Blogging in Real Time: The Work Has Only Begun

Good Evening, Fellow Citizens and Patriots!

Welcome to the one and only journal on the Internet that tells of the monumental events in our nation's history... in real time. Yes, you heard me right. This is the one and only Edmund Randolph, reporting live from the Constitutional Convention, the Senate floor and Washington's cabinet meetings. Read the juiciest of juicy political gossip, from the Assumption Plan to Hamilton's extramarital affair! Scandalous! As if it couldn't get even better, it's all firsthand, from history's most talkative witness. Please enjoy!

All Men Are Created Equal...

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Work Has Only Begun

September 17th, 1787, Afternoon, 5:34: After two plans, a compromise, countless hours of debates, and a summer of blistering heat, the day has come on which each and very man taking part in the politics within the rooms of the Pennsylvania State House during this decisive convention would have made the decision of whether or not to affix his signature to this document we call the Constitution of the United States of America. So many have done so, stepping up to the President’s chair, pen poised in hand, ready for their name to go down in history as one of the signers of the Constitution of these States United. And yet, some had not, me being one of them. Joining me in declining such an offer were fellow Virginian Mr. Mason, Mr. Ellsworth of Connecticut, Mr. Lansing, Jr. of New York, and Mr. Pierce of Georgia, among others. My reasons for objection, which I will make further make known in a letter I hope to soon write, are clear: first, and foremost, I would like to express my agreement with the fact the Articles of Confederations under which we have been living for sometime, are inadequate, very much so, but this new plan which we call the Constitution does not surpass the Articles, for it contains one too many faults, in my opinion. It seems Mr. Mason isn’t all that happy about it either, for he “would sooner chop off his right hand than put it to the Constitution as it now stands.” If so, I wonder if he too, must be robbed of his sleep like me, fearing that this Constitution will be put in for ratification without any chances for the states to amend it, and therefore, it might be thrown to the wind, and any opportunity for a second chance to plan another Union might go with it.
Despite my negativity on the subject, I, along with Mr. Mason and Mr. Gerry of Massachusetts, believe that the amendments be made not by this convention, but by the conventions in the states and that a second convention be called together to consider such changes. I had proposed this just two days ago, but our trio was sadly snubbed.
Upon the issue of representation, there was a debate over whether the slaves in our country be counted as part of the population. Once again, we have come back to the issue which has plagued this convention ever so long, that of representation. We southern states wish for them to be counted as part of our population so that we may hold a larger number of seats in the lower house. Should this be rejected, the Northern states will be able to out-vote us with the fewer representatives regarding the issue of slavery. The North has the same fears; should we count slaves as part of the population, we will out-vote them on the aforementioned issue. They have also made the argument that slaves, who were without the right to vote or the other such rights included in one’s citizenship, should not be counted as part of the population and therefore give us further representation in the lower house. At the end of the heated debate, we came, once again, to a compromise. Called by the delegates as the 3/5 compromise, such a compromise states that slaves will be counted as three-fifths of a person. The results which this compromise has yielded give neither side its way but, like all compromises, it respects their wishes.
Another matter in this convention is the slave trade, a debate as heated as the air outside my window. Three states have already declared that they will not join this Union should trafficking of slaves be prohibited, thus placing us in an uncomfortable position on the matter, for if we are to lose these states, the Revolution and this convention will have gone to waste. I personally am against the institution of slavery and if I had the power to, I would have abolished it a long time ago. Shouldn’t the slaves, who fought to free this country from the shackles imposed by Great Britain, be treated the same as every man, woman and child in this nation? I have made my stand on the subject clear to the delegates and have vouched for the word “slavery” to be removed from our plan of the Union, my motion carrying.
Now that signatures have been affixed to the document, the time has come for the long process of ratification upon which the future of these States United stands. I do not expect for Virginia's ratifying convention to ratify all that quickly. As for myself, despite my dislike of the document, with
my influence, I ultimately decide Virginia's ratification. If I am to place my vote against the plan of Union, I fear Virginia shall be left out of it…

As to whether this historic event has been of any benefit to me or my reputation, I pay no mind to that, for I upheld the spirit of patriotism, fighting for what is right, and keeping in mind the opinions of my fellow citizens, like an official of a democratic republic. May our stories be passed down from generation to generation... wiki-style.
I hope to once again put the cursor to the wiki page with new adventures soon.

Sincerely, your faithful friend and correspondent,
Edmund Randolph