{"id":5208,"date":"2017-12-20T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=5208"},"modified":"2023-11-03T17:56:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T21:56:53","slug":"45-what-did-it-even-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=5208","title":{"rendered":"45. What Did It Even Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"How<\/figure>\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oh dear… where are they going with this?<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

Chapter 2: What Were They Thinking?<\/p>\n

Page 45: What does it mean?<\/p>\n

At the close of the Constitutional Convention, a Philadelphia lady confronts Ben Franklin.<\/em><\/p>\n

LADY<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, doctor, what have we got?<\/p>\n

A republic, or a monarchy?<\/p>\n

BEN FRANKLIN<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a0republic,<\/strong> madam…<\/p>\n

\u2026if you can\u00a0keep<\/strong> it.<\/p>\n

James Madison packing all those crates and chests of books back on the cart, while Alexander Hamilton looks on (not helping).<\/em><\/p>\n

JAMES MADISON<\/em><\/p>\n

Now comes the *oof*\u00a0hard<\/strong> part\u2026<\/p>\n

persuading the people\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

to\u00a0ratify<\/strong> this thing!<\/p>\n

ALEXANDER HAMILTON<\/em><\/p>\n

Just say the word, Jemmy. You know I’d be more than happy to lend a\u00a0hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sis looking mind-blown.<\/em><\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Whoa! That\u00a0was<\/strong> a messy process.<\/p>\n

And that was just for Article Five — one of the\u00a0short<\/strong> ones!<\/p>\n

Still, now we’ve got a sense of how\u00a0difficult<\/strong> it is to say “what they were thinking.”<\/p>\n

Average Joe explaining<\/em><\/p>\n

AVERAGE JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

What? No! \u2026well, yes\u2026 I mean sure, they kicked around\u00a0lots<\/strong> of ideas\u2026 clashed<\/strong> over personal agendas and over fundamental principles\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026And yeah, they changed their minds, or abandoned ideas (or forgot they’d raised them)\u2026 Some stuff was just rushed through\u2026<\/p>\n

Stick figures<\/em><\/p>\n

JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026And I admit each one would’ve had his\u00a0own<\/strong> reasons to agree with any particular clause or compromise\u2026<\/p>\n

FIGURES<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s not ideal, but it satisfies my principles.<\/p>\n

It’s not perfect, but it’ll work.<\/p>\n

I don’t care about this one. I’m sure it’s fine.<\/p>\n

Booyah! This is exactly what I wanted!<\/p>\n

Joe, Sis, and Gouverneur Morris<\/em><\/p>\n

JOE<\/p>\n

BUT!<\/strong> Now that you’ve seen how the sausage got made, we can\u00a0spare<\/strong> you every detail of every debate over every other clause in the Constitution, and<\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Quickly<\/p>\n

JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

summarize “what they were thinking” for each of its provisions!<\/p>\n

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Who\u00a0cares?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joe and Guv’neer<\/em><\/p>\n

JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

Ha ha, very funny.<\/p>\n

But all joking aside, it’s important that we understand what you all\u00a0intended.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Can’t imagine why.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0text<\/strong> is what does the constituting. The\u00a0words<\/strong> are what tell the government what it can and cannot do.<\/p>\n

Whiteboard: The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. *When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. *When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. *No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.<\/em><\/p>\n

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t ask what we were\u00a0trying<\/strong> to say. Ask what the Constitution\u00a0does<\/strong> say.<\/p>\n

Forget context\u2026 forget subtext\u2026<\/p>\n

All\u00a0I’d<\/strong> care about is the plain meaning of\u00a0the<\/strong> text.<\/p>\n

Jemmy Madison indicating a debate at a ratification convention<\/em><\/p>\n

JAMES MADISON<\/em><\/p>\n

But “plain” to\u00a0whom?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We<\/strong> may have thought it meant one thing when we wrote it, but its audience<\/strong> may think it means something else!<\/p>\n

If you ask what\u00a0I<\/strong> think, the relevant audience is the\u00a0people<\/strong> who decided to\u00a0ratify<\/strong> the Constitution back in ’88 & ’89.<\/p>\n

In other words, it means what\u00a0they<\/strong> thought they were buying into!<\/p>\n

I’d check what was\u00a0said<\/strong> at the state ratifying conventions.<\/p>\n

Alexander Hamilton writing one of the Federalist Papers by candle-and moonlight<\/em><\/p>\n

ALEXANDER HAMILTON<\/em><\/p>\n

OK, but also what was\u00a0written<\/strong> — especially how you and Jay and I\u00a0explained<\/strong> what the Constitution meant in our “Federalist Papers.”<\/p>\n

Wouldn’t that reflect what\u00a0pro-<\/strong>Constitution people thought?<\/p>\n

(And I’m still amazed it was Guv’neer, of all people, who said\u00a0no<\/strong> when I asked him to help write ’em.)<\/p>\n

Morris and Sis pondering<\/em><\/p>\n

MORRIS<\/em><\/p>\n

God, don’t start asking what some audience or other thought it\u00a0means —<\/strong> you go looking for subjective interpretations, who knows\u00a0what<\/strong> you’ll find.<\/p>\n

Honestly, it’s so simple: Just stick to the\u00a0objective<\/strong> meaning of the words, as understood by\u00a0any<\/strong> ordinary American in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n

That’s all you need!<\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

No\u2026 I think Mr. Madison has a\u00a0point.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two stick figures, one communicating a purple cartoon unicorn, the other imagining a white medieval unicorn.<\/em><\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Words are\u00a0communication.<\/strong> Communication isn’t a solo activity.<\/p>\n

What gets communicated depends as much on the\u00a0audience<\/strong> as on the author\u2014probably more!<\/p>\n

So in 1788 and 1789, the Constitution would’ve meant what those who ratified it\u00a0understood<\/strong> it to mean,<\/p>\n

while\u00a0these<\/strong> days\u2026<\/p>\n

Sis\u00a0 reading on a nice ottoman in a library, Joe yelling<\/em><\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

What the Constitution says to\u00a0us<\/strong> depends on how its words resonate with us\u00a0now\u2026<\/strong> In\u00a0our<\/strong> context, in\u00a0our<\/strong> reality. The\u00a0words<\/strong> aren’t written in stone, why should their\u00a0meaning<\/strong> be?<\/p>\n

JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

NO NO\u00a0NO!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Constitution isn’t a work of literature\u2026<\/p>\n

Joe working on a car<\/em><\/p>\n

JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s an\u00a0instruction<\/strong> manual!<\/p>\n

Try working on a car, inventing\u00a0new<\/strong> interpretations of what the manual says to do…<\/p>\n

Joe driving off, car breaks<\/em><\/p>\n

JOE<\/em><\/p>\n

It won’t run\u2026 you’ll\u00a0break<\/strong> it.<\/p>\n

Morris, Madison, and Sis<\/em><\/p>\n

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS<\/em><\/p>\n

What he said.<\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, but\u00a0times<\/strong> change\u2026 and so does language. What if the text can’t keep\u00a0up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

{SUGGESTED EDIT: Add “models change” before “times change”}<\/p>\n

MADISON<\/em><\/p>\n

Umm… we\u00a0thought<\/strong> of that?<\/p>\n

You want new meaning? Give it new\u00a0words.<\/strong> Where’ve you been this whole chapter?<\/p>\n

Sis, James Wilson, James Madison, Gouverneur Morris, and Sis again<\/em><\/p>\n

SIS<\/p>\n

You mean\u00a0amend<\/strong> it? But don’t you see-<\/p>\n

JAMES WILSON<\/em><\/p>\n

Hoot toot! It’s\u00a0not<\/strong> a step-by-step instruction manual.<\/p>\n

It’s a more general\u00a0design.<\/strong> The particulars can\u00a0adapt<\/strong> as needed.<\/p>\n

JAMES MADISON<\/em><\/p>\n

True\u2026 and we\u00a0framers<\/strong> even disagreed on how to interpret the Constitution\u2026 practically from day one.<\/p>\n

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS<\/em><\/p>\n

But that was us interpreting how to\u00a0apply<\/strong> the words\u2026 not\u00a0re-<\/strong>interpreting what the words actually mean.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do we ignore the dictionary just because a word\u00a0ought<\/strong> to mean something else?<\/p>\n

SIS<\/em><\/p>\n

YES!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>Transcript<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Oh dear… where are they going with this?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55,35,47,1,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-completion","category-constitutional-law","category-creating-the-constitution","category-uncategorized","category-what-were-they-thinking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}