The Rocky Road to the Constitution’s Ratification

The United States Constitution was signed in September, 1787, but it wasn’t the law of the land. Nor would it be, until at least nine of the thirteen states ratified the document.

Persuading nine states to ratify was not easy. 

The arguments for and against ratification were heated and divisive.

Therefore, some of the best minds in the nation joined forces to convince the populace of the Constitution’s merits.

“We won the war. What was it all for? Do you support this Constitution?”

 ~Lyrics to “Non-Stop,” Hamilton, The Musical

In New York, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay anonymously penned a series of eighty-five essays in favor of ratification. The essays were combined into a publication named The Federalist.

Thereafter, those supporting ratification of the Constitution came to be known as Federalists, and those against its ratification were known as Anti-Federalists.

The animosity between these two groups easily rivals any animosity between today’s political parties.

The Participants

A cast of thousands, from all walks of life and religions, participated in the event.

Every trade and profession in the city, every resource, every talent, and every class must have worked each day and night of those two weeks to make the event a success.

Not for private gain, but for a tribute to their new country.

With a minimum of the usual fuss and preliminaries, Americans’ energy and determination accomplished the near impossible; it was nothing less than astonishing.

I have to believe that mutual respect and cooperation were evident in each and every step of the planning–how else could they have pulled it off in such a short span of time?

The Parade

Benjamin Rush wrote that “every countenance wore an air of dignity as well as pleasure. Every tradesman’s boy in the procession seemed to consider himself as a principal in the business. Rank for a while forgot all its claims, and Agriculture, commerce and Manufactures, together with the learned and mechanical professions, seemed to acknowledge, by their harmony and respect for each other, that they were all necessary to each other, and all used in cultivated society.”

The first cannon discharged at sunrise, accompanied by the toll of the bells of Christ Church. The call could be heard for miles, and all of Philadelphia answered, filling streets that had been tidied and trimmed the day before. The parade began at 9:30 the morning of a cloudy, cool summer day.

Ten vessels ran the length of the harbor, from the Northern Liberties all the way to South Street, and each flew a white flag at the masthead, calling out in gold letters the name of a ratifying state beginning with the northernmost and progressing to the southernmost. All the other ships in the anchorage were dressed as well, and nature accommodated with a brisk wind from the south that kept the flags and pendants flying large for all to view.

The marchers covered about three miles, most of it in silence. Written accounts record that the spectators viewed the parade in quiet awe, with joy and pride on most every face.

Federalist or anti-Federalist—the labels were forgotten for a brief while. All were Americans for the day.

The After-Party

Following the Federal Procession, the revelers gathered for food and drink at Bush Hill.

One attending Philadelphian, seeming a bit obsessed with the libations, recorded the following:

” . . . to relate one more fact, from which I derived no small pleasure, or rather triumph, after the procession was over. It is, that out of seventeen thousand people who appeared on the green, and partook of the collation, there was scarcely one person intoxicated, nor was there a single quarrel or even dispute, heard of during the day. All was order, all was harmony and joy.

These delightful fruits of the entertainment are to be ascribed wholly to no liquors being drank on the green, but BEER and CYDER. I wish this fact could be published in every language, and circulated through every part of the world, where spirituous liquors are used . . . Since writing the above, I have been informed, that there were two or three persons intoxicated, and several quarrels on the green but there is good reason to believe that they were all occasioned by spirituous liquors, which were clandestinely carried out, and drank by some disorderly people, contrary to the orders of the day.”

(No doubt those “disorderly people” were Anti-Federalists! 😉)

The Aftermath

Finally, as night fell, lanterns were lit and hung from ships’ masts, and before long, the harbor glittered in celebration.

Mother Nature even pitched in, bestowing her own tribute with a display of Aurora Borealis.

What more could one ask?

A Thimbleful of Honor was awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion! Thank you, IndieBrag!

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The Jamaican Duppy

African in origin, the word duppy has two meanings in Jamaican spirit lore. The first refers to a soul, which may manifest in either human form or animal form. The second meaning evolves from the first and references a supernatural race of mischievous little people—a duppy-folk akin to fairy-folk.

This post offers advice on the first type of duppy, that of a soul.

Jamaican Spirit Lore

Jamaican folklore presupposes a person has two souls. One is good, originating with God. The other is secular.

When someone dies, the good soul soars to heaven to answer for its earthly sins. The other remains coffin-bound for three days, after which its shadow emerges and its duppy is born.

If the duppy manifests in human form, it will often resemble the body it abandoned. If animalistic, it might appear in the guise of a snake, a lizard, a horse, you name it—but not, I think, a lamb or a donkey.

These manifestations aren’t ghostly apparitions or demonic possessions; they have substance. But even so, a duppy can disappear into the shadows at will.

There’s the good duppy, and then there’s the evil . . .

A well-intentioned duppy might stick around to sit with the children or guard the family valuables. A malevolent duppy will cause you no end of trouble. A whiff of its hot breath has power to kill, and it can do irreparable damage to one’s finances, health, property, or love life.

A dead husband’s duppy, for example, might return to reclaim his conjugal rights, causing the widow to become barren well before her time, or worse, to bear dead babies.

As it’s impossible to know whether you’ll wind up with a good one or an evil one, it’s best to silence a duppy from the start. Thanks to the aforementioned three day grace period, mourners have an opportunity to plant the duppy down before it manifests.

Plant the duppy down!

A properly planted duppy is unable to leave its coffin. These methods have had success in the past:

1.  Throw a shovelful of parched peas into the grave. If the peas don’t grow, the duppy can’t escape
2.  Plant a shrub upside down in the grave, roots out.
3.  Place a cotton tree limb on the coffin.

Planting a duppy down isn’t always possible. If this is the case, there are a number of options to outwit it.

Outwitting a pursuing duppy:

1. Stay in the shadows at night, out of the moonlight.
2. Climb a tree.
3. Buy time by “cutting ten.” In other words, cut the sign of the cross ten times in the dirt with a knife. A duppy can’t count past nine, nor does it care much for crosses.
4. Cast peas, rice, or sand before a pursuing duppy. This is similar to deterrent #3. The duppy must count the grains, thereby granting its victim precious time to escape.
5. Shout these words from an unknown tongue: “Ig no ring ya no bar ditos doranti placitus.”
6. If the duppy’s inside a dwelling, expel it by burning cow dung mixed with hoof and horn.
7. Brew tea with magical herbs.
8. Wash yourself with the same water used to cleanse a dead person. (If you bathe later, all bets are off).

And if all else fails . . .

Employ an obeah man as a duppy catcher.

Real or imagined, a malevolent, vengeful duppy can wreak havoc with one’s senses. Why take chances?

In Voices Echo, an undercurrent of duppies and obeah black magic undermines Rhiannon Ross’ confidence when she joins her elderly husband in 18th-century Jamaica, quickly causing the twenty-year-old heroine to lose her fearless edge.

Whether she believed in duppies or not, Rhiannon had come to recognize the healing power of rituals.

Rituals have the power to banish those haunting memories that hold us captive.

Torchlight flickered over the silent dark faces of those gathered in the graveyard, and Rhiannon drew in a long, ragged breath, catching the scent of freshly turned dirt. Sliding from her horse, she clutched her amulet and crossed to the open grave. Craning forward, she watched Maisie sprinkle something over the coffin and suddenly recalled Quaminah’s words, surprised to find she no longer found them foolish: “Them didn’t plant his duppy down, missus . . . that’s why him plague you so.”

Perhaps, but he’d plague her no longer. With a few whispered words, Rhiannon persuaded Maisie to hand her the shovel. Ignoring the surprised murmur that rustled amongst the slaves, she rammed it into the piled dirt. Her movements clumsy, three-quarters of her load spilled before she tilted it over the grave. A clap of laughter broke off as abruptly as it’d begun. Her belly now lodged in her chest, Rhiannon swallowed. Swiping her palms down her nightclothes and soiling her white wrap, she shoved her braid over her shoulder, gripped the shovel, and tried again.

This was her battle, and she’d be the one to end it.

Bibliography Leach, MacEdward. “Jamaican Duppy Lore.” The Journal of American Folklore Vol 74, No. 293 (Jul.-Sept., 1961): 207-215, Courtesy of JSTOR; stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/537633

Sunday, September 17, 2023, is Constitution Day. It marks the two hundred and thirty-fifth anniversary of the final day of the U.S. Constitutional Convention—the day a miracle occurred on Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street.

On this day a gathering of men set aside their differences and placed the promise of a free and united nation above all else.

An Embarrassment of National Affairs

Bitter political factions divided the fledgling United States of America by 1786. The war was over, but there wasn’t a national military force to secure the nation’s essential trade routes, there wasn’t a national currency to facilitate interstate trade, and there wasn’t a glimmer of compromise on the virulent issue of representation between the large states and the small states.

So a small group of frustrated patriots, meeting at Mann’s Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland, proposed a convention to address this embarrassment of the nation’s affairs. Most of those meeting thought the nation too dear to lose. Still, they weren’t certain the proposed convention would actually convene. An earlier attempt at such a conference had proved unsuccessful.

It took bloodshed on a Massachusetts field to turn the tide.

Shays’ Rebellion

A Code of Silence

Though it was scheduled to start May 14th in Philadelphia, the 1787 convention didn’t attain a quorum until May 25th. Once it was attained, adopting a code of silence was among the delegates’ first decisions.

No discussion of the proceedings was permitted outside the State House. No sound bites, no interviews, no tavern debates. Each delegate wanted his say without the worry of any spin the public or press might put on a remark taken out of context.

Surprisingly, the men held to the code.

Reaching a Compromise

Delegates from twelve states met over four months that stifling Philadelphia summer.

The men debated immense issues those four months. States’ rights, slavery, the representation of small states versus large states, the power to tax and incur and pay debts, the power to coin money and regulate trade with foreign nations, the power to declare war and maintain armed forces—all these and more were bitterly contested and hotly negotiated.

Finally, after hours of discussion and much contention, the Constitution was signed on Monday, September 17th, 1787.

In spite of their strong personalities and egos, those men were able to compromise. Furthermore, by doing so, they structured a fair and stable government that has served a prospering nation for over two hundred years.

Benjamin Franklin, though he didn’t approve of several provisions in the Constitution, offered his unconditional support that historic morning:

Sharing the News

Printers Dunlap and Claypoole typeset the document that Monday night. They sent it to New York by stage early the next day, timing the New York release with Philadelphia’s scheduled Wednesday release.

Remember Franklin’s statement?

I, for one, would like to see them try.

Liam Brock, one of the characters in the romantic historical novel Voices Beckon, had a keen interest in what and who made things happen. That interest only intensified during the summer of 1787. When printer’s apprentice David Graham obtained access to the Constitution a day before it was distributed, he shared it with Liam.

You can find Voices Beckon (in digital, print, and audio formats) at multiple retailers using this link:  https://books2read.com/voices-beckon/

“So is it true then, Davey? It’s not a modification of the Articles of Confederation? It’s something fresh?”

David grinned. “It is, which explains the secrecy. But you have to read it, Liam. It’s remarkable.” ~ Voices Beckon

1. Stewart, David O. The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2007

¹ H.D. Macwilliam, The Official Records of the Mutiny in the Black Watch : A London Incident of the Year 1743 (London: Forster Groom, 1910), xxvi.

² Roger Norman Buckley, The British Army in the West Indies: Society and the Military in the Revolutionary Age (Florida: University Press of Florida, 1998), 276.

³ Ibid., 280.

⁴ Macwilliam, The Official Records of the Mutiny,  xlii.

⁵ Leah Leneman, Living in Atholl : A Social History of the Estates, 1685-1785 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1986), 141.

⁶ Macwilliam, The Official Records of the Mutiny, xl.

⁷ Leneman, Living in Atholl, 141.

⁸ Macwilliam, The Official Records of the Mutiny, 179.

⁹  Ibid.

¹⁰ Ibid., 113.

¹¹ Ibid., p 128.

¹² Buckley, The British Army,  279.