 couldn't be done without violating the ratification of the Constitution. In other words, the "people" had ratified the original Constitution in state ratifying conventions, but it would be the state legislatures that would ratify the new amendments. So if the amendments were woven in, it would be like creating a new Constitution that the people would then not have an opportunity to ratify.
Professor Marion said that Madison would be pleased with what happened to the Constitution. He would like the amendments that have been added in the last 200 years. Madison understood that to design and carry into being a new government "was a difficult project, not an impossible project." Professor Marion added, "I sometimes tell my students that the framers deserve the respect we give them not because they invented this, but because they took ideas that were out there and created a nation and government that was in line with those principles." In addition to the ideas Madison contributed from his study of ancient constitutions and governments, other founders brought in ideas that were already in many state constitutions.
In Federalist #51, Madison explained that it was the business of the Convention to first come up with a government that could control the people, and secondly to create a government that would control itself. The Constitution was not perfect when it was created. Many important amendments had to be added later to finally protect the rights of all Americans -- amendments that ended slavery, and that gave African Americans and women the right to vote. However, the government we have today is still quite similar to the one Madison designed 223 years ago, and let us hope that it may long continue into the future.
Posted by JENNIFER MITNICK at 6/30/2010 11:00:00 PM
I just got back from an adventure to Monticello -- Thomas Jefferson's house! Two other teachers and I had tried to go there yesterday but we arrived at 5:06pm and the gate was closed, so we just missed it. However, the security guards at the gate were very nice and encouraged us to come back the next day. We made it with enough time today! Madison and Jefferson were lifelong friends (Jefferson designed Madison's front door), so it was very appropriate to take our free time in the afternoon today to visit Monticello. We took a tour of his house and grounds and then walked down the mountain trail to see his grave. When we returned to the visitors' center, the security guards we had talked to yesterday actually opened up the new exhibit, which had closed already for the evening, so we could go in and see it! That was so nice of them. I wish I had more time to write about my visit to Montpelier, but since it is very late, I'll just put some pictures at the end of this blog.
We also heard a lecture today by David Marion, Director of the Wilson Center for Leadership, Hampden-Sydney College. He was fantastic! His explanations of Madison's reasoning were so clear and he had us look at many primary sources to back up his arguments. I just counted how many pages I used in my notebook to take notes on his lecture and I counted eleven pieces of paper, front and back! So that's 22 sides of a page! I really wish I had time to explain what I learned from his lecture in this blog entry, but it's too late at night. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have time to type it up. His lecture made me wish I were one of his students in college.
In the afternoon today, we had group discussions on some primary sources. Then we visited Gilmore Cabin & Freedman's Farm, a small cabin and farm that was owned by one of Jefferson's former slaves that was later freed. We also visited the Montpelier Station -- the train station the duPont family had built. The station has been restored to what it looked like in the Jim Crow Era -- there is a "white" door and a "colored" door. There is also a real post office in the station so I mailed some post cards today. A few other teachers and I left directly from here for Monticello.
I took a better picture showing the orange soil:
Make up your own caption for this one