One consideration appeared to him to militate strongly agst. He thought one annual meeting ought to be required; but did not wish to make two unavoidable. MASON thought the objections against fixing the time insuperable: but that an annual meeting ought to be required as essential to the preservation of the Constitution.
The extent of the Country will supply business. And if it should not, the Legislature, besides legislative, is to have inquisitorial powers, which can not safely be long kept in a state of suspension. There will be business eno' to require it.
The Western Country, and the great extent and varying state of our affairs in general will supply objects. Instead of which he moved to add the words following-" unless a different day shall be appointed by law. It might frequently happen that our measures ought to be influenced by those in Europe, which were generally planned during the Winter and of which intelligence would arrive in the Spring.
The summer will interfere too much with private business, that of almost all the probable members of the Legislature being more or less connected with agriculture. The time is of no great moment now, as the Legislature can vary it.
On looking into the Constitutions of the States, he found that the times of their elections with which the election [FN11] of the Natl. Representatives would no doubt be made to co-incide, would suit better with Decr.
And it was adviseable to render our innovations as little incommodious as possible. READ moved to insert after the word "Senate" the words, "subject to the Negative to be hereafter provided. Altho' it is agreed on all hands that an annual meeting of the Legislature should be made necessary, yet that point seems not to be freed from doubt as the clause stands. On this suggestion, "Once at least in every year," were inserted, nem.
III with the foregoing alterations was agd. MORRIS moved to strike out the last member of the section beginning with the words "qualifications" of Electors," in order that some other provision might be substituted which wd.
This part of the Report was well considered by the Committee, and he did not think it could be changed for the better. It was difficult to form any uniform rule of qualifications for all the States. Unnecessary innovations he thought too should be avoided. Such a hardship would be neither great nor novel. The people are accustomed to it and not dissatisfied with it, in several of the States.
In some the qualifications are different for the choice of the Govr. Another objection agst. Legislature depend on the will of the States, which he thought not proper. Storing, Herbert J. The Complete Anti-Federalist.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Featured Search Historical Highlights of the House. Learn about Foreign Leader Addresses. Featured Search the People of the House. Majority Leaders. Bean Soup! Featured Black Americans in Congress. Featured Mace of the U. House of Represen- tatives. House Trivia Timeline. Featured Resources for National History Day Nevertheless, it must have pleased him to see that many of his motions and beliefs that protected the rights of citizens and the sovereignty of the states had been incorporated into the document and that he had been able to check many of the excesses of the extreme nationalists, thereby preventing the establishment of an even more powerful government.
Gerry, although believing the constitution being sent to the states for ratification contained too many provisions that were inconsistent with republican principles, was reluctant to take an extreme stand against its ratification.
He was afraid that if the ratification debate was too acrimonious, it would create conditions favoring social instability and quite possibly civil war and disunion. Thus, once the ratification process began, he dropped his call for a second convention, believing the best course would be to favor the constitution with amendments. In October he wrote the Massachusetts legislature that "it was painful for me, on a subject of such national importance, to differ from the respectable members who signed the constitution.
But conceiving as I did that the liberties of America were not secured by the system, it was my duty to oppose it. If the people adopted the document as it stood, he maintained, they were in danger of losing their liberties. But, if they rejected it altogether, "anarchy may ensue.
The Massachusetts convention on February 7, , by a vote, ratified the Constitution with recommendatory amendments, many of them relating to a national bill of rights.
Before this convention, none of the states had requested amendments. After it, all but one ratified the Constitution and proposed amendments at the same time. This must have pleased Gerry, as it was he who had first made the suggestion to the Massachusetts convention as well as suggesting specific amendments.
Once the Constitution was ratified, Gerry kept his word about supporting it, and agreed, once elected, to serve in the first House of Representatives. After his election, he wrote a friend that many members of the First Congress would consider him an enemy of the Constitution, but he maintained nothing was more "remote from truth. Gerry arrived at Congress in the spring of ready to see that the proposed amendments were given due consideration and to ensure the Constitution was implemented and administered so as to protect the liberties of the people.
He also desired to raise issues, such as the location of the seat of government and the assumption of the national and state war debts, that he had first brought up at the Constitutional Convention but which had been deferred to the First Congress. The First Federal Congress established many of the government's major institutions and policies, including setting up the executive department and judiciary system, and recommending a national bill of rights. Gerry, who had spoken the sixth most times at the Constitutional Convention, was an active participant, especially during the first five-month session, speaking more times than any other member save James Madison.
Setting forth the same themes he had expounded at the Constitutional Convention, Gerry hoped the national government would find a true balance between liberty and power.
He continually worked to protect the liberties of the people and the rights of the states. Avoiding political party affiliation, he preached the politics of conciliation and republicanism. In , after two terms in Congress and tired of the political factions then evolving, Gerry retired from public service. But his retirement was only temporary. During the following 20 years he would serve on a diplomatic mission to France, two terms as governor of Massachusetts, and as Vice President.
During those years, Gerry continually attempted to restore his country to the idealism, virtue, patriotism, and revolutionary republicanism of the early days of the American Revolution. During his 40 years of public service, Gerry made many enemies, yet very few questioned his motives and sincerity. William Pierce, at the Constitutional Convention, wrote that Gerry's "character is marked for integrity and perseverance" and that he "cherishes as his first virtue, a love for his country.
Today, Gerry is all but forgotten, yet his presence which was often a nuisance to his colleagues , persistence, and political skills were important factors in shaping the system of government under which we live. He certainly deserves remembering. And indirectly he is. When visitors to the Rotunda of the National Archives view the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, they often look up at the murals above the cases.
One depicts members of the Constitutional Convention. There stands Gerry, guardian over the documents he helped to bring to life. While Gerry is gone and forgotten, his work is not. All these visitors have to do is walk outside the Rotunda and look around Washington, D. Many of our leaders are responding to a time of great turmoil by creating laws sharply curtailing our rights and invading the privacy of all Americans.
American citizens—without being charged, tried, or given access to a lawyer—are being jailed and called "enemy combatants. And the Internet, as it blazes unparalleled paths to freedom of expression, also paves the way to new perils for privacy rights. We do not defend them because we agree with them; rather, we defend their right to free expression and free assembly. Historically, the people whose opinions are the most controversial or extreme are the people whose rights are most often threatened.
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The only things we fight are attempts to take away or limit your civil liberties, like your right to practice any religion you want or none at all ; or to decide in private whether or not to have a child; or to speak out - for or against - anything at all; or to be treated with equality and fairness, no matter who you are.
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