The past few blogs have examined why an Article V convention [FN78] is a bad idea & refuted 2 out of 3 assertions that David Barton advances in support of calling a convention. [FN79] We ignore “Christian nationalists” like Barton at our own peril. 1/19

I. Barton distorts & lies about history. [FN80] I refuted his 1st [FN81] & 2nd [FN82] assertions.
His 3rd assertion is (as usual) w/o authority and is odd:
c) “history also shows that throughout the construction of American government, the states had full control over their delegates.” 2/19

Barton set the 1787 convention that produced the Constitution as context, but his simplistic view of this history gives short shrift to the dynamics of the convention, the times in which it occurred and thus the Constitution itself. There are specifics: 3/19

a) Location: Philadelphia. [FN83]
b) Start date: May 25, 1787 [FN84]
c) 55 delegates designated by the National Archives as “the Framers.” [FN85]
d) 12 specific States each delegate (w/one exception) represented. [FN86]
e) Finish date: 9/17/1787, Constitution signed. [FN87] 4/19

Whether the States “had full control over their delegates” is relevant only if we view the States as of primacy in the writing and ratification of the Constitution. There’s a reason the Constitution begins with “We, the People.” It is not a compact between the States. [FN88] 5/19

Madison viewed the States as impediments to a just political system. [FN89] Barton seems not to accept that the Articles of Confederation were ditched. Under the Articles, amendments had to be by unanimous vote with each State having one vote, [FN90] but this was a runaway. 6/19

Even if showing “full control” of delegates hundreds of miles from their home States in times when travel could take weeks even for a letter, Barton is seemingly unaware of the delegates’ pact of secrecy. [FN91] Three quick points I’ll make, then close until tomorrow. 7/19

1) Any changes to be made to the Constitution can be made by individual amendments. There is no need for a convention (unless you read Barton’s group’s website).
2) Barton & his ilk have footholds in government. IN Lt Gov Micah Beckwith sings praises for Barton, esp about the 3/5 clause. [FN92] 8/19

3) I’m toting up a list of people of cowardice. A far-right person on a podcast or other medium brags & says “progressives” or “lefties,” etc, refuse to debate them, I’d laugh were we not in such dangerous times. I’ve accepted those challenges, but the challenges aren’t real. 9/19

People who issued challenges but backed down: Beckwith, Guy Relford, Kent Abernathy, Kevin Smith, Peter Heck, I’ll go through files for more names. The rules are simple. Each person has set time limits. Neither can interrupt or talk over the other. I’ll post some topics later. 10/19

Footnotes:
FN78. “The Congress ... on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments...” U.S. Const., Art. V. 11/19

FN79. Barton advocates for an Article V convention. See, David Barton, “An Article V Convention for the States,” WallBuilders, 5/29/23, accessed 5/26/23. 12/19

FN80. “David Barton has spread the damaging idea that the separation of church and state is a myth. His historical writings have helped provide a respectable veneer for the rise of radical-right religious ideology over the past several decades.” SPLC, accessed 5/26/26. 13/19

FN81. See, “Const’l convention under Art V would have no limits, part 4,” posted in this blog on May 27; and part 5, posted on May 28.
FN82. See, “Const’l convention under Art V would have no limits, part 6" by mark small & posted May 29. 14/19

FN83. Feb 21, 1787 Report of Proceedings, 1 Elliott’s Debates, p. 120.
FN84. Congressional resolution had set the beginning of the convention for “the second Monday in May next,” or May 14, 1787. Id. However, a quorum was not reached until May 25. Stewart, “The Summer of 1787,” (2007), p. 47. 15/19

FN85. National Archives, “America’s Founding Documents,” accessed 05/29/25.
FN86. “List of the Members of the Federal Convention, Which Formed the Constitution of the United States” and “Credentials,” 1 Elliott’s Debates pp. 124-39. 16/19

FN87. Stewart, pp. 238-39.
FN88. Infirmities of the existing federal system “not a little” due to “it never had a ratification by the PEOPLE.” The Federalist, No. 22 (Alexander Hamilton.
FN89. See, Jack Rakove, “Revolutionaries,” (2010), p. 360. 17/19

FN90. Articles of Confederation, Articles XIII and V, cl 4.
FN91. See, . John P Kaminski, “Secrecy and the Constitutional Convention,” Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2005), p. 7. 18/19

FN92. See, Sydney Byerly and Marilyn Odendahl, “Propaganda Mill? Lt Gov Micah Beckwith Lauds Wallbuilders Think Tanks,” The Indiana Citizen, 5/1/25, accessed 5/29/26. 19/19