American History: Ratifying the Constitution
February 01, 2013
Making of a Nation
From VOA Learning English, welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in Special English. I’m Steve Ember.
Today, we continue our story of the United States Constitution. In recent weeks, we told the story of how the Constitution was written. In the summer of 1787, a group of delegates gathered for a convention in Philadelphia. Their plan was to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. Those articles created a weak union of the 13 states.
Instead of rewriting the articles, however, they spent that summer writing a completely new plan of government. On September 17th, after four months of often bitter debate, the delegates finally agreed to the new plan. Now, they had to get at least nine of the 13 states to approve it.
Delegates to the Philadelphia convention had met in secret. They wanted to be able to debate proposals, and change their minds, without worrying about public reaction. Now, they were free to speak openly. Each had a copy of the new Constitution.
Newspapers also had copies. They published every word. Public reaction was great indeed. Arguments 'for' and 'against' were the same as those voiced by delegates to the convention: The Constitution would save the United States! The Constitution would create a dictator!
Yale Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar says the public debate about the Constitution was one of its first successes as a democratic document. He notes that even democracies of long ago, like those in Greece or Italy, did not let citizens vote on their constitutions.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25