I would love a mini-series on the forgotten Founding Father, James Wilson. I guarantee that if you asked the average American who he was, they would have no clue. He's not taught about in school, is rarely mentioned in history books, and is generally routinely ignored in any discussion about the creation of the Constitution. Which is kind of unreal when you think about how much influence he had during the Convention. I mean the man, among other things, created the Electoral College, proposed the 3/5 compromise, and was one of the first Supreme Court Justices (during which he wrote the only constitutionally notable pre-Marshall opinion, Chisholm v. Georgia). People might not necessarily like those contributions, but they undoubtedly had a resounding impact on American history. The only person who can claim as much significance in the creation of the Constitution is James Madison.* Yet, most people are completely oblivious to his contributions. I'm just waiting for some screenwriter/producer to realize that James Wilson is a potential goldmine for a mini-series. There's so much story to be told there. I mean, at the end of his life, despite his enormous influence in the shaping of the Constitution, he was thrown in debtor's prison and was on the run from creditors. That's kind of tragic and lends itself perfectly to dramatization. And unlike Jefferson or Franklin, it hasn't been relayed a thousand different times in a thousand different ways.
*Madison also hasn't gotten his fair due, but he's at least taught in schools, especially universities. My dream scenario would be a mini-series based on the Constitutional Convention with Madison and Wilson as the stars. That would be glorious.
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