ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of Shays’s Rebellion and the apparent failure of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, many leading republicans in the United States desired significant constitutional change. Among these, one of the most important was James Madison (1751–1836) of Virginia. Madison had served in the Virginia Convention which called for independence from Great Britain and helped to draft his state’s constitution after independence was declared. He served in Congress during the early 1780s and became acutely aware of the limitations of the national government under the Articles of Confederation. This experience convinced him of the need for a stronger national government. During the winter of 1786–1787, he prepared for the Constitutional Convention to be held in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787. In April he produced a lengthy memorandum (document 1) outlining the flaws in the national government under the Articles of Confederation. This memo laid the groundwork for the Virginia Plan (document 2), his proposed new constitution for the United States which would replace the Articles of Confederation. For some delegates to the Convention, the Virginia Plan went too far and they sought simply to modify the Articles of Confederation. The opposition to the Virginia Plan coalesced around William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan (document 3). Eventually, a series of compromises were made over key elements of Madison’s plan, particularly with respect to sovereignty and representation, and a modified version of the Virginia Plan was submitted to the states for approval. As Benjamin Franklin reflected at the close of the convention (document 4), the proposed constitution, while imperfect, represented the best efforts of the convention. It remained to be seen whether nine state ratifying conventions would approve the proposed constitution. As documents 5–8 show the debate over the Constitution was vibrant, divisive, 164and passionate. It took place on various levels from constitutional and political theory to sarcasm and derision. The debate over the Constitution marked a high point in American political culture and public engagement with the meaning of the Revolution. Apart from subjecting the Constitution to rigorous scrutiny, it also gave it a measure of popular legitimacy which was essential for a document drafted in secret. A more concrete outcome of the debate was the Bill of Rights (document 9), which was the Antifederalists’ contribution to the American constitutional tradition and a crucial legacy of the ratification process.
