Fragile Freedom

If “Congress will devote but one more day to the subject, so far as to satisfy the public that we do not disregard their wishes, it will have a salutary influence.” Those would be the words of James Madison as he rose, despite the apathy and the opposition faced to the amendments that he was now proposing to the House of Representatives. As promised, in this episode we take the Bill of Rights to the floor of the Congress for the reaction of those Representatives to James Madison’s proposal. Already having faced considerable opposition from both sides, those who believed the Constitution was fine the way it was, and those who believed it encroached on the rights and the freedoms of the people, many had waited to see what the Virginia Congressman was going to propose. Now it was becoming abundantly clear that a fight was brewing not just between the Federalists and the Antifederalists, but the interests and the agendas of politicians united for one reason or another in their opposition to what was being propose