A．Alexander Hamilton was not among them.B．All of them w……
TEXT A
The writing of the
Constitution of the United States is an act of such genius that philosophers
still wonder at its accomplishment and envy its results. Fifty-five typical
American citizens met and argued for 127 days during a ferociously hot
Philadelphia summer and produced one of the magisterial documents of world
history. Al most without being aware of their great achievement, they fashioned
a nearly perfect instrument of government, and I have studied it for nearly 70
years with growing admiration for its utility and astonishment at its capacity
to change with a changing world. It is a testament to what a collection of
typical free men can achieve.
I think this is the salient fact
about our Constitution. All other nations which were in existence in 1787 have
had to alter their form of government in the intervening years. France, Russia
and China have undergone momentous revolutions. Stable nations like Sweden and
Switzerland have had to change their forms radically. Even Great Britain, most
stalwart of nations, has limited sharply the power of its monarch and its House
of Lords. Only the United States, adhering to the precepts of its Constitution,
has continued with the same form of government. We are not of the younger
nations of the world; we are the oldest when it conies to having founded the
government which suits it best.
It is instructive to remember
the 55 men who framed this document. Elder statesmen like George Washington and
Benjamin Franklin contributed little to the debate but greatly to the stability
and inspiration of the convention. Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most brilliant
American of those days, missed the meetings entirely; he was on diplomatic duty
in France. The hard central work of determining the form of government seems to
have been done by a handful of truly great men: James Madison and George Mason
of Virginia, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, James Wilson and Gouverneur Morris of
Pennsylvania. Alexander Hamilton of New York did not speak much but did exert
considerable influence.
The 55 contained a college president, a
banker, a merchant, a great reaches of lawyer, a judge, a mayor, a clergyman, a
state governor and a surgeon. One-sixth of the members were foreign born. Two
were graduates of Oxford University, one of St. Andrews in Scotland. But the
group also contained some real nonentities, including a military man who had
been court-martialed for cowardice during the Revolution, some who contributed
nothing to the debate, and some who were not quite able to follow what was being
debated.
What this mix of men did was create a miracle in which
every American should take pride. Their decision to divide the power of the
government into three parts--Legislative, Executive, Judicial--was a master
stroke, as was the clever way in which they protected the interests of small
states by giving each state two Senators, regardless of population, and the
interest of large states by apportioning the House of Representatives according
to population.
But I think they should be praised mostly because
they attended to those profound principles by which free men have through the
centuries endeavored to govern themselves. The accumulated wisdom of making
speaks in this Constitution. (530)
Which of the following statements about the 55’men framing the Constitution is TRUE
A．Alexander Hamilton was not among them.
B．All of them were famous.
C．All of them contributed much to the framing.
D．George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were among them.
