This week in history:
On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the Constitution, by a vote of 46 to 23. (Delaware was first, New Jersey was third)
Pennsylvania was the most ethnically and religiously diverse state in the new nation. One-third of Pennsylvania’s population was German-speaking: the Constitution was also printed in the German language to include those people in the debate. The chairman of Pennsylvania’s ratifying convention was the son of the leading German Lutheran minister and grandson to Conrad Weiser (1696-1760), a leading Indian interpreter and German-speaking political leader. The leader of the Anti-Federalists was a Delaware-born Scots-Irishman Thomas McKean. Future Supreme Court Justice and Scottish immigrant James Wilson was the most articulate defender of the Federalist cause.
Pennsylvania had the most radical of the state constitutions during the War for Independence - it excluded Quakers and pacifists. Strong anti-British and anti-Indian Scots-Irish factions took power. Only when pacifists were again able to vote, after the war was over, was it possible that the U.S. Constitution could be accepted by Pennsylvania. Large states like Pennsylvania had the most to lose by joining a strong union, like the Federal (shared responsibility) system we have now. James Wilson described the layered nature in a federal republic, with the solar system as an example. This helped convince Pennsylvanians to accept the modern Constitution.
There were a lot of people in Pennsylvania and other states who worried that the new office of President would get changed into a monarchy, with a king leading the country. The new United States had left behind being ruled instead of governed, and turned their backs on kings. It was a big concern, and the country wanted to never go back to that old way of living.
The ruler of England had a job that he (or she) was born into, and couldn’t be fired from that job, even for crimes that would put anyone else in a prison or even execute them. The new United States were trying to be very careful, with a government that shared responsibilities, and had “Checks and Balances” so that no one part of the government would take over (like a king might).
The Constitution of the United States of American was about how the people wanted to live, and how they fought to have a home that what the Declaration of Independence stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The United States of America has an important year ahead, with some people wanting presidents to be like kings; above the law. This idea means that those people who want that do not support our country or our constitution. They want to go backward, taking the United States back to being a colony of some other country. A colony is a lot like being a slave: The ruling country can do what it wants to the colony.
Stand up, look around, and be a civics leader by saying we don’t want to be anyone’s colony. Your county and city may have volunteer jobs to help govern your community, like library board, watershed district, parks board. These are usually part-time, with a few meetings a year. This is way to be more involved in our participatory democracy, and help your neighbors, too.