Gunning+Bedford,+Jr.-2

Ben Krowitz Gunning Bedford Jr.

** Gunning Bedford, Jr. ** Introduction

1787 was a rather important year in the history of our nation. You see, it was the year of the birth of the United States of America. As much as the Declaration of independance and 1776 are hearalded as the years that formed our nation, in reality, the states were just in a loose alliance under the Articles of Confederation during the revolution. While the system worked during the revolution, Congress' inabiltiy to raise money made governing the new nation difficult. The Articles at the very least needed to be revised, or possibly scrapped altogether. So in 1787, in the city of Philidelphia, fifty-five delegates from all states met to revise the Articles of Confederation. But they would ultimatly retire the outdated document and replace it with a new Constitution for our nation. You probably know some of these delegates, such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison. But you almost definitely have never heard of Gunning Beford Jr., but he had as much a hand in creating our government-particularly the senate-as many others. Gunning Bedford was one of the more radical delegates to attend the Constitution Convention. As a delegate from Delaware, he worked tirelessly to ensure that the new government would be fair and impartial towards smaller states, and keep the power granted to big states by the new constitution limited.

Background

Gunning Bedford was born in Philadelphia, April 13, 1747. He graduated from the college of New Jersey in 1771. He then served in the Council of the Delaware General Assembly, which would later become the Delaware House of Representatives, from February 1, 1783 to April 4, 1784, then again from October 26, 1784 to October 27, 1786. He was chosen in 1787 as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

Role at Constitutional Convention

Bedford was a rather passionate delegate, mainly concerned with the fate of small states, such as his own Delaware. He became less radical and less vocal over the course of the convention, however, as he was repeatedly out-voted or out-spoken. He warned other delegates at the convention that if the small states were not given the status they wanted, they would seek foreign alliances for power and protection. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the other delegates. When called out as treasonous, Bedford stopped his threats. He was, in the beginning, there not to scrap the earlier Articles of Confederation altogether, but to revise them. He believed that “there is no middle way between a perfect consolidation between the states into one nation and a mere confederacy of the states. The first is out of the question, and in the latter they must continue if not perfectly yet equally sovereign.” His plan to revise the Articles was out-voted, however, by those who wanted to create a whole new Constitution. He then supported the New Jersey Plan, which created a unicameral congress, with two senators (and thus two votes) per state. He was a constant voice for smaller states whose voting power would be denigrated under the Virginia plan. Sadly for him, he would be out-voted again; the congress accepted a compromise, creating a bicameral congress with both a senate and a house of representatives.



__Document Based Question__ The constitution's biggest hurdle to overcome was the threat of tyranny. Having just escaped from an oppressive, tyrannical government, the founding fathers did not want to set up a government that would take control as king George III had. The founders came up with four ways to control the new government. Federalism, seperating the powers of government between the state and national governments. Bedford would probably have been against this, as he objected to the formation of a new government in the first place, claiming it was impossible. He is rumored to have said "...there is no middle way between the perfect consolidation of the states into one nation and a mere confederacy of the states. The first is out of the question, and in the latter they must continue if not perfectly yet equally soveriegn." But when it was decided that a federal government would be used, more systems to prevent tyranny were set in motion. For the most part, all of the different rules and systems implemented can be boiled down into two halves of one concept: "Seperation of powers" and "checks and balances." Seperation of powers refers to the breaking of the federal government into three segments with different powers and responsibilities: the judicial, executive, and legislative branches. Checks and balances refers to a system that makes sure no one branch of the government can cheat the others or gain too much power. Bedford would probably have been all for these additions to the Constitution. He was very concerned with the protection of the rights of smaller states and individuals. Preventing one group of individuals from gaining the power to make executive descisions by themselves would have appealed to him. The final problem that the constitution had to settle was how to set up Congress. One plan, known as the Virginia Plan, based the number of delegates for a state on the population of the state or by the amount of financial support provided to the government by the state. Bedford, being from the smaller, less wealthy state of Delaware, obviously objected to a plan that gave his state very little voting power. He supported a plan that gave each state two congressmen, regardless of any other factors - two votes per state. In the end, the founding fathers decided to compromise. Each state would get two senators, plus a number of representatives dependant on the state's population. It is not clear whether Bedford would have completely supported or condemned this idea. Smaller states would have less voting power under this system, but moreso than they would have under the Virginia plan. Most likely, he was unsatisfied with the compromise, as it still gave more power to larger states. __ Primary Sources__ How would Gunning judge certain parts of the constitution and Bill of Rights? __Constitutional Connection__ Gunning probably had some strong objections to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. This Section created the House of Representatives, the body of Congress where the number of Representatives per state is based on population. Gunning objected to the creation of the House in the first place because of Delaware's lack of voting power in it. In fact, along with Rhode Island, Delaware had the least number of Representatives when the Constitution was created. He also would have been disappointed that the House is the only governing body that can impeach officials, but it probably made him happier that the Senate holds the trials for impeached officials, since he wanted the Senate to be the only legislative body. Article V, which provides Congress the power to make amendments to the Constitution with a two-thirds majority, also would have pleased him - he thought the Constitution was an imperfect document from the beginning. __Bill of Rights__ There are two amendments to the Constitution out of the first ten-The Bill of Rights-that were probably supported by Bedford. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments both regard the rights of citizens as pertaining to the Constitution. The Ninth ensures that the Constitution cannot encroach upon the basic rights of people, but for him, the biggest amendment would be the Tenth. The Tenth states that any powers not reserved to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the states or to the people. This is probably the only amendment that actually gives power back to the states. Seeing as how Bedford would be worried how little power was given to the smaller states by the Constitution, he probably agreed with an amendment that delegated any powers not specifically given to the federal government to the states. __Attendance Record__: Missed May 14, Missed May 25, Arrived May 28-June 2, June 4-June 9, June 11-June 23, June 25 -June 30, July 2, July 5-July 7, July 9-July 14, July 16-July 26, Missed Augest 6-August 11, Missed August 13-August 18, Missed August 20-August 25, Missed August 27-September 1, Missed September 3, Came back September 4-September 8, September 10, //Probably// September 11, September 12-September 15, September 17(End of Convention). All total, he attended 62 out of 89 days, for a total of 70% of the days. As you can see, Bedford arrived late, along with all the other Delaware Delegates, and attended a large portion of the days of the convention. However, for some unknown reason, he missed all of August. It is possible that he became angry at the direction the convention was taking and decided to leave, but cooled down and came back. In any case, he consistantly attended more than any of his fellow Delaware delegates, with the exeption of August.



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"Gunning Bedford, Jr." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <[]>.

"The History of Lombardy Hall." Granite-Corinthian Lodge No. 34, A.F.&A.M. Main Web Page. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <[]>.

"Shaping the Constitution in Philadelphia." Philadelphia Reflections. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <[]>.

"The Constitutional Convention as a Four Act Drama." TeachingAmericanHistory.org -- Free Seminars and Summer Institutes for Social Studies Teachers. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. <[]>.

Maryland, Born In. "National Constitution Center: Delaware." National Constitution Center: Home. Web. 04 May 2010. .

"The Constitution of the United States." Welcome to the America Information Web. Web. 04 May 2010. .