A Senate of the States: June 27th – June 28th 1787

Article V Blog ^ | November 6th 2017 | Rodney Dodsworth

[Jacquerie]

In fits and starts, often one step forward and two steps back, the convention slowly shaped the pieces to its constitutional jigsaw puzzle. Incredibly, as a few delegates seemingly wished to flip the table over and scatter the pieces, enough of the remaining delegates stood fast to grind out our beloved Constitution.

On June 27th, rather than address the question of congressional powers in Resolution 6, the convention mired once again in the nature of representation, Resolutions 7 & 8.

On the question of an equitable ratio in the House of Representatives:

From Madison’s notes, Luther Martin (MD), the State Attorney General, gave a well-prepared and powerful three-hour speech attacking the path of the convention. However, according to Robert Yates (NY), Luther’s arguments were diffuse, “and in many instances desultory; it was not possible to trace him through the whole, or to methodize his ideas into a systematic or argumentative arrangement.”

A reading of the tea leaves over the past few days indicated a weakening of the large state bloc against equal state suffrage in the senate, while the small states had long indicated their willingness to accept proportional representation in the house. So, when it appeared the convention was close to agreeing on proportional representation in the house and parity of the states in the senate, it got a day of bombastic Luther Martin instead. In Martin’s view the purpose of the general government was to preserve state governments; it shouldn’t act on individuals. Martin stirred up emotions and his delay almost sank the convention as he revisited republican v. federal government and the convention’s authority to do what it was doing.

June 28th. Luther Martin (MD) continued his divisive rant which exploited the large v. small state divide.