Northampton DAR asks local churches to ring church bells on Saturday to commemorate signing of the Constitution

The Northampton County Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is asking all churches on the Eastern Shore to ring church bells on Saturday, September 17th at 4:00 pm to celebrate the signing of the United States Constitution.

The Constitution, which changed the nature of the Federal Union from the Articles of Confederation, was drafted in 1787. Originally, the Articles of Confederation gave little power to the central government. The Confederation Congress was comprised of one delegate from each of the 13 colonies. Any legislative action required unanimous consent and the system was notoriously inefficient at enforcement.

The Constitution created the office of the Presidency, the Supreme Court, and the two houses of Congress. The House of Representatives, the lower chamber, was the “people’s chamber.” The US Senate, was designed to be the voices of the state governments. US Senate elections were switched to popular vote, as opposed to being decided by the State governments, in 1913.

Fearing unchecked democracy, the Founders devised the Electoral College to select the President of the United States. The system is designed to ensure the President appeals to a broad audience, rather than just the heavily populated urban areas.

Virginia’s political leaders had a heavy influence on the drafting of the Constitution with James Madison essentially writing the majority of the document and George Washington, the indispensable man, being the glue that held the various, often warring, cultures of the 13 colonies together.

However, Virginia also supplied plenty of political leaders who were critical of the document, most notably Patrick Henry and George Mason. Henry refused to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, famously remarking he “smelt a rat.” Mason strongly opposed the document, fearing it would create an out of control powerful central government. Mason’s objections culminated in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the document, but Mason still voted against ratification.

The Eastern Shore sent four delegates to the Constitutional Convention. From Accomac, Edmund Curtis and George Parker. Curtis voted against ratification of the document, with Parker voting in favor. Both delegates from Northampton, John Stringer and Littleton Eyre, voted to adopt.

Virginia became the 10th state to ratify the document and was one of three states to include a resumption clause, expressly declaring their ability to resume the powers delegated should they “be perverted to their injury or oppression and that every power not granted thereby remains with them and at their will.”

The Eastern Shore Chapter of the DAR will once again be airing PSAs on 103.3 FM WESR and 105.7 FM Coastal Country next week to spread general awareness about the Constitution.

A patriotic celebration will also take place on the Historic Court House Green in Eastville Saturday.

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