#108 Questioning the Constitution

Thomas Cole, "Destruction," the fourth painting in the "Course of Empire" series, 1836. Wikimedia.

Opener

• With a partner, consider the claim that “history is written by the winners” (a quote with many potential attributions).
  • Who were the Anti-Federalists?
  • To what extent is this quote relevant to their story?

Critical reading skills: reading with and against the grain

• Read the text “with the grain”: see as the author sees
  • Why? To understand author’s arguments and logic.
  • How? Tentatively accept author’s point of view. Focus on comprehension and empathizing with the author.
• Read the text “against the grain”: raise questions
  • Why? To gain “critical insight” on the text.
  • How?
    • Test the text for contradictions, silences, and faults.
    • Find the limits of the text, including biases and unstated assumptions of the author

Discussion

• Practice this approach in our reading of Winthrop: With the grain:
  • What are Winthrop’s main arguments? In his view, what are the main failings of the proposed Constitution? Why does he claim that the “leading principle of the revolution” is violated by the new Constitution?
  • Can you think of present-day examples that might illustrate some of his arguments?
  • What does he mean when he says that “Large and consolidated empires may indeed dazzle the eyes of a distant spectator with their splendor, but if examined more nearly area always found to be full of misery” (121). In what times and places might this have been true?
  • What is Winthrop’s view on protection of natural rights?
  • Why might people at the time have thought as Winthrop did? What contemporary events or historical examples might people be drawing on?
• And now, against the grain:
  • To what extent do/should the immediate challenges of the Articles of Confederation color some of Winthrop’s arguments.
  • Interrogate Winthrop’s claim that smaller governments are more just.
  • Is the analogy Winthrop draws between the Constitution and pre-1776 British rule a fair one?
  • Is it important, as Winthrop argues, to explicitly identify protections for citizens, or by outlining some protections are we simply making it easier to take away other essential freedoms?

Closing remarks

• Would you have found Winthrop’s arguments ultimately convincing enough to give you pause over the ratification of the Constitution? Why or why not?

Homework: Assignment #109.