Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
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Date of Graduation
Spring 2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Honors Interdisclipinary
Advisor(s)
Kevin Hardwick
Sharon Cote
Jay Varner
Abstract
The Constitutional Convention was shrouded in mystery, yet America has been confidently given a narrative of what went on behind closed doors in Philadelphia. Though most of our authentic records of what went on were written by men assumed to be reliable, the deeper one reads into history the more unreliable they become, recent evidence even suggesting that James Madison altered his notes on the Convention years after it was concluded. What if our perception of history is flawed and the Convention was not the glorious meeting of intellectual giants but instead a town hall full of immature behemoths who could no more hammer out a compromise than they could resist a beer? What if, furthermore, an outrageous narrative existed and has recently been rediscovered? This is the satire presented. Drawing from historical sources to create an image of the American founding that undermines many modern narratives in an entertaining manner, the outlandish narrative is not as far from the truth as you might think.
Recommended Citation
Pickens, Alexander W., "The founding farce, or, the lost debates of the constitutional convention: Being an account of the discovery of an overlooked document, and the loss again, and rediscovery of said document, wherein is written unheard proceedings in the crafting of the glorious constitution of these 13 colonies (which has lately been misplaced)" (2017). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 357.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/357
Included in
American Literature Commons, Fiction Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other English Language and Literature Commons, Political History Commons, United States History Commons
