No I don't hate acknowledging Madison as one of the authors. Leaving him out merely allows me to point to the greatness of Hamilton the Ramrod of the Constitution since he wrote 2/3s of them and was the initiator of the project. Madison stated there was no way he could keep up with Hamilton's prodigous output which like Mozart turned out masterpieces in lightning speed.
Since the majority of our population was illiterate chances are they couldn't read it for themselves they were not stupid merely uneducated. If I am not mistaken most states voted on ratification with electorates less restricted than normal. High property qualifications in the South assured that the small electorates there were literate since the wealthy could educate their children. New England and New York probably had a majority which was literate and a more expanded electorate due to property being widely held.
No I don't claim that Jefferson was a traitor because there was no state of war between the U.S. and France at the time of his disloyalty to Washington and Adams when they were president. Just as Obubba Been Lyin' can't be charged with treason absent a war. Unfortunately.
Read Hamilton's discussion of the constitutionality of the National Bank as to implied powers which reasoning Madison accepted until the mid 1790s i.e. before partisian politics turned him into a party hack.
Is your belief that the general welfare clause is meaningless?
It's my belief that there's no such thing. Read it. It's the lay and collect taxes clause. There's no power to do whatever they think is in the general welfare. It's just that simple.