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The Great Convention as Comic Action
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12530 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1987 |
5,043 Words |
| Author
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M.E. Bradford
M.E. Bradford is professor of English and American studies at
the university of Dallas. His forthcoming book, Original
Intentions: Essays on the Origins and composition of the U.S.
Constitution; will be published by the University of Georgia
Press. |
In our political system the fundamental law, the Constitution of the United States, is sovereign. Our public servants, both elected and appointed, swear loyalty to it, as if to a prince, and undertake "to preserve, protect and defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic"--a large order, to be executed only with care and caution. As a prince may be distracted from his rightful function as father to his people by the blandishments of evil counselors, so may the fundamental law be drawn out of character by the strategies of interpretation and the interested manipulation of those who are responsible for its application. To protect the Constitution may require knowing something of its origins--how and why it came into being. With these purposes in mind, and in the spirit of bicentennial observation, this discussion focuses on the form and the founding principles of the convention and on its protagonist, James Madison, who helped shape the process of lawgiving that remains associated with his name.
The people who came together to draft the U.S. Constitution were agreed on many things in advance. But it was not at all certain that they would be able to produce a document that would result in the political reorganization of the United States--or indeed any document of any kind. How the business began would make all the difference. James Madison managed to get his plan of government at the top of the agenda of the convention as the subject of its debates on May 29, 1787, before any other plan was proposed.
The human configuration Madison faced in the fifty-four other delegates from twelve states who joined him in working toward the Constitution was full of unpredictable possibilities. In promoting his view of what the country needed to perfect the union, Madison confronted opposing views, some completely obdurate and others more pliable. But other components of that assembly were either favorable to his plan of government or merely neutral. Whatever the business before the convention, one could expect the loquacity of James Wilson (Pennsylvania), Gouverneur Morris (Pennsylvania), and Elbridge Gerry (Massachusetts) to be a part of the process. Whatever constitution might be proposed, Luther Martin (Maryland), John Francis Mercer (Maryland), Robert Yates (New York), and John Lansing (New York) would be against it. Moreover, the men of Delaware and New Jersey would insist on protection for their insignificant homelands, regardless of the other constitutional provisions. Led by William Paterson (New Jersey) and the gifted John Dickinson, they would have their say. The Pennsylvania delegation, Alexander Hamilton (though sometimes indirectly), James McHenry (Maryland), and Rufus King (Massachusetts) were resolved to
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