Charles Pinckney of South Carolina
According to Madison's Notes on the Constitutional Convention, on this day, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina moved, "'that the first branch of the national Legislature be elected by the State Legislatures, and not by the people.' contending that the people were less fit Judges in such a case, and that the Legislatures would be less likely to promote the adoption of the new Government, if they were to be excluded from all share in it."
This is yet another example of how concerned many of the founders were about democracy. On the second day of debates Roger Sherman of Connecticut said that he "opposed the election by the people, insisting that it ought to be by the State Legislatures. The people he said, immediately should have as little to do as may be about the Government. They want [lack] information and are constantly liable to be misled."
Of course Pinckney and Sherman did not get their way. It was decided that members of "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People...", but this was not so for members of the Senate. Originally, Senators from the States were, "chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years...". This would be the case until 1913, after the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified. All of this flies in the face of the idea that these men we call founders wanted to establish a democracy in this nation. Looking at what some of "the People" think about government these days it makes one wonder if Pinckney and Sherman weren't wrong.
