Woodie holton says the american people and their state governments could have rejected the new blue print for the nation, and almost did. What was this protest movement by massachusetts farmers really about? And what does it tell us about the us? Constitution and the problems it was designed to solve? For that matter, what did the original constitution have to say about democracy? coming 11 years after the declaration of independence? Was the constitution the next big step toward a great democratic America as we're taught to think of it? Or were the framers up to something else? Yes. This is season four of scen on radio, and part two of our series, the land that ever has been
In the summer of 1787, fifty-five men got together in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution for the United States, replacing the new nation’s original blueprint, the Articles of Confederation. But why, exactly? What problems were the framers trying to solve? Was the Constitution designed to advance democracy, or to rein it in? And how can the answers to those questions inform our crises of democracy today?
By producer/host John Biewen with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with Woody Holton, Dan Bullen, and Price Thomas. The series editor is Loretta Williams.