Chapter 27 2. Refusal to sign

From September 12th to September 15th, the constitution-making representatives conducted the final discussion on the final draft of the constitution.This is the fourth stage of the Constitutional Convention. Many representatives have become impatient, and then three important tasks: Randolph, Mason and Gerry, proposed not to pass this plan on the 15th, and then to open a constitutional convention. Motion of the Constitutional Assembly.Of course this will not be agreed.Charles Pinckney said that at the important moment when the meeting was coming to an end, it was particularly solemn and sacred that such a declaration was made by such esteemed gentlemen.Constitution-making is serious business and should not be repeated, he said.He, like others, has opinions on the draft constitution.But he was willing to support this plan, given the danger of confusion and only the sword to clean up the mess.

In fact, as early as August 31 and September 10, that is, before the draft constitution was submitted to the meeting, Randolph proposed this motion twice.He advocated that the current plan should be handed over to the constitutional assemblies of the states without restriction, allowing them to freely propose amendments, submit them to the second general constitutional assembly, grant full powers, and finally decide on the constitution.But everyone disagrees.Many people are not willing to give up their three or four months of labor.By the 15th, they certainly disagreed even more.So vote: Do you agree with Mr. Randolph?All states say no.

Do you agree with the revised constitution?All states say yes. So he ordered that the text of the constitution be copied out. So Randolph, Mason, and Gerry announced their refusal to sign. The three representatives, Randolph and Mason Gerry, refused to sign, which was a big shock to the meeting and a big regret.We know that the number of delegates to the Philadelphia meeting was 74, but there were only 55 in reality. By the time the final draft was signed, there were only 42 left, and 13 had withdrawn. On June 4, Virginia representative Weiss Withdrew and formally resigned as a representative on the 16th; on June 6th, New Jersey representative Houston withdrew due to illness; on July 1st, Georgia representative Pierce withdrew due to reasons; Withdrew from the Constituent Assembly; in late July, Georgia’s representative Hauston withdrew for some reason; on August 5, Virginia’s representative McClung withdrew due to lack of political experience and interest; on August 13, North Carolina’s representative David withdrew for some reason; August On the 18th, Maryland representative Mercer withdrew due to opposition to the Constitutional Convention; in late August, North Carolina representative Alexander Martin withdrew for some reason; on August 26, Massachusetts representative Strong withdrew; on August 27, Connecticut representative A Hesworth withdrew for some reason; on September 4, Maryland Representative Luther Martin withdrew because he opposed the Constitutional Convention.

In fact, Delaware representative Dickinson was not present at the signing on September 17.He was absent on September 15 due to illness, but commissioned Reed to sign for him.Nor were the withdrawing delegates all against the Constitution.Strong, Ellsworth, McClung, Alexander Martin, Davy, Pierce, Hauston, all agreed.The only ones who persisted in their opposition to the end were Yaats, Lanxin, Mercer and Luther Martin.When they went back, they also sang against each other.Yates and Lanxin also published "Uncovered," a book directed at Madison.Paterson and Bedford, who had fought alongside them, turned to support.Paterson left the meeting in late July, only to rush back, seemingly only to sign.Back in New Jersey, he also actively promoted the state to ratify the new constitution as soon as possible.

This is really called "It's not that I don't understand, the world is changing fast".Paterson and Bedford became supporters, Randolph and Mason fell into opposition.We have already introduced the situation of Randolph in the first section of the second chapter of this book.It's just Mason here.Mason was a farmer and a politician.Pierce's "Character Description of the Delegate to the Constitutional Convention" described him as a tall, well-built man who saw things clearly, debated convincingly, and stood firm on principle.It is not difficult to see from the minutes of the conference debate that Mason attached great importance to civil rights.He was later called "the father of the American Bill of Rights".This is one of the reasons why he opposed the draft constitution.

We will have more to say about this later. Both Mason and Randolph represented Virginia.Randolph is 34 years old and Mason is 62 years old, just one old and one young.According to our Chinese understanding, as representatives of Virginia, they should have been in the same boat with Washington and Madison.What's more, the theme of the Constitutional Convention was originally revealed by Randolph; many contents of the Federal Constitution also condensed the efforts of the two of them.How can you say that if you don't sign, you won't sign? There are undoubtedly several reasons for this.

We know that the draft constitution proposed on September 12 is a product of compromise.He disagreed with many others, and was far from the original plan of the Virginia delegation, including that of Mason, Randolph, and Madison.The problem is that Madison kept adjusting his attitude and changing his position during the meeting in order to adapt to the changes in things.In this way, you can say that you are following the good, you can also say that you are following the wind, and you can also say that you are giving up principles.But otherwise there is no political compromise, and without compromise there is no politics.Madison was obviously right to do so.

Mason and Randolph, however, were extremely principled people.Mason was a farmer with more than 300 slaves, but he actively advocated the abolition of slavery.He certainly did not approve of the constitution's condoning of slavery, because it was inconsistent with his humanitarian principles. On August 22, Mason said fiercely that every slave owner is a born tyrant, and buying and selling slaves is a sinful business that will be punished.Our country will be punished by God for this crime, and the end will be in this world! Mason's resentment and reluctance to compromise can be seen everywhere. On July 17, Virginia Representative McLane filed a motion: the administrator can continue to serve if he behaves well, and was seconded by Pennsylvania Representative Goweno Morris River Delaware Representative Bloom, but Mason refused to give his colleagues face .Mason says it's just a soft reference to tenure.After realizing the lifelong system, and taking a little step forward, it is easy to reach the hereditary system.If the motion is finally successful, there's a good chance he'll see a revolution while he's alive.If he cannot see it himself, his children and grandchildren will certainly see it.

McClung is actually a person who doesn't understand politics.She was a modest doctor, apolitical and reluctant to attend the Constitutional Convention, so she didn't speak much.The purpose of this speech is simply to make the executive independent of the parliament, and there is no other intention.Anticipating that his motion would cause trouble, Madison made a special preemptive defense (see Chapter 6, Section 2 of this book for the content of his speech), which still attracted Mason's impassioned speech.This shows Mason's principles. So did Randolph. In 1789, Washington became President of the United States, appointed Jefferson as Secretary of State, and Randolph as Attorney General of the United States. In 1793, Jefferson resigned as secretary of state because of disagreements with Washington, and Washington appointed Randolph to succeed him.A year later, Randolph also disagreed with Washington and resigned as Secretary of State.This can be said to be "the way is different, do not conspire with each other".In fact, most of the people who engaged in political activities in the early days of the founding of the United States were people with ideals.They are politicians, not politicians.They don't pay much attention to their positions and status, but they are very serious about their political ideas.Mason and Randolph are such people.Of course, they can't understand Madison's drifting with the crowd, and they won't sign casually. On August 31, Mason even said that he would rather cut off his right hand than raise his hand in favor of the Constitution as it is now.

Interested readers may wish to flip through the previous chapters, and it is not difficult to find that the two of them have such straightforward and stubborn remarks.Of course, it is not difficult for careful readers to find that Mason, Randolph and Madison have actually had differences for a long time. On June 4, when the committee of the whole voted on whether to establish a national administrator, the Virginia delegation was divided internally. Washington, Madison, McLane, and Weiss were in favor, and Randolph, Mason, and Blair were against.It's the same on other occasions. Regardless of whether they belong to a delegation or not, and whether they want to "unify the caliber", they will take action when it is time to do so, and they will not show mercy. On August 13, when discussing the citizenship of the House of Representatives, Madison said that Sherman's opinion was perverse and unreasonable. Mason immediately pushed back, saying that Sherman's opinion was justified.It was also from this day that Mason and Randolph cooperated tacitly and gradually parted ways with the Virginia delegation.Madison's allies were in fact Wilson of Pennsylvania and Hamilton of New York.

Now we're coming to Gerry. 43-year-old Albridge Gerry is a representative of Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University at the age of 18. He was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Assembly at the age of 28. He followed Samuel Adams to fight for independence. "Signed on it, it can be called an old revolution.Pierce's "Character Description of the Delegate to the Constitutional Convention" says that his first virtue is to love his country; and his character traits are outspoken and unyielding.This is also supported by facts. In 1779, Gerry joined the Finance Committee of the Second Continental Congress and presided over a period of work. In 1780, when the Confederate Congress decided to reorganize the Finance Committee, Gerry had a big fight and left in anger. 3 years without participation in the work of the Confederation Congress.At the Constitutional Convention, a representative said that "Gerry would express his dissenting opinions on any motion that was not proposed by Gerry." Retrieve the minutes of the Constitutional Convention. The motions Gerry opposed were: People's election of members of the first house (later changed to agree, but hoped that the other house would change the election method); executives should be elected by the national parliament (advocating the election of state assemblies); the constitution Approved by the people; the national parliament has the power to deny the legislation of each state; the national judiciary participates in the review of legislation; the administrator can be re-elected, and a vice president can be appointed.The proposals advocated include: the administrator has the right to veto legislation, but the Senate and House of Representatives can veto it again with a 2/3 majority; the national administrator is elected by the state administrators; the number of seats in the new state cannot exceed that of the states on the Atlantic coast.It is not difficult to see that some of these opinions are correct and some are not, and some are successful and some are not.However, although Gerry's motion is often rejected, it cannot be said that it is unreasonable.For example, the first house is elected by the people of the states, the second house is elected by the state assemblies, and the national administrator is elected by the state administrators. This plan is unique among many plans.Gerry is a guy who does his own thing. It seems that Gerry, Mason, and Randolph's refusal to sign can also be said to be expected.But it is not a good thing for such three important people to refuse to cooperate at the last moment.So, Franklin had to come forward to persuade again.