{"id":438,"date":"2010-09-29T11:59:30","date_gmt":"2010-09-29T11:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/?p=438"},"modified":"2010-10-19T01:23:20","modified_gmt":"2010-10-19T01:23:20","slug":"early-debate-in-pennsylvania-james-wilson-and-an-old-whig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/2010\/09\/29\/early-debate-in-pennsylvania-james-wilson-and-an-old-whig\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Debate in Pennsylvania: James Wilson and “An Old Whig”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The "An Old Whig" Articles Nos. 1-8<\/p><\/div>\n

Just as the ratification process began in Pennsylvania in October 1787, James Wilson gave a speech<\/a> before a \u201craucous\u201d crowd that helped offer his responses to various criticisms already made against the Constitution (Richard Beeman, Plain, Honest Men <\/em>(2010), 379). These critiques were made by individuals like George Bryan and John Smilie, who published a series of eight articles signed by \u201cAn Old Whig<\/a>\u201d from October through to February 1788. The \u201cOld Whig\u201d articles offered the wide range of issues taken with the Constitution as it stood, namely the lack of a \u201cbill of rights\u201d and the fear for expanded powers in the national legislature. A comparison between the top seventy words used in Wilson\u2019s speech and the second of the eight articles, a direct response to Wilson, explains the essential differences between Federalists and Antifederalists in terms of their rhetoric and arguments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Speech by James Wilson to State House - October 6, 1787<\/p><\/div>\n

Wilson\u2019s speech on October 6th<\/sup> for a public audience in the Pennsylvania State Legislature was a \u201cpassionate but tightly reasoned defense\u201d of the Constitution in its unaltered state (Beeman, 379). Wilson used the word \u201cmust\u201d in favor of \u201cmay\u201d and \u201cfederal\u201d over \u201cconfederation,\u201d which arguably indicated his desire to present the Constitution as a document imperative to the survival of the United States. While \u201cstate\u201d and \u201cstates\u201d appear often, the context of these words in the full text of the speech showed his prevailing arguments against state sovereignty (or a \u201cconfederation\u201d). Wilson\u2019s speech fits into the mission of Federalists to reassure the public that the Constitution provided \u201cthe best form of government\u2026ever offered to the world.\u201d Of course, not all people subscribed to this understanding of the Constitution, notably George Bryan and John Smilie.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"An Old Whig" Article No. 2<\/p><\/div>\n

Each composing parts of the \u201cAn Old Whig\u201d articles, Smilie and Bryan set out to push the Antifederalist concerns and ideals into a public forum. In the second article published on October 17th<\/sup> in the Independent Gazetteer<\/em> the \u201cOld Whig\u201d responded to Wilson\u2019s speech. He spoke most fervently about the powers invested in the proposed government. Words and phrases including \u201cpower,\u201d \u201creserved,\u201d \u201cnecessary,\u201d and \u201cbill of rights\u201d appear often in the publication. Surprisingly, though they appear in the word cloud of all<\/em> the articles, the words \u201cstate\u201d or \u201csovereignty\u201d are not central to this particular publication. The focus on Congress and fears that the Constitution provides \u201cunlimited powers\u2026never to be entrusted to any men or body of men.\u201d The Antifederalists did not always directly push for state sovereignty, but they rather attempted to sour the perception of the Constitution. In addition, because the article responds directly to Wilson\u2019s speech, these corresponding word clouds allow for a clear visual of how Federalists and Antifederalists pinned themselves against one another.<\/p>\n

The word clouds comparing Wilson to the \u201cOld Whig\u201d do not merely improve the accessibility to the organization of the documents. Beeman notes that both Federalists and Antifederalists fought for a public forum in which to articulate and persuade in clear terms (380). These word clouds help pinpoint the rhetoric employed by an earnest Wilson and fearful Bryan and Smilie. Accordingly, the comparison offers a window through which one can analyze the much larger debate that occurred in other states. Though unfolding in environments far from identical, the general debate over the ratification of the Constitution can be sifted through by identifying key phrases and explaining how both groups persuaded the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just as the ratification process began in Pennsylvania in October 1787, James Wilson gave a speech before a \u201craucous\u201d crowd that helped offer his responses to various criticisms already made against the Constitution (Richard Beeman, Plain, Honest Men (2010), 379). … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12445],"tags":[12441],"class_list":["post-438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-word-clouds","tag-ratification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}