“Unlocking Humanity: The Surprising Secret Behind What Makes Us Truly Human”
Once windows closed and secrecy sworn, they got to work, as Washington would state, probing “the defects of the Constitution to the bottom, and [providing] radical cures.”
While a few different core plans were proposed, ultimately a version of the aforementioned “Virginia plan” won out, with the chief architect of this being James Madison. While the original Virginia plan was heavily modified over the course of the debate, it outlined, much like John Adams had advocated for and created in the Massachusetts constitution, the formation of a three branch government as well as a bicameral legislature, executive, and judicial branches and checks and balances at all levels.
Interestingly, what it did not do was give a Bill of Rights. The reasons for forgoing this were complex. Everything from that it was argued that the state governments already handled this in what way they respectively pleased, to more practical ones, like that it was already a huge deal to propose a brand new constitution. Thus, trying to come up with a Bill of Rights to add on to it that everyone would agree to would extend matters potentially many months and could very well see the entire thing fall apart and the states go their separate ways.
A core underlying issue with the Bill of Rights was that some states depended on slavery and some did not, and it would be incredibly difficult, though not impossible, to come up with a Bill of Rights that both groups would agree to. The issue of slavery was also a matter the delegates had already very explicitly decided was something that would have to be put off for another generation to solve if they were to form a government at all right then.
