THE ROAD TO RATIFICATION

The United States Constitutional Convention of 1787, after many compromises and debates, drafted the proposed federal constitution, which was sent to each of the thirteen states to ratify. Superficially, these compromises and debates can be delineated in fairly simplistic terms: Big State vs. Small State and North vs. South; however, when looking deeper at the state constitutions and the ratification debates, one can see that the arguments found in the these ratification debates are based on more underlying principles of government. The consistent debates that were discussed in each state convention, such as debates over whether or not to include a Bill of Rights, the nature of separation of powers, and whether “We the People” is an appropriate phrase, emphasize the underlying factors that tie the states together and to the federal constitution. The interdependent nature of the people, newspapers, and constitutions themselves illustrate that the split between opposing sides is not a superficial or a physical boundary. The boundary that details that major fission between opposing sides in the state ratifying convention originates within the deeper principles of government that the people adhere to and disagreements over how that should translate into a written constitution.