Constitutional Convention
Today in History: Benjamin Franklin Urges Adoption of the Constitution with a Warning
On this date in 1787, James Wilson delivered a speech written by Benjamin Franklin on the last day of the Philadelphia Convention. The speech urged the adoption of the Constitution despite Franklin’s reservations. In the opening words of the speech, Franklin...
James Madison and the Case Against Compromise
Over the three days spanning from July 2 to July 5, 1787, the attendees at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia approved a resolution that would sufficiently satisfy the demands of delegates from small states for equality of representation and those from the...
The Framers did not violate their trust
This is the fifth in a series of essays defending the U.S. Constitution against common accusations against it. This essay examines the claim that that the framers – the Constitution’s drafters – staged a coup d’état by proposing a new Constitution. As...
Despite What They Tell You: The Constitution Never Discriminated Against Women
One way some writers try to discredit the Constitution is to assert that the document’s original meaning discriminated against women. Thus, a 2011 Time Magazine cover story claimed that “The [Constitution’s] framers gave us the idea that . . . women were not allowed...