Posted on 10/10/2006 8:35:41 PM PDT by hedgetrimmer
Some men at the Convention were ahead of their times. Mr. Pinckney of South Carolina was already thinking democratically along the lines of Andrew Jackson a generation later. Mr. Wilson was anticipating the Progressives of the late 19th and early 20th Century.
Wilson was one of the lesser known Pennsylvanians present. (Franklin, of course, was the best known man in the world.) Wilson took seriously the idea that all power derived from the people. Toward the end of the Convention when the delegates began addressing the means of electing the president, Wilson decided to pitch his idea of direct popular vote to Madison. He invited "Jemmy" over for dinner.
Wilson set a goood table, and afterwards he took Madison out to his back yard where he had installed a putting green. Wilson had come from Scotland as a boy and still spoke with a Scottish burr. He was an avid golfer, but with Philadelpia lacking a good golf course, Wilson contented himself with the little green in his back yard.
He put a club in Madison's hands and attempted to teach him a good golf swing, all the while keeping up a one-sided conversation about his plan for electing the president by popular vote. (Wilson was tall while Madison was quite short, so I see a comical Mutt-and-Jeff image in this scene.)
Madison was polite, but he knew he would never be able to sell Wilson's idea. Hamilton, the lead Nationalist, viewed the people as "the mob" and would oppose it adamantly. The States' Men would never buy it because it de-emphasized the role of the states and pushed toward a consolidated union, something that had killed Hamilton's grand design on Day One.
Wilson's idea was a non-starter, and in the final days of the Convention, the Electoral College was cobbled together from a number of different plans. No one was happy with it, but it was the best that could be done.
In 1829, Jackson picked up where Wilon had left off.
(Headed for bed.)
I thought god was omnipotent.
I thought the 17th Amendment was adopted in 1916.
After Jackson, the Progressives had been pushing this idea through the late 19th Century along with open primary elections, initiative, referendum, recall, women's suffrage and the prohibition of alcohol. When Congress voted on it, the House was willing to go along with direct election of senators but not the Senate.
The states began to get antsy, and a movement began to invoke Article V. State after state petitioned Congress for a Convention for Proposing Amendments on this subject. When only one more state was required to force a convention call, the Senate blinked and voted for the amendment. It was ratified in record time.
I know this and you know it, but the young skulls of mush in the public skrools are being taught otherwise.
In any event, upon researching my GGGGG Grandpa who sat in the PA Assembly, I came across a letter that he and two others wrote to one B. Franklin expressing their concerns about the upcoming vote at the Constitutional Convention.
They expressed grave concern regarding the fact that the document left too open the possibilities that:
The American people would one day suffer an egregious tax burden.
And, that press might coagulate into a "cabal" that would attempt to undermine the country.
Go figure.
You write as if man is not able to make choices.
Ten Young Former Gangsters Start Businesses on Guatemala Reality Show
USAID invested about $300,000 in this project through the Global Development Alliance. USAID/Guatemala has put in another $900,000 over time. The Guatemalan private sector and federal government have supported the program, which is being carried out by Creative Associates.
Children today are not taught about the value of the Constitution and add to that the apathy that abounds brought on by govt. largesse in the form of various aid and you are asking something nearly impossible.
Theirs is a backwards view as they are going backwards into slavery to make money. Slavery has never worked.
Once the majority of people realize where this country is headed, I expect the decent ones will lash out.
Representitives? Heck, pull up the text of any of Bush's speeches and see how many times he says the word "democracy".
Sorry, I have been very busy.
We have let the free traders get away with too much. Their claim is that the economy is good so NAFTA is great. Reaganwusthebest said this paraphrase. The economy is good inspite of NAFTA.
NAFTA is one of the main reasons we have so much illegal immigration as Mexico was devastated with the implementation of NAFTA.
Never do the free traders take into consideration the cost of higher insurance premiums, hospital costs, uninsured motorist insurance, welfare,food stamps, ect. These costs are forced on us . I, myself, would prefer tariffs so I could pick and choose what I want.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.