Milford chronicle., 1930-12-05

particular Slgnlncance, 1Or II IS III
anniversary of Delaware's ratifica
ton of the United States Constitu
ton. The event assumes added i'm
portance in the light of the fact tina
the Diamond State was the first o
the original thirteen states to ap
prove this great document. Despite
her small size, Delaware had loyal
ly contributed to the Revolution II
men and money. In the person o.
John Dickinson, she presented one
of the great statesmen of the perioc
whose influence was to be fell
throughout the nation,
The story of Delaware's ratifica-
tion of the Constitution is told in
statement from the Division of In
formation and Publication of the
George Washington Bicentennial
Commission, which reviews the
events leading up to the framing ol
this instrument and its final adOp-
ton by all of the states,
After the War of Independence
when the erstwhile colonies OF
Great Britain found themselves free
from the Mother Country, they dis
covered that all their problems were
not yet settled. In fact, the question
of what to do with their independ-
ence now appeared as a perplexity
which for a time threatened to
plunge the new nation into the
chaos of anarchy-a prospect far
less inviting than subsection to the
British crown. The leaders of pO-
litical thought and philosophy were
divided in opinions as to the form
of government which should be at
tempted although it was apparent TO
all that the old Articles of Confed-
Grafton were wholly inadequate to
meet the needs of new Nation. The
people themselves were Influenced
in their opinions by sectional inter-
ests, while the States, with their
jealousies and restricted ideas Of
local sovereignty, presented any
thing but an appearance of national
unity.
Men talked much in those days of
Democracy, Republics and the rule
of the people. Americas enemies
abroad, seeing the disorder, conf
what political structures the coun-
try did possess, and then sat back
to await the crash. Some prominent
statesmen here talked of monarchy
and American nobility. At one time,
before the close of the War, George
Washington was approached with a
proposal to make him king, a sug-
gestion so repugnant to him that he
replied to it in such indignant terms
as to leave no doubt with regard to
his position in the matter. At last
the situation became so acute that
a convention was called to consider
and effect a revision of the Articles
of Confederation.
This convention, growing out OF
the Annapolis Convention which had
been called by Virginia to settle
trade disputes in 1886, met in Phila-
delphia in the Summer of 1887. 1t
comprised in its personnel most of
the luminaries of the cOuntry-it
was a noteworthy assemblage of
Americas foremost talent and abil-
ity. George Washington, the great
Commander-in-Ch of the Revolu-
tionary forces, was elected Presi- |
dent and the momentous discussion |
was soon under way. Among the |
members of this great body were |
Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylva-
mia, 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 delegates: George Read,
Cunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickin-
son, Richard Bassett and Jacob
Broom.
The story of that summer of bit
ter debate, of proposals and COM
promise, is so well known as to
need no review. The convention
was held behind closed doors so that
no one except the delegates them
selves 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 entire
ly new Constitution. But after the
deliberations began, the delegates
soon realized that the strong cen
tral power now so definitely needed,
could never be built on the founda-
tion of the old Confederation. Thus
it was that out of the long weeks of
mighty effort appeared the Federal
CONSTITUTIONAL 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
necessary majority to put the Con-
stitution into effect. 1t was not at
all certain that this approval could
be readily obtained for although the
had been signed by
delegates from twelve of the states,
it was generally known that Oppo-
sitiOn would be encountered in II
many localities. Therefore, most of
the men who had been members of
the convention returned to their
homes to battle for ratification.
One of these delegates, as has
been seen, was Delaware's own John
Dickinson who had taken a promi- 4
lent part in the convention. He
wrote a series of nine pamphlets
signed "Fabius" in which he dis
;ussed the Constitution and urged
It's adoption. When George Wash
ngton read these pamphlets 2.and