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(314) 500-HURTMany know generally how the US Constitution was written (and the Broadway show Hamilton helps). Its the 230 year
anniversary of the summer of 1787 – an extremely hot Philadelphia summer when our
Constitution was written.
Delegates at the Constitution Convention suffered unbearable Philadelphia heat. Still, the delegates worked together and
in a matter of months
wrote the oldest active constitution that exists. (Yet its taken Illinois years
to agree on anything in the comfort of its air conditioned Capitol.)
The heat did cause problems. Many states were tardy
to the convention. When it opened on May 14th, only Pennsylvania and Virginia showed up. Eventually, enough
states gathered to form a quorum, marking the official start of the convention. Weather was the most common excuse for
this tardiness. The diary of William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut is the only weather reference we have and he
describes 33
of the 80 days it took as “hot” or “very hot”.
Despite the heat, the delegates still wanted the convention to be a secret,
so the windows were closed and heavy drapes were drawn. With closed windows cutting off any air flow, its no wonder
there are errors in the Constitution. Between the final article and the delegate signatures on the Constitution’s final
page is an “errata”
paragraph listing some of the minor errors the writer had made along with the corrections.
But its interesting to wonder how things would be different if it had not been so hot. According to one journalist, the
few times the framers got a break from the heat, morale boosted considerably and the sessions were more productive.
One example is the morning of July 13, described as “cool”, when Edmund Randolph of Virginia looked to correct the
language of the three-fifths ratio and how it would be applied. On another cool day, Alexander Hamilton helped resolve a
conflict between a Georgia delegate and a British merchant.
The Constitutional Convention was famous for its heated debates. It begs the question — does heat contribute to
conflict? Or does cool weather just promote productivity?
Other notable hot American summers include the summer
of 1967 where 159 riots broke out across the United States and the summer
of 1849 when 80,000 immigrants rushed to California all to strike gold.
The 10 hottest summers on record have
all happened since 1998. And the summer
of 2017 is predicted to be another record breaker.
As the occasion was formal delegates wore their best wool coats – this picture reflects how hot they must have been:
Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO
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