Tempest at Dawn (18 page)

Sherman turned to Paterson and clasped his
upper arm. “William, don’t despair. We’ve not done badly so far.
Political tides ebb unexpectedly. With you on our side, I’m
confident we’ll prevail.”

“
Thank you, Roger.” Paterson’s posture
straightened slightly. “I’ll do my best to disrupt their merry
little march.”

Roger Sherman took his seat. Randolph
again read the Virginia Plan. When he had finished, Sherman felt
his body tense
—
the debate was
about to begin. Gouverneur Morris hitched to the front of the
chamber. Shifting his weight to his wooden leg, he grabbed both
lapels and gazed about the room.

“
Gentlemen, I’d make a motion to
postpone debate on the plan until we consider the following
resolutions.

“
One, that a union of the states based
on the Articles of Confederation will not accomplish the goals of
our meeting.

“
Two, that no treaty among the states,
as individual sovereignties, can build an adequate
government.

“
Three, that a national government
ought to be established, consisting of a supreme legislative, a
supreme executive, and a supreme judiciary.”

Sherman scribbled,
They’re asking for a vote to overthrow the
government
, and passed the note to
Ellsworth.

Ellsworth read it with an ashen face.

Morris’s motion to postpone consideration of
the Virginia Plan received an immediate second. On the call for a
vote, Ellsworth turned to Sherman and asked, “Now what?”

Sherman pulled out a piece of paper, tore it
in half, and scratched out something. He folded the half-sheet and
handed it to Ellsworth, saying, “Wander over and slip this to
Read.”

Ellsworth got up immediately, not waiting
for Sherman to explain the contents of the note.

After a unanimous vote to postpone the Virginia
Plan, Sherman sat alert, anxious to discover the sentiment of the
chamber. A series of delegates criticized the first proposition.
Sherman felt heartened that others believed the Articles could be
amended.

Sensing the mood, the Virginia
coalition moved to the less controversial third proposition.
Sherman could feel the collective relief, but instead of quickly
endorsing a three-branch government, debate grew even more raucous
over the meaning of the words
national
and
supreme
.

Sherman wondered if he should buy time by
letting the debate continue or ask for the floor to center debate
on the real issue. Before he could decide, Pinckney gained the
floor, appearing to have read Sherman’s mind.

“
Mr. Randolph, a question hangs over
this chamber. If you’d be so kind, sir, would you please provide us
with a straightforward answer? Do you intend to abolish the state
governments?”

The abrupt question flattened the chamber’s
rancor. The stunned delegates sat breathless, appalled by the
audacious challenge. Randolph looked unsettled as he slowly
rose.

“
Mr. Pinckney, I shall, of course,
give you a straightforward answer. I believe the outline of the
proposed system is clear.”

As Randolph started to sit, Pinckney leaped
to his feet. “That response doesn’t answer my question. If you
please, Mr. Randolph … do you intend to abolish the state
governments?”

“
Mr. Pinckney, I apologize if my answer seemed
insufficient.” Randolph stood beside his table, appeared to ruffle
through some papers, and then looked up to say, “I haven’t made up
my mind. I’m open to any discussion which might throw light on this
important subject.”

With this, Randolph took his seat and
pretended to sort papers again, in the hope that Pinckney would
permit his retreat.

Pinckney rose again. “Mr. President, I doubt
that Congress authorized a discussion of a system built on
principles different from the Articles of Confederation. This
collective body has no authority to veer from our
instructions.”

Without challenging Randolph further, Pinckney sat.
The room remained still as everyone waited to see what would next
unfold. Morris was recognized again. Sherman knew Morris wouldn’t
equivocate.

“
Gentlemen, please, we’re seasoned
politicians. There is no need to evade the question. Let’s be
clear: our proposal is for a supreme government, one with
compulsive authority.” Morris walked across the front of the
chamber, engaging all the delegates. “You may recoil from such a
bold statement, but in all of history, there’s been but one supreme
power and one only.”

Morris thumped his wooden leg with the force
of a gavel. “Gentlemen, the Articles are based on myth and fable. I
propose we begin to address our business with a heady dose of
reality. As a supreme government over all the people, our system
will act on individuals, not the states. Any intermediary would
interfere.”

Before he took his seat, Morris said
disdainfully, “You now have your straightforward answer.”

It was time for Sherman to speak. Standing
at his place, he said, “There can be no doubt that Congress must be
granted additional powers. The crisis is real. Dissolution
threatens. But gentlemen, I implore you, don’t squander what may be
our sole opportunity to right the situation. If we deviate from our
instructions, if we laden our proposals with coercive national
powers, if we ignore the spirit of our Revolution, the states will
reject our work.

“
Shall we lose our sole opportunity
due to overzealous ambition? The track we choose in these early
days will set the course for the duration. Let’s ponder this track
with care.”

Read moved to postpone debate on the
resolution for a supreme national government. Sherman was pleased
to hear Pinckney second the motion, but he was displeased to see
the motion defeated. The Virginians didn’t hesitate to use force,
the third political weapon.

Butler immediately called for a vote to
approve a supreme national government, signaling apparent discord
within the South Carolina delegation, but before Sherman could
think it through, the motion passed, with only Connecticut voting
nay. It disappointed Sherman that his allies failed to see the
significance of the vote.

Filled with victory, the large state
alliance went straight to the Virginia Plan’s most controversial
resolution. With the majority on their side, the Virginians struck
hard, intent on vanquishing the opposition.

The secretary read the second resolution.
“The rights of suffrage in the national legislature ought to be
proportioned to the quotas of contribution, or to the number of
free inhabitants.”

A long debate ensued within the large state
alliance. They vigorously argued over the respective virtues of
representation based on taxes or people. Numerous alternate
resolutions were proposed. All were postponed.

Sherman spotted the chink in their
armor. At first, he thought that they were giddy with their early
victory and had charged in an uncoordinated assault, but as the
dispute continued, he almost slapped his forehead. This discord
within their alliance was not about nuanced words, but a deep chasm
within their camp. The resolution would have been precisely worded
had they a consensus. Sherman guessed the Pennsylvanians had
insisted on the word
free
before
inhabitants
. The
slave states had threatened to bolt, so they added an ambiguous
reference to tax contributions. He had been wrong this morning: the
valleys, as well as the peaks, cast vital signals.

Despite the revelation, Sherman felt
annoyance. The large states were debating amongst themselves as if
the small states had already been defeated. He bristled at their
arrogance. Finally, the large states seemed to agree on an even
less precise statement: “that the equal state suffrage established
by the Articles of Confederation ought not to prevail in the
national legislature, and that an equitable ratio of representation
ought to be substituted.”

Sherman knew this delayed the argument, but
more important, it moved debate from the chamber to a private
tavern room. Just before the vote, Read gained the floor.

“
Gentlemen, I move to postpone the
point. If this motion is passed, Delaware must withdraw. My
instructions are clear. We may not assent to any change in
suffrage. It will be our unfortunate duty to retire.”

Ellsworth’s glance told Sherman that he had
guessed the contents of the earlier note, and a glare from
Washington signaled his sharp disapproval. Sherman hadn’t
technically gone back on his word. Delaware’s instructions were
beyond his influence.

A shaken Morris said, “Mr. Read, please
weigh the consequences of your action. The secession of a state
would raise an alarm throughout the country. It would signal grave
discord to people outside. I implore you to reconsider.”

Madison gained the floor. “Fellow delegates, the
justification for equal state suffrage disappears when a national
government is put in place.”

Madison continued for several minutes, as if
logic could sway George Read’s opinion. Then he offered the
expedient of a vote on the sense of the members, rather than on the
resolution.

“
This is a ruse,” Read thundered. “If
the sense of this assembly is to change state suffrage, I will
follow my instructions.”

“
Mr. Read,” Gouverneur Morris said, “I’ve read
the Delaware instructions. I don’t believe they require a secession
of her deputies.”

Read leaped to his feet. “Mr. Morris, it’s
not up to Pennsylvania to interpret our instructions. The Delaware
deputies are quite capable of reading.”

Others stood to argue that Delaware’s
instructions left room for them to remain if they themselves didn’t
vote for a change in suffrage. When it became obvious that Read
refused to budge, the assembly adjourned.

“
Will you gentlemen be needing anything
else?”

“
No, thank you, Howard.” Sherman took a sip of
tea and found it to his liking. Howard had expertly coated the
bottom of a cup with heavy crème, scraped a generous portion of
sugar off a cone, and then poured scalding tea into the cup from a
sufficient height to swirl the ingredients together.

“
Howard?” Sherman’s voice brought the
servant back from the central hall and into the parlor.

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Would you inform Mrs. Marshall that
we’ll not be staying for dinner?”

“
She’ll be sorely disappointed. The
spring vegetables she bought today sent her into a flurry of
cooking.”

“
She’s a fine cook, but I’m afraid
duty calls.”

“
You’ll miss her famous apple
pie.”

“
Not if you put aside a piece for my
breakfast.”

Howard gave a broad wink. “I’ll arrange it,
sir.” And he disappeared.

“
A capable man,” Ellsworth
said.

Sherman looked up from his copy of the
Virginia Plan. “What?”

“
I said Howard is a capable
man.”

“
Yes, he is.” Sherman snapped the
paper in his hand and went back to reading.

“
You’re going to use slavery to break
the large state coalition, aren’t you?”

“
I’m trying to find the section of the
plan you asked about.”

“
You’d sacrifice Howard?”

Sherman let the paper fall into his lap.
“Howard will be unaffected.”

“
You know what I mean.”

“
No plan will leave this convention
that doesn’t protect slavery. Today, we got a glimpse of the chasm
between Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Slavery’s the only wedge
that can enlarge that gulf.”

“
No guilt?”

“
Let’s get back to this plan.” Sherman
started to read again but then stopped. “Oliver, when this is over,
we must work to outlaw slavery in Connecticut.”

The four men sat around a square table.
Sherman, Ellsworth, Paterson, and Read had caucused in a private
room at the City Tavern.

“
Today we taught the insurgents a
lesson,” Paterson gloated.

“
Today was no victory,” Sherman
said.

“
We foiled their plans.”

“
We merely avoided
disaster.”

“
Everything they proposed was
postponed.” Paterson patted Read on the back. “They retreated
because the smallest state threatened to leave.”

“
Everything was not postponed. If
memory serves me right, the convention passed a resolution to form
a supreme national government.”

Paterson looked puzzled. “Yes, but a
separate legislature, executive, and judiciary are not unique.”

“
You missed the strategy. The
architecture’s inconsequential. They wanted to establish our
purpose: to build a “supreme national” system. This principle
frames everything we do from this point forward.”

“
Roger, I think you exaggerate
the—”

“
No, William, I do not. All that
remains is the mechanics.”

“
I’m sorry, Roger, but you’ve lost
me,” Read interjected. “Aren’t we here to design a stronger
national government?”

“
Not one that does away with the
states. Congress is subservient to the states. Congress is their
instrument to achieve common goals. Today, we voted to make the
states subservient to the national government.”