Benjamin Franklin: Speech at the Conclusion of the Constitutional Convention

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Benjamin Franklin was very ill during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 but attended anyway; he and George Washington were the two indispensable members of the convention. Both were almost universally known in America and were held in almost universally high esteem by Americans. Franklin's closing speech for the convention was read for him because he was too weak to do so himself. As he notes, the convention did not go the way he had wanted: “I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at present.” He did not like the idea of the Senate, as he had favored the federal government's consisting of a single legislative body like the House of Representatives. He had not wanted there to be a powerful office of president; rather, he had favored multiple executives being responsible to the legislature, with each executive running only a portion of the executive government. He had wanted the presidency to be unpaid, with other government offices entitling the public servants only to enough compensation to cover their lost incomes; the payments would not be so high that people would be attracted to the positions because of the money rather than because of the duty of public service.

On the other hand, Franklin praises the work of the delegates to the convention and expresses surprise at how well they have crafted the Constitution, notwithstanding his objections. In urging that those who object to parts of the Constitution should nonetheless vote for the whole, he is self-consciously using his public persona to influence events. In this speech he is the thoughtful, modest family elder—a popular image of him among Americans. Where others might not have been able to do so, he could urge a convention composed of strong-minded and opinionated people to forsake their differences and for the common good give the new nation a functional government.