Miracle At Philadelphia Summary

In 1787, a group of intelligent delegates, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and the like, came together to form the Constitution. Some people think that this famous document came out of greedy intentions. H. W. Brands, however, states in his piece that the founders were able to rise above shallow interests to form what remains the oldest written national constitution, which in turn created one of the most lucrative federal systems in history. He writes from the outlook of Benjamin Franklin, a seasoned and wise delegate of the time. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate and analyze H. W. Brands’ thesis in the article, Miracle at Philadelphia. To prove his thesis, Brands focuses specifically on the beliefs and opinions of Benjamin Franklin. Brands speaks very highly of Benjamin Franklin …show more content…
One of the first decisions the delegates made together was to pick a leader between Washington and Franklin. The vote concluded with Washington as the president. Franklin was more of a resourceful consultant as he was not much of a speaker and his health was poor. He was still highly regarded by the delegates. This decision could be viewed as the first compromise the delegates made, showing their lack of self-interest and thereby proving Brands’ thesis that the delegates had acceptable morals. In this article, Brands’ includes several quotes about how Benjamin Franklin, though considerably older that his colleagues, valued people over profit. Franklin favored a unicameral legislature, meaning that instead of just one president, there would be one house of intelligent men working to keep the country in order. Unfortunately at that point, his ideas were considered figments of an aging man’s mind and were not truly considered. It seemed as though their convention was making very little progress until Alexander Hamilton reported an observation of Britain’s government and how it was very successful. He