Jesse Wegman

Wilson is without question one of the leading lawyers in the country at the time, if not the leading lawyer.

Everyone looks to him for his legal acumen, but also his knowledge of history and of government that he developed through his training in the Scottish Enlightenment.

But Wilson brings this energy to the convention that I had not noticed before.

He's constantly saying things that sound more like they were said by someone in the 21st century than someone in the 18th century.

And those have to do primarily with the ideals of political equality, the idea that people are the foundation of government and all people are equal, right?

This is not very welcome to a lot of the delegates who are much more interested, say, in their states, right?

They care about making sure their state has equal power.

So

One of the biggest fights at the convention is over the Senate.

Will the Senate be a body of states with equal power or will it be based on the population of the states and the people themselves?

Wilson argues tirelessly throughout the summer for a government based on population.

And he says people should be represented in accordance with their numbers.

Why is this so hard?

Right.

And he can't understand why so many of the other founders resist him.

So that fight, that fight over popular rule versus state equality takes up the entire first half of the summer.

And in the end, Wilson, for all his arguments, actually ends up losing that one.

Wilson and James Madison and a few of the other nationalists had really wanted a government based on population.

They don't get it.

They get a Senate that has equal state power.