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When did the thirty Thousand enter the constitutional debate?
When discussing the right to suffrage.
How early Reb?
It was the second week, 11 June 1787.
And the three fifths clause?
Same day.
What did the founders vote to do?
To move to an equitable ratio of representation.
Instead of equal representation?
Yes.
No more one vote per state Reb.
The three fifths clause was part of who counted.
Who counted?
White and Black people.
What did it say exactly Johnny?

​‘That the right to suffrage in the first branch be according to the whole number of white and three fifths of the other inhabitants.’
No untaxed Indians yet?
Nor the language of free and all other Persons Gus.
The three fifths is what set Elbridge off.
The three fifths had been used to tax slaveholders for their property.
Meaning a two fifths tax reduction for said property, a Black person?
Correct Yank.
When?
Four years earlier, in 1783.
Familiar to the founders.
And not a single founder would've accepted the stunting logic of 435.
Shall we proceed Johnny?
Let's.
Goddess yes?
Plural.
Ever higher …

*Next up: 22 June (part 10/13) The Return of We the People: Comedy and Tragedy.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner / Support the US Constitution

1 of 13

Stop!
Sure.
Is this Richmond Reb?
It is.
And it’s Usurpation Day 2026?
April 9th Yank.
Elbridge would love this.
Marley too.
Bob.
Right.
This gray building doesn't look like the other ones.
Stingray is the color.
Stingray?
Yeah.
It’s gray Johnny.
Charlie said it’s called Stingray, rolled eyes included.
Who's Charlie?




​

​




​
​
Tour guide.
Of what?
The Stingray building.
When did you tour this Johnny?
Last Usurpation Day.
We spent that in DC.
With Bob and Elbridge.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Bob sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Unforgettable.
Elbridge told us an eyewitness account of 9 April 1792.
The chief contemner himself.
That's when.
You just went poof without saying so?
After we smoked.
Bob's smoke.
Right … and I poofed.
To recon.
Richmond.
And thus Charlie.
And another chief contemner.
Charlie?

​
Jefferson Davis.
Jeffy?!
This is where he lived during the war.
Stunned Reb.
Okay.
That the backdoor?
Front, the back is collonaded, to the right.
Odd.
Garden area, privacy.
Makes sense.
Street smells too Gus.
Horse manure.
All kinds.
Clean today.
Let's cross the clean Richmond street Yank.
On Usurpation Day 2026 Reb.
“So the world shall be His footstool,”
“And the soul of Time His slave,”
[In unison] “Our God is marching on.”

*Next up: 20 April and The Return of We the People: Bob and Elbridge.

Posted by Bryan W Brickner

​3
Usurpation Day is a day of remembrance for those who serve for the duration even when they are torn and tattered, nerves completely shattered. 

Tippy Rowe didn’t want to be a bomber anymore and yet kept being a bomber. That’s a spirit of perseverance in the face of death: just my number, nothing more, just my spirit, nothing more.
​
Lt. Rowe was killed on 5 Nov 1944 while on a bombing raid over Mannheim Germany; the B-17 he was in was hit by anti-aircraft fire, went out of control, into a spin, and was nevermore.

Then at last to my elation
I caught up to my formation
And the ME’s turned and left me
By the tens and by the score.
But my wings were torn and tattered
And my nerves completely shattered
And as far as I’m concerned
The war is over, forevermore.

Now I’ve found the joy of living
And my secret I am giving
To the rest of those among you
Who might care to live some more.
For my sinus starts to seeping
Everytime they mention briefing
No more flying, no more combat
No more missions, Nevermore???????

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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​
Part X of XIII

“… Happy Constitution Day Yank.”
“Smudge Day Johnny.”
“Yupper.”
“Tell the story again, about how George had the founders put a smudge on the Constitution.”
“I thought you might ask Gus.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
“So you have something prepared?”
“Let me present, Constitution Day 1787.”
“Let’s go Reb.”
“Nowhere to go Yank, as we can story-tell right here.”
“Okay.”
“Conjure and imagine, if you will, the interior of …

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA PA – DAY 17 SEP 1787

GEORGE WASHINGTON (55) is chairing the Constitutional Convention and it is the last day, signing day, 17 September 1787. The hall is full of founders, such as ALEXANDER HAMILTON (30), JAMES MADISON (36), and BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (81); they are all gathered to conclude the convention and begin their journeys home. The (almost) completed Constitution is read aloud as well as a speech written by Franklin. WE HEAR the MURMUR of restive and attentive voices as NATHANIAL GORHAM (49), someone known to all in the room, rises to speak; he is a Massachusetts delegate, Chairman of the Whole during the convention, and Washington acknowledges him from the podium.

WASHINGTON
I see Nathanial, the honorable Mr. Gorham, would like to speak.

GORHAM
Gentlemen, if it is not too late, I would like that the clause declaring, 'the number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every forty Thousand,' be reconsidered.

WASHINGTON
You mean the representation clause.

GORHAM
Yes, and since it produced so much discussion, perhaps we should reconsider it.

WASHINGTON
Your proposal?

GORHAM
For a greater representation of the people, I propose we strike out 'forty' Thousand and insert 'thirty' Thousand.

HAMILTON
Agreed!

FRANKLIN
Yes!

Madison nods agreement.

WASHINGTON
(pauses) 
Although my situation has hitherto restrained me from offering sentiments on questions before the convention, and perhaps ought to now –

LAUGHTER. 

I can’t forbear expressing my wish that the change proposed might take place.

HAMILTON
Say more.

WASHINGTON
It is much desired that the objections to the plan recommended might be as few as possible, and the smallness of the proportion of Representatives was considered by many members of the Convention, an insufficient security for the rights and interests of the people.

FRANKLIN
Yes.

WASHINGTON
The representation ratio had always seemed to me to be the exceptionable part of the plan, and late as the present moment was for admitting amendments, I believe it of so much consequence that it would give much satisfaction to see it adopted.

The founders then vote and the change is unanimously accepted. Madison and a clerk make the edit to the Constitution by altering the word 'forty' into 'thirty,' and in doing so leave a smudge.”

“Thanks for The Story of Smudge Day Johnny.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What’s the word on the usurpers and the surrender?”
“Merrick Garland.”
“Who’s that?”
“The Attorney General for We the People.”
“Word is?”
“We’ve asked for support.”
“I like it.”
“Also, there’s some news about Sarah.”
“Berry?”
“Right, …”

Next Up: 1 October and part XI of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Sarah.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

​

Part IX of XIII

“… How’s this?”
“Thanks Reb.”
“Them crows got to ya Yank.”
“I wasn’t sure what to think?”
“I heard ‘em too.”
“There are a lot of crows in Berryville.”
“Yes.”
“There’s even a street named Crow.”
“That’s for a family.”
“I thought so too, and said so to the crows.”
“And?”
“The crows, they wondered who that family would be named after, if not them?”
“Crows.”
“What is with these obelisks Johnny?”
“Good question Gus.”
“They’re … ”

​
​“… How much slavery was there here in Berryville?”
“Clarke County was about half enslaved in 1860.”
“Berryville’s in Clarke.”
“County seat.”
“These stone obelisks, crosses and testimonials, were built with slave coin.”
“I hear ya.”
“The stained glass windows, the brick church.”
“Economy of slavery.”
“We can see what enslaved people built, what their labors contributed.”
“We can.”
“It’s right here, here in these stones.”
“And the stained glass.”
“What’s next Johnny?”
“Got some news Gus.”
“Do tell.”

​

“The truth has come.”
“The thirty Thousand.”
“And the falsehood shall vanish.”
“The usurpation.”
“And shall not come back.”
“Sounds like you’ve gotten word.”
“Word is expected by 17 September Gus.”
“Constitution Day.”
“Yes.”
“What if no word?”
“Then the Office of the - ”
“- Don’t say Reb.”
“Right.”
“Soon enough, we’ll all know.”
“Meantime … let’s look for some Berrys.”
“Johnny: I had forgotten our purpose.”
“This way Gus …”

Next Up: 17 September and part X of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Smudge Day 2021.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

​
​Jefferson Davis knew, so Lincoln knew.
 
Since Lincoln knew, Grant knew.
 
Since Grant knew, Wilson knew.
 
Since Wilson knew, Roosevelt knew.
 
Since Roosevelt knew, Kennedy knew.
 
Since Kennedy knew, …
 
So ask yourself: Since Jefferson Davis knew how to represent We the People like George Washington and the founders, why don’t you?
 
*Next Up: 3 January 2020 and a 2020.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Part 8 of 13
 
“… Elbridge Gerry.”
“Never heard of him.”
“You will.”
“Listening.”
“Gerry was in the House on 9 April.”
“Usurpation Day.”
“Representing Massachusetts.”
“Yank.”
“A mischief-making Yank.”
“Say more Reb.”
“Gerry was also at the Constitutional Convention.”
“With the founders?”
“Yup.”
“Did he sign?”
“Nope.”
“Why Johnny?”
“Gerry didn’t sign ‘cuz he said democracy was the worst of all political evils.”
“Evil?”
“Evil.”
“Go on.”
“Then on 9 April 1792 Gerry supports the usurpation.”
“Leader thereof?”
“Evil is as evil does.”
“Chief Mischief Maker then.”
“Correct Gus.”
“One hears the truth and does it.”
“The other hears the truth and quibbles.”
“Amen.”
“Gerry also predicted our civil war.”
“When?”
“The first Constitution Day.”
“So Gerry didn’t sign the Constitution on 17 September, said there’ll be civil war, and then led the usurpation five years later.”
“And there’s more.”
“Constitutional sinner.”
“Yup.”
“What’s with the circle Johnny?”
“Let’s look closer …”
 
*Next Up: 2 October and part 9 of Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Jefferson Davis.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

​Celebrate the Seventh Amendment on 7/20
 
Whatever great means, it includes the idea of something worth passing on.
 
George Hammer, my maternal great-grandfather, was born American from German immigrants.
 
George’s mother was born in Massbach, Bavaria, Germany and immigrated to the United States and Illinois’ Jo Daviess County with her family as a teenager in 1865.
 
George’s father came here as a five-year old from Zeitfeld Province, Germany (which is hard to find on a map) in the early 1850s as part of an immigrant family of five; they stayed with fellow Mennonites in New York for three years before homesteading in Jo Daviess County.

The land both families homesteaded was available because of the end of “Indian” hostilities in Illinois after the Black Hawk War. I’ve published a pamphlet that excerpts an Illinois history book (1878) with some details on how that war started and ended: see Fire-Water Ignites Black Hawk War of 1832 (and other things).

George wrote a few letters to a German woman in Canada named Ida Schiekoff; Ida was born in Arnhausen, Germany (in 1945 the village became Lipie, Poland) and immigrated to Canada as an 18 year-old in 1891. The two met by reading the same German newspaper and became pen pals. George then went to meet Ida and her family in Canada a couple of times; they soon got engaged, married, and moved to the family farm in Illinois. They lived a simple farm life, nothing fancier than good shelter and plenty of food, as there wasn’t any extra coin. Money showed up later, in the next generation, when their son and my grandfather, Willis (the child in the picture without a jacket), told me they started making money off the farm by selling surplus milk.

Maybe right there is a glimpse of the constitutional right within the Seventh Amendment and why it is there; it isn’t written for the rich in coin, or they would have used it: it’s there for the poor. It’s also constitutionally connected to the thirty Thousand, as the usurpation has organized the judiciary and our American sense of justice; the time to review (and amend) the Seventh Amendment, thus bringing to life its constitutional social justice bearing, is when We the People are represented according to numbers (say in 2021 or ‘22).

The same commentator that noted Arendt’s Constitutio Libertatis and honoring of the founders, also pointed out that she only thought the founders were a partial success; that is because, according to the commentator, the founders didn’t create space for We the People to participate. I don’t agree and think the evidence, our Constitution, shows otherwise; the thirty Thousand, the Enumeration, and the Seventh Amendment do provide ways for citizens to participate in their government at a “local” federal level via small districts augmented every ten years. It’s the usurpers fault, not the founders, who are keeping We the People from our constitutional greatness: us too, the people, as we haven’t shown vigilance until now.
 
Great means that something is worthy of being passed on, of giving to others as a legacy. The former Germans Hannah Arendt and Ida Schiekoff, and the children of German immigrants, like George Hammer, left us an American legacy. American immigrants are greater than the usurpers, and the usurpation of our right to representation, according to numbers, keeps us from our constitutional legacy … and that ain’t great America.
 
*Next Up: 17 September, US Constitution Day 2019, and Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Hannah Arendt said she wasn’t German.
 
The Germans didn’t want her anymore, ‘cuz, you know, they went nuts.
 
Why’d they go nuts?
 
One reason for sure is that American greatness was ignored.
 
Ask yourself, “How did Hitler come to power?” And the answer has to include the constitution Woodrow Wilson offered to Germany at the end of World War I.
 
Why didn’t Wilson offer the Germans a constitution like ours, like the one George Washington and the founders made?
 
Where’s the thirty Thousand?
 
Where’s the Enumeration?
 
Not in Wilson’s constitutional offering, so how could it be great? This is no small matter, given what happened to Hannah Arendt and millions of others.
 
When Arendt got to America she wrote about revolution. One commentator noted something new about her thoughts: “The new paradigmatic political actors are the American Founders, whose debates and deliberations concerning the drafting and adoption of the Constitution are presented by Arendt as every bit as exemplary as anything in Homer or Thucydides.”
 
As exemplary as anything in Homer or Thucydides: in other words, American greatness is not found in the boom-boom of rebellion and the 4th of July; American greatness is found in the law of revolution, the US Constitution, and 17 September.
 
*Next Up: A celebration of the 7th Amendment on 7/20 with Part 2 of Hannah Arendt, American Greatness and Constitutio Libertatis.
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Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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On 17 September 1787, everyone in the room knew the meaning of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.”
 
Alexander Hamilton knew.
 
Dude named Benjamin Franklin knew.
 
James Madison, he knew.
 
George Washington knew, as the “thirty” was a wish of his.
 
The founders, all 39 of them, knew what they were signing on that September day.
 
Three dissenters knew too, as they withheld their signatures because of what they didn’t want to sign.
 
The Constitution was then sent to and ratified by all 13 independent states, so they all knew.
 
What did they know?
 
They knew that “We the People” was a constitutionally created way, one recreated every ten years.
 
They also knew that along that way there would be webs.
 
Webs are things that snare.
 
To avoid webs, stay on the way, the We the People way.
 
Happy Constitution Day All!
 
 
*Next Up: A 2020 political theory update on 10 October, Locke, Madison and Dahl.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner