OUT OF MANY ONE

 Ever catch the chariot race in the 1959 version of Ben Hur? Each chariot had four horses on the team. Imagine a chariot with not four horses, but thirteen. None of them wants to go in the same direction and at least one of them is trying to get in the chariot with the driver. That's what our not so sainted founding fathers were faced with in the summer of 1787.

Just finished literally blasting through E Pluribus Unum by Forrest McDonald. Book originally dates to the early seventies. It's a fairly short, often irreverent survey of the (dis)United States of America in the years between the start of the revolution and the ratifying of the constitution.

He goes section by section, state by state (briefly). Some states come off better than others. And his description of traveling conditions in say North Carolina, remind me just how easy we have it. Fronted by sand bars and barrier islands it was easier to ship exports up or down the coast and ship through Philadelphia, New York or Charleston. 

Actual only twelve states sent delegates Rhode Island didn't even show up. And no one went looking for them to suggest it might be in their best interest to at least put in an appearane. "Bunch of paper money loving smugglers. Better off without them." 

And next time somebody tells you they "don't have time to go cast a ballot" ask them how far they live from their polling place. There were more than a few back country farmers who owned enough property to be eligible to vote but couldn't afford to take the from one to three days (both ways) to cast their ballots.  

It is about three hundred miles from Boston to Philadelphia. John Adams was lucky if he could make the trip in the continental congress in just over a week. Longer if the weather was really bad. Bad roads, mud, a series of ferries, more mud, crappy inns. That's probably why the constitutional convention was held in summer. If it had been winter almost no one would have showed up. 

And the farming cycle is probably why we vote in November. The harvest is mostly in, Winter hasn't set in yet, traveling conditions aren't too bad, we hope. Also why we still have summer vacation during the scholl year. Wasn't so long ago those kids were needed doing farm work during the summer months. 

There was a whole lot of horse trading, private planning, arm twisting and down right chicanery that went into the creation of and ratification of the final version of the constitution. As for original intent. There wasn't one, in my opinion. More than a few of the delegates still called their home states their country and weren't in any hurry to allow more power to a central, national government. Even after all the horse trading enough states wouldn't ratify the constitution without a Bill of Rights. AKA the firs amendments. 

McDonald refers to farmers, planters, storekeepers, sailors, ship builders, butchers, bakers and candle stick makers. Nowhere does he mention corporations. Probably because corporations as we know them DIDN'T  exist in 1787. I suspect that Patrick Henry for one would consider treating a corporation as a "person" as outright blasphemy if not underhanded chicanery.