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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 559
The delegates had met for two months without opening their daily sessions with prayer.
At that time a stirring, eloquent and chastising motion was made Benjamin Franklin to begin
each morning with prayer. Franklin, was not a professing Christian, his motion was preceded by
the following: “How has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly
applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest
with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine
protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were heard, and they were graciously
answered. All of us were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a
superintending Providence in our favor.... And have we now forgotten this powerful friend? Or
do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” Franklin continued that God was proofing to
him that God governs in the affairs of men and further that as scripture well states, unless the
Lord builds the house, it is built in vain. The motion was neither second or enacted. The
delegation never jointly sought God's guidance.
1939
Not all the delegates were in favor of a new Constitution; in fact, some refused to go
because they suspected some nefarious business was about to take place. One of those refusing to
go was Patrick Henry. His candid excuse for not attending was, “I smell a rat.”
1940
By the end of
the Convention, the delegates had divided into two camps: The Federalist, who supported the
new Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists, who opposed the new Constitution. The most
important debates in the Convention centered on the following questions: “What powers should
the federal government possess? How and why should they be exercised? How are the freedoms
of the people defined and protected? Might those freedoms be lost in the face of governmental
expansion?”
1941
The notes from the Constitutional Convention are generally relied upon, even by the
Supreme Court, as an authoritative record of the concerns, intent and purpose in the wording of
the Constitution. The most highly regarded of these are the notes of James Madison but John
Charles Armor rights in Secret Records that the Convention notes published by Robert Yates and
John Lansing “give a more detailed account than those of Madison of the floor speeches of the
Anti-Federalists.”
1942
Further, Anti-Federalists from Pennsylvania provided a minority report on
the Constitutional Convention to the Pennsylvania state legislature. They specifically stated that
they were prevented from offering amendments to the constitution and that their objections were
not recorded in the minutes. Herbert J. Storing writes in The Anti-Federalist:
The convention met, and the same disposition was soon manifested in
considering the proposed constitution, that had been exhibited in every other stage
of business. We were prohibited by an express vote of the convention, from
taking any question on the separate articles of the plan, and reduced to the
necessity of adopting or rejecting in toto.—'Tis true the majority permitted us to
debate on each article, but restrained us from proposing amendments.—They also
determined not to permit us to enter on the minutes our reasons of dissent against
the whole. Thus situated we entered on the examination of the proposed system of
government, and found it to be such as we could not adopt, without, as we
conceived, surrendering up your dearest rights. We offered our objections to the
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