Introduction

Benjamin Franklin’s "Speech to the Convention" was presented on September 17th, 1787, the final day of the Constitutional Convention. The speech was read to the delegates by James Wilson, as Franklin was too weak to deliver it himself. Read just before the signing was to commence, Franklin's speech encouraged his fellow delegates to throw their support behind the newly drafted Constitution. Though he, like many of the men present, had misgivings about some of the contents of the Constitution, Franklin sought to impress upon the delegates the importance of presenting a unified front to both foreign nations and constituents back home. Acknowledging that no document crafted by infallible men will ever be perfect, Franklin nevertheless asserts that the Constitution they have collectively drafted comes astonishingly close. These brief remarks, which were recorded by James Madison, are remembered today not only for their historical significance but also as a masterful example of rhetoric.

Summary

Franklin opens his speech with a decisive caveat: he does not agree with every section of the Constitution as it currently stands. However, Franklin goes on to explain that although he does not agree with these sections of the Constitution at present, this does not preclude him from changing his mind about them later as circumstances change, arguments are made and rebutted, or changes in values occur. Indeed, he recalls many important instances when on the emergence of more information or upon deeper reflection, his opinions have shifted drastically from his original views. Therefore, it is prudent, he says, to doubt even those beliefs you hold most certain and pay heed to the judgment of others—especially when their judgment conflicts with your own—rather than dismissing it outright.

Franklin attributes this insight to the wisdom of age; the older he grows, the more he prioritizes the judgment of others over his own, despite people’s natural tendency to believe themselves infallible. In order to support this observation, Franklin provides two anecdotes. The first involves Richard Steele, a political writer and editor from the United Kingdom, who allegedly wrote to the Pope that the only doctrinal differences between the Catholic Church and the Church of England’s respective certainty in their doctrines was that “the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never in the wrong.” This statement is, of course, tautological and highlights the improbability of one religious sect possessing an absolutely accurate doctrine, while the doctrine of every other religious sect is completely fallacious.

The second anecdote is of a more humorous persuasion, as Franklin describes a French woman who embodies the idea that people instinctively value their own opinions above all others. He quotes her as allegedly complaining, “I don’t know how it happens, Sister, but I meet with no body but myself, that’s always in the right—Il n’y a que moi qui a toujours raison” (only I am always right). With this comical anecdote, Franklin bids the delegates to reconsider their own quibbles with particular sections of the Constitution, inviting them to question whether its flaws are perhaps a product of their own skewed judgment.

Franklin goes on to emphasize the necessity of a Constitution and a new structure of government, declaring that a well-functioning government can be nothing but a blessing to the people it governs. Franklin also warns that while governments such as these tend to be well-functioning for the first few years, they can easily fall into despotism if their citizen population becomes so corrupt that no other form of government remains tenable. This foreboding suggestion is juxtaposed against Franklin’s resounding endorsement of the Constitution that the convention has...