THOMAS PAINE: Alan J. Shembeda of Bradford, after reading our
introduction to the eight-week serial about patriot Thomas Paine,
offers another facet of our Constitution’s origin:

“It is generally accepted that Frenchman Charles de Secondat
Montesquieu’s writings were antecedent to and greatly influenced
Paine and his reasoning for the benefits of the separation of
powers.

“In fact, it was the tenets of Montesquieu’s book ‘Spirit of
Laws’ (1748) which dominated the debate at the Constitutional
Convention. …

“Several notable events led to the calling of the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and include Shay’s Rebellion
(Massachusetts) and the Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion. Through
these events, and among others, the Founding Fathers became
increasingly aware of flaws inherent in the Articles of
Confederation (July 9, 1778). Hence, the call for a convention to
revisit the Articles of Confederation.

“Once the proposed Constitution had been drafted and distributed
(in a very limited scope), two main camps of division ensued and
sought to have their proposals adopted: the Anti-Federalists, who
held that a weak central government was best and the remedy was a
revision of the Articles of Confederation; and the Federalists, who
proposed a strong central government and a creation of a complete
new system of government.

“So deep was the division between these two political bodies
that Patrick Henry stated, ‘Here is a revolution as radical as that
which separated us from Great Britain’ … or George Mason’s ordinal
‘Objections to the Constitution of Government formed by the
Convention (November 1787),’ which brought to light the flaws
contained within the drafted Constitution, most importantly, the
omission of a Bill of Rights.

“However, in the Federalist Papers, notably Essay 10 and 51,
James Madison presents a firm footing in favor of the Constitution;
Alexander Hamilton diffused fears held from a government spanning a
vast expanse; Hamilton also articulated and expanded on Adam
Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ and demonstrated its import upon the
economic foundations of the newly forming republic.

“To quote from Madison’s Essay 51, ‘It is of great importance in
a republic, not only to guard the society against oppression of its
rulers, but to guard one part of the society from oppression
against the injustice of the other part’ – a precept greatly
removed from the thoughts of many.”