Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen
1966 / 310 pgs. (86,500 words) Political Science/History

It doesn’t look like a page turner. It’s a story that not everyone will or desire to devour. Most people would care less about this story. They received all the education they needed on the birth of the nation in school. Understandable, many individuals, including my students don’t feel they need to learn more about the government then what they were taught in primary education.

Like every book, don’t judge it by its cover. This book is about the birth of the United States Constitution. It goes week by week and over many details that were taken from diaries and notes from those that were there. It also changes the narrative that we are told in school about the Great Compromise. We learn about the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey plan, the lectures on how the founders debated on these two plans and how the New Jersey plan was instrumental in the creation of the bicameral system we use today.

However, the Virginia plan already had a Bicameral system proposed.  Most of the convention was debating the many details of the Virginia proposal. Many details were argued, for example do we have a Federal Government, that operates on states or a National Government that operates for the individuals. Interestingly, Democracy, that we practice today, was feared by many at the convention because they thought of it as rule by a mob, not the people. Shays Rebellion was still fresh in the minds of the delegates during the debates.

The New Jersey plan was introduced 15 June 1787 as an alternative to everything that was being debated and a method to fix the Articles of Confederation.  However, this plan was destroyed by James Madison in a speech on the 19th of June and the New Jersey Plan was voted down. In our history books, it was the two plans that created the Great Compromise, however, Richard Sherman proposed the Compromise on the 11th of June. Its details like this that our history books erroneously tell and then it’s twisted into the narrative.

This books goes into many more details about the coming together of the convention, how it is conducted, and also after the vote and finally the ratification process. I really enjoyed many of the details Bowen spelled out that exposed many of the thoughts and even range of debates on why the US government is build the way it is and also what many feared and predicted would happen with our government in the future.  One of my favorite quotes comes from Dr. Rush who wanted to establish a post graduate school and said

“Why…should young men study Greek particles and the conformation of the ruins at Palmyra when they should be acquiring ‘those branches of knowledge which increase the convenience of life, lessen human misery, improve our country, promote population, exalt the human understanding, and establish domestic and political happiness’” –  Catherine Drinker Bowen

Would I recommend this book? Yes, if you are interested in this subject. I enjoyed it; however, this is in my field of education. I can’t say everyone would enjoy this narrative.      
 
Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a delightful book!

Lopaka