of this convention, as he stated in his speech, Delegate Ellsworth stepped into plate to assist Sherman. Debate on this compromise varied between the Virginia and New Jersey Plan (who will most likely never come to an agreement). The Virginia Plan delegates sufficiently debated the matter of how it was unfair and unjust for the Senate to be represented equally by all states, for the people from the largely populated states would not have equal voice in the government. If all the states had the same number of representatives, it would be possible to pass laws that only a minority of the population actually agreed with. Secondly, the Virginia Plan thought that their idea of having a larger legislature electing members to the supreme court was much more effective than the Compromise’s plan to have a tiny executive branch choose the entire Supreme Court. Lastly the Virginia Plan felt that the Compromise does not give the central government as much power as it should. If the individual state governments have too much power, it will be difficult to keep our country united. Once again the debate from the New Jersey side was brought back to the point about equal representation because they seemed to be fearful of not having enough power.
After witnessing all of these debates, I am well aware of the fact that it will be a long time until I return home to the south, for this convention has a lot to discuss and accomplish. Luckily, the summers up here are not quite so hot, but I will surely miss the sereneness of the south. Keep praying for a quick conclusion and a population based representation. I plan to keep you all informed on the matters of this debate.
Until next time,
Conley Fendler
Journalist for The Virginia Gazette
Advantages of the Virginia Plan
Our current government under the Articles of the Confederation has proved insufficient to serve the needs of our country. The Virginia plan advocates an improved, much stronger national government to preserve the unity of these United States. Some of the advantages of our plan over other plans include:
--A stronger central government will create greater unity between states. If the individual state governments become too powerful, it will weaken our country as a whole.
--A stronger central government will also be better able to regulate interstate and international trade, thus making the economy more stable.
--A bicameral legislature will be able to balance itself.
--A strong executive will be able to keep order and command the armed forces.
--Representatives will be proportional to the populations of each state, so everyone is fairly represented. Representatives of smaller states only have to worry about summarizing the opinions of a few people and will be more likely to be able to voice them all, whereas larger states need more representatives in order to be able to adequately represent the opinions of the whole population.
Disadvantages of Other Plans
The New Jersey Plan:
--If each state has the same number of representatives, a tiny group of people would have just as much power as a huge group of people. It is unfair for a smaller group of people to have the same amount of power as a much larger group of people of equal status. If all the states had the same number of representatives, it would be possible to pass laws that only a minority of the population actually agreed with.
--The New Jersey Plan essentially advocates a continuation of the old style of government under the Articles of Confederation, which obviously isn’t working for our country. They prefer to have a weaker central government. If the central government is weak, trade will be unbalanced and the country itself will be weak.
--Since there would only be one legislative house, the legislative branch would be unbalanced.
The Great Compromise:
--The Senate would be represented equally by states, which is unfair to states with larger populations.
--A tiny executive branch would choose the entire Supreme Court, whereas under the Virginia Plan a larger legislature will elect members to the executive branch.
--It doesn’t give the central government as much power as it should. If the individual state governments have too much power, it will be difficult to keep our country united.
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