Smyrna times., 1930-12-03

before the close of the War, George
Washington was approached with
a proposal to make him king, a
suggestion so repugnant to him
that he replied to it in such indig-
nant terms as to leave no doubt
with regard to his position in the
matter. At last the situation be-
came so acute that a convention
was called to consider and effect
revision of the Articles of Con-
federation. This convention, grow
ing out of the Annapolis Conven-
ton which had been called by Vir-
ginia to settle trade disputes in
1886, met in Philadelphia in the
Summer of 1877. 1t comprised in
its personnel most of the luminar-
les of the country-it was a note
worthy assemblage of Americas
foremost talent and ability.
George Washington, the great
Commander-in-C Chief of the Revo-
lutionary forces, was elected Presi-
dent and the momentous discus
sion was soon under way. Among
the members of this great body
were Benjamin Franklin from
Pennsylvania, James Madison from
Virginia, Alexander Hamilton from
New York, William Patterson from
New Jersey, Luther Martin from
Maryland, and Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney from South Carolina.
Delaware sent the following dele
gates: George Read, Cunning Bed
ford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard
Bassett and Jacob Broom. The
story of that summer of bitter de-
bate, of proposals and comprom-
Use, is so well known as to need no
review. The convention was held
behind closed doors so that no one
except the delegates themselves
knew what was going on. 1t was
taken for granted by the people
that the Articles of Confederation
were to be revised, and no one ex-
pected the formulation of an en-
tirely new Constitution. But after
the deliberations began, the dele
gates soon realized that the strong
central power now so definitely
needed, could never be built on the
foundation of the old Confedera-
ton. Thus it was that out of the
long weeks of mighty effort ap-
peared the Federal Constitution
an innovation and an experiment
in government. The completed
document was sent to the states
for ratification on September %,
1887 and then began another great
struggle, this time to secure the
approval of at least nine of the
states, which constituted the nee
essary majority to put the Consti-
tuition into effect. 1t was not at
all certain that the pproval could
be readily obtained for although
the Constitution had been signed
by delegates from twelve of the
states, it was generally known
that opposition would be encount-
cred in many localities. Therefore,
most of the men who had been
members of the convention return
ed to their homes to battle for rat
ification. One of these delegates,
as has been seen, was Delaware's
own John Dickinson who had TAX
en- a prominent part in the con-
vention. He wrote series of nine
pamphlets signed 'Fabius" in
which he discussed the Constitu-
tion and urged its adoption. When
George Washington read these
pamphlets and before he knew the
identity of their author, he wrote
his approval of the sound political
thought and argument which they
contained. Dickinson's efforts were
an outstanding contribution to the
political literature Of the time and
undoubtedly went far to influence
the popular mind in favor of the
Constitution. There was some op-
position to the work of the conven-
tion in all of the states, but it
seems to have been negligible in
Delaware where the legislature
met on October "a and immediate
ly adopted measures to call con-
vention for the purpose of adopt
ing the Constitution. This con-
clave met at Dover in the first
week in December and acted with
dispatch. The resolu-
tion of ratification was unanimous
ly passed on December z, 1877, and
Delaware became the first state to
adopt the Federal Constitution.
Only two other states, Pennsyl-
vania and New Jersey, took action
that year. Delaware's notification
of approval read as follows: 1--WE
the deputation of the people of
Delaware State in convention met,
having taken into serious consider
alton the Federal Constitution pro-
posed and agreed upon by the dep
uties of the United States in a
general convention held at the city
of Philadelphia on the seventeenth
day of September in the year of