Constitution Minute with Brian Johns
United States Constitution
Article VII – Ratification
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
——————————————————————————–
Patrick Henry was a powerful speaker and a fierce supporter of the Revolution. He influenced Virginia’s willingness to fight the British during the speech where he uttered the now famous phrase, “give me liberty or give me death!”
After the Revolution came the Constitution. During the summer of 1787, a miraculous mix of good men united, merged ideas, and made compromises—particularly about representation in congress and how much power the new federal government would have—in order to create the inspired Constitution.
Once signed, the Constitution moved to the state ratifying conventions. Delaware was the first to ratify. In some states, though, the battle was ferocious. For instance, after heated debate, Massachusetts ratified the Constitution only by a vote of 187-168.
Some revolutionaries like Henry were very concerned that the Constitution would give too much power to the central government, thus undoing the freedoms for which America had so recently shed so much blood. During the Virginia state ratifying convention, Henry was a staunch opponent of the Constitution. During one speech he pleaded, “Whither is the spirit of American gone? Whither is the genius of America fled? … We drew the spirit of liberty from our British ancestors. But now, Sir, the American spirit, assisted by the ropes and chains of consolidation, is about to convert this country into a powerful and mighty empire….”
After the days of debate in Virginia, (in the words of Catherine Drinker Bowen) “The Constitution was now put to a vote…. By eighty-nine to seventy-nine the Constitution won. It had been close, very close indeed. That night angry Antifederalists, determined to create measures for resisting the new system, held a mass meeting in Richmond, with Patrick Henry presiding. But Henry told his wrathful colleagues that he had done his best against the Constitution ‘in the proper place [the Convention ].’ The question, said Henry, was now settled; ‘as true and faithful republicans you had all better go home.’”
The grace by which such a fierce opponent accepted defeat and showed willingness to participate in the new system of government is an inspiring act of a true patriot. As it turned out, the Constitution was a miracle and a blessing, which for more than a century appropriately balanced power between federal and state or local governments, and which has influenced the entire world.
I wonder what Patrick Henry would think now—now that the federal government has the kind of power he feared it would, and now that it no longer seems to pay much attention to that marvelous Constitution. We probably need some firebrands like Patrick Henry, to keep the rest of us thinking and inspired. All of us, though, need to return to the Constitution, to restore its meaning and values in America today.
Bowen, Catherine Drinker; Miracle at Philadelphia; Little Brown and Company, 1966; pages 297-8, 304-5.
October Minutes
Let’s Help the Mustard Seed