Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western civ. Episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty six, the Early Republic. When the Treaty of Paris
Speaker 1: was signed in September seventeen eighty three, the United States
Speaker 1: was at last recognized as a sovereign nation. The war
Speaker 1: had ended, soldiers went home. George Washington, in a truly
Speaker 1: extraordinary act for the time, resigned his commission before Congress
Speaker 1: in December, saying, quote, having now finished the work assigned me,
Speaker 1: I retire from the great theater of action to contemporaries.
Speaker 1: His voluntary return to private life evoked the great Roman
Speaker 1: who I love Cincinnatus, who set down his sword and
Speaker 1: took up his plowshare when his time was on, and
Speaker 1: he re ensured Americans that they had not fought to
Speaker 1: trade one tyrant for another. But what lay ahead was unclear.
Speaker 1: For America, the thirteen States were bound only by the
Speaker 1: Articles of Confederation, a makeshift framework drafted during the war.
Speaker 1: Under the Articles, there was no president, no national judiciary,
Speaker 1: and Congress possessed little real power. The states jealously guarded
Speaker 1: their sovereignty. A Massachusetts delegate captured the mood bluntly, quote,
Speaker 1: we are not a nation under the Articles of Confederation.
Speaker 1: Congress could wage war, it could conduct diplomacy, and it
Speaker 1: could kind of manage Western lands, but it couldn't levy
Speaker 1: taxes directly or regulate commerce. In other words, what the
Speaker 1: Articles of Confederation could do were all geared towards one thing,
Speaker 1: fighting a war with Great Britain. But that was over.
Speaker 1: Now the government needed to do different things. But that
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily on the table. If money was needed, Congress
Speaker 1: had to request it from the States, which often refused
Speaker 1: or potentially delayed. A Rhode Island politician sneered at the
Speaker 1: request of taxes. Quote we will not give a farthing end.
Speaker 1: Quote that's good because farthings actually won't be the currency yet.
Speaker 1: In the early years, there remained moments of a lot
Speaker 1: of promise. Congress organized the settlement of Western territories through
Speaker 1: landmark laws. The Ordinance of seventeen eighty five, which surveyed
Speaker 1: land into neat little townships for sale. The Northwest Ordinance
Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty seven, which established a path for new
Speaker 1: territories to become states, outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territory
Speaker 1: and guaranteed civil liberties. These ordinances were amongst the articles
Speaker 1: of Confederation's greatest achievements. Still they could not disguise deeper troubles.
Speaker 1: The post war years were hard. Britain barred American ships
Speaker 1: from the West Indian ports, crippling trade. The new nation,
Speaker 1: lacking a stable currency, was flooded with paper money of
Speaker 1: uneven value. Inflation, sword debts mounted, and farmers groaned under
Speaker 1: taxes they simply could not pay. States often quarreled with
Speaker 1: one another like petty medieval fiefdoms. New York taxed goods
Speaker 1: coming from Connecticut and New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland argued
Speaker 1: over navigation rights on the Potomac River. Without a central
Speaker 1: authority to mediate these rivalries petty as they were threatened
Speaker 1: to fracture the Union foreign powers. Since this weakness, Britain
Speaker 1: kept troops stationed and forts along the Great Lakes in
Speaker 1: violation of the Treaty of Paris, claiming unpaid loyalist debts
Speaker 1: as justification. Spain closed the Mississippi to American trade, angering
Speaker 1: Western settlers. A Connecticut farmer would later write, we have
Speaker 1: won the war, but we cannot govern ourselves. The crisis
Speaker 1: came to a head in Massachusetts. Farmers in the western
Speaker 1: counties burdened by debts and taxes, began to revolt in
Speaker 1: seventeen eighty six. Led by Daniel Schayes, a former Continental
Speaker 1: Army captain. They closed courts to prevent foreclosures on their lands.
Speaker 1: They marched on Springfield, at where the arsenal was in
Speaker 1: early seventeen eighty seven. The Massachusetts government, unable to rely
Speaker 1: on federal troops, raised a private militia of merchants and
Speaker 1: property owners. In January seventeen eighty seven, the militia fired
Speaker 1: on Shay's men, dispersing the rebellion, but the shock was profound.
Speaker 1: If veterans of the Revolution could take up arms against
Speaker 1: their own government, what did independence actually mean? George Washington,
Speaker 1: watching from Mount Vernon, wrote, quote, what a triumph for
Speaker 1: our enemies to verify their predictions that we are incapable
Speaker 1: of governing ourselves. Even before Shay's rebellion leading figures since
Speaker 1: the articles were inadequate. In seventeen eighty five, Washington had
Speaker 1: hosted the Mount Vernon Conference to settle the Virginia Maryland
Speaker 1: dispute over navigation. This small success encouraged a broader meeting
Speaker 1: at Annapolis in seventeen eighty six, where Alexander Hamilton issued
Speaker 1: a cl for a general convention, which would in theory
Speaker 1: revise the articles, not get rid of them. But of
Speaker 1: course the real turning point was Shay's rebellion. The fear
Speaker 1: of anarchy convinced many that the Union would simply dissolve
Speaker 1: if there wasn't a central, stronger government. In seventeen eighty seven,
Speaker 1: in February, Congress reluctantly agreed to a constitutional convention again
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia, this time again, as I said, quote for
Speaker 1: the soul and express purpose of revising the articles. But
Speaker 1: if you know anything about American history, you know that's
Speaker 1: now what's going to happen now. The Philadelphia Convention, as
Speaker 1: I said, did not arise out of confidence, but a crisis.
Speaker 1: By the mid seventeen eighties, the United States under the
Speaker 1: Articles of Convention was simply unworkable. We continued to hear
Speaker 1: words of warning from George Washington, who would lament, we
Speaker 1: are fast verging to anarchy and confus usion. How melancholy
Speaker 1: is the reflection that, in so short a space we
Speaker 1: should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the prediction
Speaker 1: of our transatlantic foe that we should be no more
Speaker 1: than a rope of sand. Now, all the disputes over trade, taxation,
Speaker 1: and debts, compounded by Shay's rebellion made it clear that
Speaker 1: the federal government lacked the power to preserve order, and
Speaker 1: so this revision was necessary. But revision in Philadelphia was
Speaker 1: not what everyone had in mind. On May the twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: seventeen eighty seven, after delays due to poor roads and
Speaker 1: slow travel, delegates from seven states finally formed a quorum
Speaker 1: at Pennsylvania State House now Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Over
Speaker 1: the summer, fifty five delegates would attend at some point,
Speaker 1: though never all at once. They represented every state but
Speaker 1: Rhode Island, which boycotted in protest. The room itself were stifling.
Speaker 1: Philadelphia summers are notoriously hot and humid, and the windows
Speaker 1: were shut tight to ensure secrecy. James Madison would recall quote,
Speaker 1: no whisper of the proceedings had transpired. Guards were posted outside.
Speaker 1: The secrecy allowed free debate, but also few old rumors outside.
Speaker 1: The Convention's legitimacy was shaky. At first, they were authorized
Speaker 1: only to amend the articles, but as Alexander Hamilton later wrote,
Speaker 1: a bold step was taken. Soon, delegates agreed to scrap
Speaker 1: the articles entirely. George Washington was unanimously chosen President of
Speaker 1: the Convention. Obviously, his very presidents, cloaked in dignity and restraint,
Speaker 1: gave the proceedings the legitimacy it so badly needed. Governor
Speaker 1: Morris later remarked, the moment that man opened his lips,
Speaker 1: we felt ourselves all in fury. James Madison, still in
Speaker 1: his thirties, arrived prepared with extensive notes on political history,
Speaker 1: ranging from ancient confederacies to Enlightenment theorists. He would take
Speaker 1: meticulous records of the debates, later published as his notes
Speaker 1: on the Federal Convention are single greatest window into the proceedings.
Speaker 1: Madison's diligence earned him the title Father of the Constitution.
Speaker 1: On May the twenty ninth, Edmund Randolph of Virginia introduced
Speaker 1: the Virginia Plan, based largely on Madison's works, and proposed
Speaker 1: a strong national government with three branches, a bicameral legislature
Speaker 1: with representation based on population, an executive chosen by the
Speaker 1: legislature basically a parliamentary system, and a judiciary with broad powers.
Speaker 1: Madison was pleased writing, a government without the power to
Speaker 1: act is no government at all. Experience has taught us
Speaker 1: that the existing system is inadequate. We must resort to
Speaker 1: a national government. Now, this, of course, was revolutionary. Instead
Speaker 1: of amending the articles, which everyone said they were going
Speaker 1: to do when they went into that state House, they
Speaker 1: created an entirely new government, rooted not in state sovereignty
Speaker 1: this time, but in the keywords we the people. Now.
Speaker 1: Of course, it wasn't over. The Convention was marked by
Speaker 1: heated arguments and a lot of very difficult compromises. Small
Speaker 1: states recoiled at the idea of the Virginia Plan. William
Speaker 1: Patterson of New Jersey countered with the New Jersey Plan,
Speaker 1: of course, which preserved equal representation for each state in
Speaker 1: a unicameral or one chamber Congress. Patterson would warn, our
Speaker 1: constituents will never agree to a plan which robs them
Speaker 1: of their equality. New Jersey will not be swallowed up. Now.
Speaker 1: The impasse threatened to collapse the Convention until Robert Sherman
Speaker 1: of Connecticut proposed the Great Compromise, a bicameral legislature with
Speaker 1: proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate.
Speaker 1: On the sixteenth of July. The compromise carried, but only
Speaker 1: by a single vote, and of course, the question of
Speaker 1: slavery proved even more explosive. Southern delegates demanded that enslaved
Speaker 1: people be counted towards their representation. Northerners were appalled and objected.
Speaker 1: Governor Morris himself thundered against slavery as a nefarious institution,
Speaker 1: a curse of heaven. But the northern states needed the
Speaker 1: Southern ones, and so political necessity prevailed. The three to
Speaker 1: fifths Compromise counted three out of every five enslaved persons
Speaker 1: for the purposes of representation and taxation. Again, if you've
Speaker 1: ever read the Constitution, you know that the Constitution actually
Speaker 1: makes no reference to slavery. Okay, it simply says other persons. Now,
Speaker 1: the issue of the slave trade also arose. Southern states
Speaker 1: threatened to secede if Congress restricted it, and so the
Speaker 1: final compromise allowed the importation of slaves until eighteen oh eight,
Speaker 1: after which point Congress could ban it. But by and large,
Speaker 1: just kind of foreshadowing, most Southern states had ceased the
Speaker 1: importation of enslaved persons by that point. How to choose
Speaker 1: an executive was another bitter dispute. Fearing both monarchy and
Speaker 1: mob rule, delegates experimented with ideas ranging from a plural
Speaker 1: executive to election by Congress, and so Eventually, on actually
Speaker 1: the last day of the convention, they settled on the
Speaker 1: electoral College, which to many remains the bane of American
Speaker 1: political existence to this very day. But it too was
Speaker 1: a compromise. It balanced state and national interests by assigning
Speaker 1: states electors based on their population. So instead of having
Speaker 1: a popular vote decide the president, you would have different
Speaker 1: states that I would have different weights, that would be
Speaker 1: a consequential choice. Hamilton, always the proponent of stronger authority,
Speaker 1: went so far as to suggest a president that would
Speaker 1: be elected for life. His proposal was too monarchical to
Speaker 1: be taken seriously, but it underscored the anxieties of the moment.
Speaker 1: By late summer, the shape of the new government was
Speaker 1: now clear. There would be a national government with three branches,
Speaker 1: checks and balances to prevent tyranny, and federal supremacy over
Speaker 1: state laws. The task of polishing the draft fell to
Speaker 1: the awesomely named Committee of Style. I wish we had
Speaker 1: one of those still. It was led by Governor Morris,
Speaker 1: and he was the one who actually wrote that famous
Speaker 1: opening in the preamble, we the people of the United States,
Speaker 1: in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice,
Speaker 1: ensure domestic tranquility, and so on and so forth. But
Speaker 1: this wasn't just a rhetorical flourish. By invoking we the
Speaker 1: people rather than we the States, Morris was emphasizing a
Speaker 1: shift from a confederation of sovereign states to a government
Speaker 1: that was rooted in the people themselves, and so on.
Speaker 1: The closing days around September seventeenth, seventeen eighty seven, the
Speaker 1: final Constitution was signed by thirty nine delegates. Franklin Benjamin
Speaker 1: Franklin that is too weak to stand on his own
Speaker 1: urge support despite imperfections. Thus, I consent, sir, to the Constitution,
Speaker 1: because I expect no better, and because I am not
Speaker 1: sure that it is the best the opinions I have
Speaker 1: had of its errors. I sacrificed the public good. George
Speaker 1: Washington would later write, simply, it appears to me a
Speaker 1: little short of a miracle that delegates from so many
Speaker 1: different states should unite in forming a system of national government.
Speaker 1: Yet still not everyone was convinced. Sinst three men Elbridge, Jerry,
Speaker 1: who's eventually going to by the way give his name
Speaker 1: to jerry mandering. George Mason and Edmund Randolph refused to sign,
Speaker 1: objecting to the absence of a Bill of rights. Mason
Speaker 1: himself warned this government will either end in monarchy or
Speaker 1: a tyrannical aristocracy. Couriers carried the new Federal Constitution away
Speaker 1: from Philadelphia in September seventeen eighty seven like a lightning
Speaker 1: bolt in saddle bags. Congruous bowing to the moment, resolved
Speaker 1: on September the twenty eighth to transmit the document to
Speaker 1: state conventions elected for the purpose, a quiet but crucial
Speaker 1: decision that plays sovereignties squarely in the hands of the
Speaker 1: people of each state. Secrecy gave way to a flood
Speaker 1: of newsletters and pamphlets. Within days, printers set the constitution
Speaker 1: in type, pamphlets appeared, taverns hummed with political activity. A
Speaker 1: national argument, what one observer called a war of pens began.
Speaker 1: Two great choruses quickly formed. There were the Federalists, led
Speaker 1: by intellectually James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, who
Speaker 1: defended the new constitution in a series of essays signed Publius.
Speaker 1: Then there were the anti federalists, writing as Brutus, Cato, Sentinel,
Speaker 1: the Federal Farmer, and others, and they warned that the
Speaker 1: proposed government would swallow liberty whole. The lines were pretty sharp.
Speaker 1: Brutus opened fire in October seventeen eighty seven, writing, history
Speaker 1: furnishes no example of a free republic anything like the
Speaker 1: extent of the United States. A nation so large, the
Speaker 1: writer argued, would slide into consolid and despotism. Publius replied,
Speaker 1: the scale was the remedy, not the disease. Madison's famous
Speaker 1: answer in Federalists Number ten ran like a counter melody.
Speaker 1: Quote extend the sphere and you take in a greater
Speaker 1: variety of parties and interests and quote factions, they argued,
Speaker 1: would check other factions. Liberty like fire, must be contained,
Speaker 1: of course, but can never be smothered. Madison later sketched
Speaker 1: the architect of restraint quote if men were angels, no
Speaker 1: government would be necessary. Now the debate quickly focused on
Speaker 1: two principles sovereignty federal or national representation, And then a
Speaker 1: couple of smaller ones. Was there going to be a
Speaker 1: standing army? How are tax is going to be collected,
Speaker 1: and who would run the courts? But above all, the
Speaker 1: anti federalists' major attack point focused around an absence, the
Speaker 1: specific absence of a bill of rights. George Mason would
Speaker 1: refuse to sign in Philadelphia, leveled a devastating charge when
Speaker 1: he wrote objections, quote there is no declaration of rights
Speaker 1: end quote. Now. Hamilton responded in Federalist Number eighty four
Speaker 1: that a list might not only be unnecessary but dangerous.
Speaker 1: Quote wide declare that things shall not be done, which
Speaker 1: there is no power to do. Yet as winter set in,
Speaker 1: they would be politics and not logic that would decide
Speaker 1: the issue. Delaware was the first to move unanimously, ratifying
Speaker 1: the constitution on December seventh, seventeen eighty seven. Pennsylvania followed
Speaker 1: on December twelfth, after a rather bruising convention, the anti
Speaker 1: federalist descent of the minority protests the speed and missing
Speaker 1: rights again. New Jersey followed on December the eighteenth, Georgia
Speaker 1: in January of seventeen eighty eight, relatively quickly thereafter Connecticut.
Speaker 1: So five states were in and they only needed nine.
Speaker 1: It was critical that those at the convention decided unlike
Speaker 1: the articles of Confederation, unanimous consent would not be needed.
Speaker 1: What they needed, of course, was three quarters, and they
Speaker 1: were about halfway there. Unfortunately, now the path got rockier. Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: where the Revolution truly begun and where Shay's rebellion had
Speaker 1: recently occurred, had only shaken confidence in the idea of
Speaker 1: a republic. In Boston, the galleries were packed. John Hancock
Speaker 1: courtly and calculating. Presiding over the affairs Samuel Adams listened
Speaker 1: to the side county delegates fretted that sixty five representatives
Speaker 1: in the new House were just too few. Ministers concerned
Speaker 1: themselves over federal power over religion, Nearly everyone wanted a
Speaker 1: declaration of rights. The result was a political invention of
Speaker 1: lasting consequence. Ratify now, amend later, and so it was
Speaker 1: on February the sixth, seventeen eighty eight. Massachusetts ultimately voted
Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty seven to one hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: eight to ratify, but it paired its assent with a
Speaker 1: recommendation that amendments, including protections that become the Bill of Rights,
Speaker 1: be speedily adopted. This, as it's been called Massachusetts Compromise,
Speaker 1: gave undecided states a pathway accept the concept except the
Speaker 1: frame of the Constitution, and then work to improve it.
Speaker 1: With Massachusetts in Maryland ratified on April the twenty eighth,
Speaker 1: and then South Carolina May the twenty third, seventeen eighty eight,
Speaker 1: the ninth state was within reach, and so all eyes
Speaker 1: turned to New Hampshire, Virginia and New York, each a
Speaker 1: giant in terms of population or influence or both. In
Speaker 1: New Hampshire, the first Convention adjourned to consult the people,
Speaker 1: then reconvened, followed the Massachusetts model, and so it was
Speaker 1: ratified on June the twenty first, seventeen eighty eight. That
Speaker 1: was the ninth state. By the terms of the constitution,
Speaker 1: the new government could actually form. But there was a
Speaker 1: problem with this. If you look at the map of
Speaker 1: the United States, without Virginia and New York's assent, there's
Speaker 1: a gaping hole in the middle of the country. Without
Speaker 1: the those two, the Union would be pretty lopsided and
Speaker 1: would lose the majority of its population. So even though
Speaker 1: nine states had been had, it was very important to
Speaker 1: proponents of the constitution that both New York and Virginia,
Speaker 1: the economic powerhouses as well by and large of the
Speaker 1: New Republic, signed on. And so we turn our attention
Speaker 1: to Virginia, which debated the issue between June second and
Speaker 1: twenty fifth and the year seventeen eighty eight. In Richmond,
Speaker 1: the hall rang with oratory. Patrick henriesaw on the proposed
Speaker 1: frame quote a great and mighty consolidated government end quote.
Speaker 1: George Mason, though, repeated his charge no Bill of rights
Speaker 1: meant no security for the people. Madiston stood quietly alone,
Speaker 1: but answering the charges point by point. Representation, Well, that
Speaker 1: will simply grow with population. The necessary and proper clause,
Speaker 1: that's an instant. It's not a blank check. The presidency powerful, yes,
Speaker 1: but necessary and fenced in by elections, impeachment, and the
Speaker 1: separation of powers. Madison also offered the most potent concension
Speaker 1: of all. He would champion amendments in the first ever
Speaker 1: federal Congress. The vote was close on June the twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: but it passed eighty nine to seventy nine, with a
Speaker 1: robust list attached of recommended rights. Madison had won not
Speaker 1: by crushing his opponents, but by promising to absorb their
Speaker 1: best arguments into the Constitution's future. And so it's on
Speaker 1: to New York. If Virginia was the Order's battlefield. New
Speaker 1: York was a pamphleteers dream. Hamilton had begun the Federalists
Speaker 1: there the previous fall. Madison John Jay joined, producing the
Speaker 1: eighty five Essays by May of seventeen eighty eight. In
Speaker 1: the Poughkeepsie Malangdon Smith led skilled anti federalists who insisted
Speaker 1: only a declaration of rights could make the plans safe,
Speaker 1: and that representation in the House was too thin to
Speaker 1: mirror the number of people. And so Hamilton deployed every argument,
Speaker 1: from national credit to commercial necessity, and every lever, including
Speaker 1: the fact of New Hampshire and Virginia's ratifications. New York
Speaker 1: could not avoid to be isolated between a new federal
Speaker 1: Union to the south and a ratify New England to
Speaker 1: the east, and so the Convention adopted Massachusetts's formula ratify
Speaker 1: now recommend Later, on July the twenty sixth, seventeen eighty eight,
Speaker 1: New York ratified the Constitution by three votes, thirty to
Speaker 1: twenty seven, and it issued a circular letter urging other
Speaker 1: states to support the amendments. And so that brings us
Speaker 1: to the holdouts North Carolina and Rhode Highland. North Carolina
Speaker 1: met in Hillsborough in the summer of seventeen eighty eight
Speaker 1: and declined to ratify the Constitution without a Bill of rights.
Speaker 1: The state actually waited until November the twenty first, seventeen
Speaker 1: eighty nine, after the new Congress had already proposed the
Speaker 1: first ten amendments to the Constitution. Rhode Island, wary of
Speaker 1: centralized power and protective of paper money policies, rejected the
Speaker 1: Constitution by popular referendum in seventeen eighty eight and stayed
Speaker 1: out until the pressure Mountain commercial sanctions loomed and the
Speaker 1: new federal tariff threatened to isolate the little state, and so,
Speaker 1: by a raiser then two votes on May twenty ninth,
Speaker 1: seventeen ninety, by thirty four to thirty two, Rhode Island
Speaker 1: ratified the Constitution and became the thirteenth star on the
Speaker 1: federal flag. Now Madison would keep his word. In the
Speaker 1: first Congress, he sifted state recommendations and bblic anxieties into
Speaker 1: a coherent set of amendments. In June seventeen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: he introduced proposals that confirmed, rather than curtailed, the new
Speaker 1: government's legitimacy. There would be protections for speech, the press, religion, assembly,
Speaker 1: and petition. There would be a right to keep in
Speaker 1: bear arms. There would be safeguards against quartering, unreasonable searches,
Speaker 1: compelled self incrimination, and cruel punishments. There would be a
Speaker 1: guarantee of due process and jury trials, and the Ninth
Speaker 1: Contenth Amendments reserving unenumerated rights and powers. By September seventeen
Speaker 1: eighty nine, Congress sent twelve amendments to the States. Ten
Speaker 1: were ratified by December the fifteenth, seventeen ninety one, and
Speaker 1: became the Bill of Rights, binding anti federalist fears into
Speaker 1: the Constitution's fabric and completing the political bargain forged in
Speaker 1: the ratifying conventions. What did this debate ultimately decide? First,
Speaker 1: this would be federalism by design. Ratification confirmed a compound
Speaker 1: republic national where it must be federal where it could
Speaker 1: be Madison's phrase actually in Federalists Number thirty nine. Supremacy
Speaker 1: and necessity in proper clauses survived, and so did the promise,
Speaker 1: of course, that the states themselves would retain broad powers.
Speaker 1: It was a clever balancing act and one that persists
Speaker 1: to this day. There was also representation that was dealt
Speaker 1: with in a very unique way. Critics of a small
Speaker 1: house of representatives want and built an expansion. In fact,
Speaker 1: the very first Congress swiftly passed a law increasing representation.
Speaker 1: The People's Branch, in fact, was born pretty small, but
Speaker 1: it was always meant to grow liberty as architecture, not slogan.
Speaker 1: The victorious federalists claim was structural separation of powers, checks
Speaker 1: and balances, extended fear. But the enduring anti Federalist victory
Speaker 1: was purely textual. It was the Bill of Rights. Together
Speaker 1: they created a constitution that both dispersed power and declared rights,
Speaker 1: which was for the time unbelievable. And so, in April
Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty nine, amid church bells and cannon salutes,
Speaker 1: George Washington took the oath of President the First of
Speaker 1: the United States, on the balcony of Federal Hall in
Speaker 1: New York City. The Constitution, born in secrecy, now lived
Speaker 1: in public view, tempered by the very criticisms that almost
Speaker 1: undid it. The ratification struggle had not merely approved a document.
Speaker 1: It had taught Americans how to argue their republic into
Speaker 1: being with essays and elections, with concessions and amendments, and
Speaker 1: with a vigilant Franklin capturing the mood as he left
Speaker 1: Independence Hall. When he was asked what kind of government
Speaker 1: America had, he responded, quote, A republic if you can
Speaker 1: keep it now. Next week we must shift our gaze
Speaker 1: back to Europe and begin the long and toiling tale
Speaker 1: that is the French Revolution