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A republic is work for the people
Elizabeth Willing Powell put the question to Franklin as he left. A republic means the burden and the work of governance rest in the hands of the people, and it falls to them to decide what to do with it.
The Constitution was still only proposed. Its Article VII required each state to hold a ratifying convention, and if nine of the 13 states approved, it would become the law of the land. Debate over ratification seized the capitals of every state, a bare-knuckled fight, sometimes literally, between the Federalists who supported the Constitution and the Anti-Federalists who opposed it.
Who was Elizabeth Willing Powell?
Powell was the wife of Samuel Powell, a former mayor of Philadelphia, and she hosted one of the city's leading social circles. Her salon drew politicians, including George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. The exchange with Franklin is known from the notes of James McHenry, a Maryland delegate. McHenry recorded it in his papers soon after the convention ended.
How did ratification go?
Delaware ratified first, on December 7, 1787, with a unanimous vote. New Hampshire became the ninth state on June 21, 1788, which put the Constitution into effect. Virginia and New York followed days and weeks later. Rhode Island was the last of the 13 to ratify, in 1790.
What were the Federalist Papers?
They were 85 essays published in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name Publius. Alexander Hamilton wrote most of them, and James Madison and John Jay wrote the rest. They argued for ratifying the Constitution, partly to sway undecided New York voters. Historians still cite them when explaining the founders' intent.