Debate featuring “Patrick Henry” and “George Wythe” to highlight Urbanna’s Aug. 6 Founders Day
by Larry Chowning –
Urbanna’s Founders Day on Saturday, Aug. 6, will feature a reenactment debate between Patrick Henry (Richard Schumann) and George Wythe (Robert Weathers) over the U.S. Constitution. The debate is set for 11 a.m. at Urbanna Baptist Church at 121 Watling St. Schumann and Weathers are both performing interpreters for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The idea of a national constitution to establish common economic and political goals for the entire nation started in the Virginia Assembly. State Federalists encouraged a meeting of the states to consider the possibility.
In September 1786, representatives from five states met in Maryland to discuss general problems that impacted all the states. The possibility of creating a constitution that would give more power to the federal government was also on the agenda. Virginia’s James Madison drafted a proposal known as the Virginia Plan which encouraged this position.
Most representatives at the Maryland convention agreed there needed to be a more powerful central government to regulate trade and commerce. In the summer of 1787, elected delegates from each state gathered and for three months, they debated the needs and concerns of the states.
Finally, Father of the Constitution James Madison’s Virginia Plan was proposed and received preliminary adoption. The proposed constitution would give the federal government exclusive control over both economic and foreign policies. Final adoption had to come from nine of the 13 states and be approved at state ratification conventions.
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