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Doubt your own infallibility
A lifetime of revisions
Franklin had lived long enough to be obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change views he once thought right. That is why he could sign a Constitution with several parts he did not approve at the moment: he was not sure he would never approve them.
Gathering men for their joint wisdom also gathers all their prejudices, passions, errors of opinion, local interests, and selfish views. From such an assembly a perfect production cannot be expected, so Franklin was astonished at how near to perfection the system came.
The final speech
Too old and ill to speak at length, Franklin handed a written speech to James Wilson on September 17, 1787, and Wilson read it to the room. It asked every member who still had objections to doubt a little of his own infallibility and put his name to the document. The objections came from opposite directions: William Paterson thought the federal government too strong, and Alexander Hamilton thought it too weak. Nearly all the remaining delegates signed.
Why did Franklin's speech include the unanimous-consent wording?
Franklin moved that the Constitution be signed with the phrase Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present. Gouverneur Morris had crafted the wording. It let delegates who disliked parts of the document sign as witnesses to the states' agreement instead of endorsing every clause. The phrasing was meant to win over the holdouts.
Why did Wilson read Franklin's speech?
Franklin was 81 and suffered from gout and kidney stones, and he found it hard to speak for long. He often had a colleague read his written remarks on the floor. James Wilson of Pennsylvania did so on September 17, 1787. Franklin had written the speech out in advance.
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