House. Got in and finally they took us into the east room. When we got there, here we were one person per organization. Ap had two. Time magazine had two. News week magazine had two. And the thing about it the israel and egyptians they all had two or three. I was literally the lone person for upi. So when i was standing there looking at what was going to happen, i decided that i didnt want to stand straight in the middle because when they signed the accord and got together they were going to be way too far apart. I did what i usually did and moved way down to the end of the press riser. So i could look back and when they signed it they were kind of compressed. And then when they embrace came and jimmy smiling was the fact it happened so that was standing in front of the israel flag and in front of the egyptian flag. And carter was beside him. It was a very tight. Some of the people later on who had been in the middle had a multiple hand three way handshake in the middle which got play. My picture got the most. It won white house news photographer contest for president ial. It won the picture of the year contest for general news. And it was just a lot of people made it. I was the only one that had the angle that put it together and made it work. You can watch this and other American History programs on our web site. Where all our video is archived. That cspan. Org history. Each week american artifacts takes viewers into museums and historic sites. We visit the National Constitution center in philadelphia. To see several rare early drafts. Welcome to the National Constitution center. Im Jeffrey Rosen and the president of the this wonderful institution which as viewers know is the only institution in america chartered by congress to deseminate information about the u. S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis. Totd i am so excited to show you a new gallery we have just opened. American treasures. Which contains the five early drafts of the u. S. Constitution in American History. Not everyone at the Constitutional Convention. Where these five drafts displayed in the same place. And now thanks to a Great Partnership with the historic kal society of pennsylvania, and the wonderful support of David Rubenstein we have been able to open the gallery, display the drafts together and tell the story of the evolution of the text of the constitution into the draft that was ratified on Constitution Day september 17, 1787. Its so exciting. I cant wait to show you. Lets go inside. So in many ways this gally tells the story of the under appreciated hero of the Constitutional Convention, james wilson. We have heard of James Madison and hamilton. And president washington. In many way james wilson was the intel chul architect of the central idea that we the people of the United States as whole have the sovereign power. That was the big idea eventually em bodied in the preamble. And it wasnt the way things starred. When the delegates came to ti philadelphia to draft. They came as representatives of individual sovereign states and many insisted we the people of each state are sovereign. Wilson who had served in the congress, saw the articles of confederation were too weak to achieve centralized purposes and wanted a stronger Central Government and a strong president elected by the people. Insisted we the people of the United States as a whole are sovereign. Not the people of each state. And not the parliament itself as in britain. That brilliant idea was what lincoln invoked when he insisted the south had no ability to secede whout the people as a whole. Popular sovereignty rests in we the people. Well see the evolutions of the wilsons draft. He was the first important signer who put pen to paper. He was born in scotland. He went to st. Andrew university. Came to america and studied at ben grank linns college of philadelphia. He serves in the continental congress. He was initially opposed to independence which got iminto trouble with the mob who came to his house. To denounce him. He changed his mind and became a strong supporter. He was antislavery. And he was a pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. A wonderful book, plain honest men. Says wilson and madison were the leaders of the convention. They had different yads. Wilson is in we the people. Madison believes that the people with degenerate into demagogues and mobs and popular passions have to be checked and the president should be picked by the legislature not the people. To ensure direct democracy doesnt degenerate. They had a big debate. Wilson became very distinguished u. S. Supreme Court Justice and died a sad ending to a heroic career. Were about to see the first draft of the u. S. Constitution. Written by james wilson. Now were going to see the rarest draft of the u. S. Constitution in American History. The very first draft. Many of us know the copy of the constitution in the National Archives. That was the final copy. Every important document has a first draft. This is it. It was drafted on july 24th, 1787. The con vngs begins on may 25. I remember that because the address of the National Constitution center is 525 arch street. May 25. And two months later was the first time that the committee created this draft of the constitution. So how did it end up here . It belongs to the Historical Society of pennsylvania. And james wilson died in 1789. Of the year the bill of right was proposed. He gave this document along with a bunch of others to his son, bird wilson. Bird dies in 1859. And gives it to his relative. And she gives it to the Historical Society of pennsylvania. They had it for a long time. And their visionary interim president said all of these priceless documents are here, would it be wonderful if americans from around the doesnt ri could see them . The Historical Society is lending them to the Constitution Center to be displayed here on a long term loan. Thats why you can see them for the first time. Loolk wilson beautiful handwrite. Which is still legible. And lets pause for a second. Think about how exciting it is that the first time that anyone really tried to set down the ideas of the constitution occurred in this draft. A couple really significant parts about it. Theres no preamble. It doesnt begin we the people of the United States. As thanks to wilson the final draft would begin. It just says that the government of the United States shall consistent of a legislative executive and you dishl branchs. Thats the most important thing. Three separate branchs of justice. That was the first word of the first draft of the u. S. Constitution. We know that congress doesnt have specific power listed. Instead its the congress can make laws for the general interests of the union. And address problems states cant handle on their own. President ial term is six years. And theres a single term for the National Exec tef thats going to change a bunch of times. So we can look at wilsons beautiful handwrite. We want all you wonderful viewers sp americans to be able to study the evolving text. You can learn from it and realize how the presidency and congress and judiciary evolve. Thats why we created thirddegree great online toll. After you finish watching this show. We have it here on a touch screen. You can get it online at Constitution Center. Org. And this is basically the printed version of each of the texts that we have displayed here. So were talking about the july 24th version. We saw the original. You can see this is the very first words of the u. S. Constitution committed to paper. The government of the United States ought to consist of a supreme, legislative, judiciary and executive branch. If theres nothing else we no about the tus lets remember that it has three branchs. Whats number two . The legislature of the United States ought to consist of two branchs. That was a huge struggle. The delegates spent two months disagreeing about a single legislative body or a. And there was a crucial question of how the two branchs would be elected. Representatives of the big states led by virginia said we want popular election. Well dpet all the seats. Representatives of the small states like new jersey said no, we want each state to have two representatives. And Roger Sherman and the connecticut compromise decided to mix and match. And you see that in the first draft. The members of the first branch are elected by the people for the states for two years. Second branch should be chosen by the individual legislature. And remember until the passage of the 17th amendment it was state legislatures not the people who chose senators. In the side here you can compare call outs about how the draft changed. And we already talked about theres no preamble in the draft. We see also that the three fifths compromise. The infamous compromise that allowed the states that were determined to preserve slavery to accept the constitution but the framers agreed to base representation on the house on the free inhabitants plus three fifths of other persons. To tax the states and although infamous and discredited and thankfully repealed or made no longer relevant by the passage of the 13th amendment. After the civil war. Which abolished slavery. This compromise is in the early draft. The six year president ial term will change a bunch of times. And one or two more kults. We see the senate appoint supreme Court Justices without involvement from the executive. Now we know the president appoints the justices and senate confirms. The amendment process, there should be amendments but dont decide how they should be passed and its not until the final days of the convention. September 12 they come up wu a process for how to amend the constitution. It doesnt have the details of ratification. This is curabrucial. It achieves the status of supreme law and the first draft says there should be rat if contamination witho ratification. That represents wilsons belief that we the people are sovereign. The constitution can only be ratified in our name. And our right to govern comes from god or nature. Not from government. We have an unalien able right to whenever it fails to protect the rights we retain from the transition from nature to society. The rights of conscience. Spelled out in the bill of rights. Which the constitution doesnt contain. And that is represented by the ratification process. The sovereignty of we the people. We learn all that from the very first draft. Its only july. Now lets look at the second draft. Well see the very first time that the constitution expresses the idea of we the people. Okay. Now well see the second rarest draft of the constitution in American History. Also written by james wilson. This was written on august 3rd, 1787 after a ten daybreak. From the july 24th draft. By wilson. It came out of what was called the committee of detail. Which was a geographically Diverse GroupAssembly Different resolutions. Its amazing to read husband beautiful handwrite. And see how dramatically the constitution is evolving. And the most important is wilsons immortal preamble. We the people of the states of new hampshire, massachusetts, rhode island, and plantations and so forth. Why did wilson enumerate the individual states . He bloefed we the people of the United States are sovereign. Some thought that it was a vestige of a time. Others wanted to signal how many states were ratifying. Well see that language about the individual states is left out. We become we the people. Lets check out the text. Its so exciting to actually compare the evolution of the preamble. Well go back over here to this great interactive. You can check it out online. At Constitution Center. Org treasures. This is the manuscript of the committee of detailed report. Theres the original preamble. We the people of the state of new hampshire, massachusetts, rhode island and providence plantations. Connecticut, new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, delaware, maryland, virginia, north carolina, south carolina, and georgia. To or dane, declare and establish the following constitution for the government of the ourselves and prosperity. Doesnt have all the inspiring language about establish defensdefens justice. Provide defense. Lets scroll down a bit and see what else this next draft says. The style of this government in other words the name shall be the United States of america. Isnt that exciting . The first time that we see on paper the words United States of america. Lets see what changes are taking place. We have the short preamble. We have congressional powers are getting specified. Congress has the pow to make rather than declare war. Making war would have been Given Congress more daytoday decisions in wartime. Later the president took a greater role. The necessary and proper clause. This is very important to define congresses powers. Before the Constitutional Convention the congress only has specific enumerated power. The flex bt to pass laws necessary and proper to carry out its powers. The scope of that clause remains hotly debated. Today. The appointment power now the is that the has the tree making power as well as the ability to appoint justice is. Still the president has no role in the crucial duties. The election of the president , wow look at this. Theres an election but the president is chosen by the legislature. That was James Madison es innovation. Hes the framer who was afraid of demagogues and the mob. He sees a tension between populism and constitutionalism. He fears a directly elected president or communicates with the people would be an invitation to demagogues and tyranny. He wants a president elected by the legislature. And thats what happens in the draft. Over objections. Hes says no we need election by the people. And later we see the settle on the compromise is the electoral college. Theres a kingly title. It shall be his excellent si. Imagine if that prevailed. Instead of mr. President. He shall be elected by ballot by the legislature. Amazing. The president ial term is now expanded from six to seven years. The president is limited to a single term. The framers dont want to encourage the executive to seek favor with congress to secure reelection. They think hell be indpen the way judges are if he has a single term. And we begin to see the out lines of an amendment process. Two third of state. Called for a convention of the states to introduce balanced budget amendment. That provision although never invoked of a the original constitution in American History remains part of the constitution. And the final change. We have more information about ratification but a blank space for the number of states required to approve the constitution. The ratification of certain numbers of states shall be sufficient for organizing this convention. This is crucial. The constitution the ratification process specified ech in the second draft is illegal. According to to the ratification process of the articles of confederation. They can only be amended with the unanimous consent of the 13 states. This says a certain number of states less than possibly the whole will be sufficient to ratify the constitution in the name of we the people. It was illegal because the framers led by wilson was invoking their natural right to alter and abolish government. Which they felt adheres in all of us in the state of nature before we form civil society. And reverting to the original power. So all that just in the second draft. This is so exciting. Now were just in early august. Lets now move further along in august and see in next draft, the preamble that we know and revere today. We the people of the United States. Lets go see it now. So welcome to the draft three. Of the constitution. And its a september 12th, 1787. Five days before the constitution is proposed and an awful lot of really important changes are being made at the very last minute. These changes come out of the committee of style. That is a committee with al elegant name and extraordinarily Impressive Group of members. They include hamilton. The James Madison. Widely recognized as the framer of the constitution. And governor mor ris. He was a impressive delegate from pennsylvania. He had a peg leg. And he was a very beautiful stylist. And he was responsible for the crucial stylistic change which was the amazingly important change in the u. S. Constitution. Which is in this draft the preamble for the first time says we the people of the United States. Not we the people of the states of. We the people of the United States. Why was that change made . Well, some say it was merely a stylistic change because the framers didnt know exactly which of the 13 states would ratify. So they head to the bets by keeping it concise. And it was shorter. Others disagree and say the change was the tangible expression of james wilson belief that we have the people as a whole are sovereign. Not individual states. There are another series of really important changes. Congressional power is altered. Koj congress has the power to declare rather than make war. The president ial term is finally four years. And they eliminate the term limit of the 7 year term. Plus, its election by the electoral college. That was the c