title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: William II died in 1849. He was succeeded by his son, William III. A rather conservative, even reactionary man, William III was sharply opposed to the new 1848 constitution. He continually tried to form governments that were dependent on his support, even though it was prohibitively difficult for a government to stay in office against the will of Parliament. In 1868, he tried to sell Luxembourg to France, which was the source of a quarrel between Prussia and France.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: William III had a rather unhappy marriage with Sophie of Württemberg, and his heirs died young. This raised the possibility of the extinction of the House of Orange-Nassau. After the death of Queen Sophie in 1877, William remarried to 20-year-old Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1879; he was 41 years older than her. On 31 August 1880, Queen Emma gave birth to their daughter and the royal heiress, Wilhelmina. There were considerably more concerns over the royal dynasty's future, when Wilhelmina's marriage with Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (since 1901) repeatedly resulted in miscarriage. Had the House of Orange died out, the throne would likely have passed to Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz, leading the Netherlands into an undesirable strong influence of the German Empire that would threaten Dutch independence. Not just Socialists, but now also Anti-Revolutionary politicians including Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper and Liberals such as Samuel van Houten advocated the restoration of the Republic in Parliament in case the marriage remained childless. The birth of Princess Juliana in 1909 put the question to rest.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Wilhelmina was queen of the Netherlands for 58 years, from 1890 to 1948. Because she was only 10 years old in 1890, her mother, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, was the regent until Wilhelmina's 18th birthday in 1898. Since females were not allowed to hold power in Luxembourg, due to Salic law, Luxembourg passed to the House of Nassau-Weilburg, a collateral line to the House of Orange-Nassau. For a time, it appeared that the Dutch royal family would die with Wilhelmina. Her half-brother, Prince Alexander, had died in 1884, and no royal babies were born from then until Wilhelmina gave birth to her only child, Juliana, in 1909. The Dutch royal house remained quite small until the later 1930s and the early 1940s, during which Juliana gave birth to four daughters. Although the House of Orange died out in its male line with the death of Queen Wilhelmina, it continued in the female line as can be seen in other modern european monarchies, the name "Orange" continues to be used by the Dutch royalty and as evidenced in many patriotic songs, such as "".


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, during her reign, and the country was not invaded by Germany, as neighboring Belgium was.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Nevertheless, Queen Wilhelmina became a symbol of the Dutch resistance during World War II. The moral authority of the Monarchy was restored because of her rule. After 58 years on the throne as the Queen, Wilhelmina decided to abdicate in favour of her daughter, Juliana. Juliana had the reputation of making the monarchy less "aloof", and under her reign the Monarchy became known as the "cycling monarchy". Members of the royal family were often seen bicycling through the cities and the countryside under Juliana.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: A royal marriage controversy occurred starting in 1966 when Juliana's eldest daughter, the future Queen Beatrix, decided to marry Claus von Amsberg, a German diplomat. The marriage of a member of the royal family to a German was quite controversial in the Netherlands, which had suffered under Nazi German occupation in 1940–45. This reluctance to accept a German consort probably was exacerbated by von Amsberg's former membership in the Hitler Youth under the Nazi regime in his native country, and also his following service in the German Wehrmacht. Beatrix needed permission from the government to marry anyone if she wanted to remain heiress to the throne, but after some argument, it was granted. As the years went by, Prince Claus was fully accepted by the Dutch people. In time, he became one of the most popular members of the Dutch monarchy, and his death in 2002 was widely mourned.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: On April 30, 1980, Queen Juliana abdicated in favor of her daughter, Beatrix. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the Dutch monarchy remained popular with a large part of the population. Beatrix's eldest son, Willem-Alexander, was born on April 27, 1967; the first immediate male heir to the Dutch throne since the death of his great-granduncle, Prince Alexander, in 1884. Willem-Alexander married Máxima Zorreguieta, an Argentine banker, in 2002; the first commoner to ever marry an heir apparent to the Dutch throne. They are parents of three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Alexia, and Ariane. After a long struggle with neurological illness, Queen Juliana died on March 20, 2004, and her husband, Prince Bernhard, died on December 1 of that same year.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Upon Beatrix's abdication on April 30, 2013, the Prince of Orange was inaugurated as King Willem-Alexander, becoming the Netherlands' first male ruler since 1890. His eldest daughter, Catharina-Amalia, as heiress apparent to the throne, became Princess of Orange in her own right.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Unlike other royal houses, there has always been a separation in the Netherlands between what was owned by the state and used by the House of Orange in their offices as monarch, or previously, stadtholder, and the personal investments and fortune of the House of Orange.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: As monarch, the King or Queen has use of, but not ownership of, the Huis ten Bosch as a residence and Noordeinde Palace as a work palace. In addition, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam is also at the disposal of the monarch (although it is only used for state visits and is open to the public when not in use for that purpose), as is Soestdijk Palace (which is open to the public and not in official use at all at this time). The crown jewels, comprising the crown, orb and sceptre, Sword of State, royal banner, and ermine mantle have been placed in the Crown Property Trust. The trust also holds the items used on ceremonial occasions, such as the carriages, table silver, and dinner services. The Royal House is also exempt from income, inheritance, and personal tax.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The House of Orange has long had the reputation of being one of the wealthier royal houses in the world, largely due to their business investments in Royal Dutch Shell, Philips Electronics company, KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines, and the Holland-America Line. How significant these investments are is a matter of conjecture, as their private finances, unlike their public stipends as monarch, are not open to public scrutiny.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: As late as 2001, the fortune of the Royal Family was estimated by various sources ("Forbes" magazine) at $3.2 billion. Most of the wealth was reported to come from the family's longstanding stake in the Royal Dutch/Shell Group. At one time, the Oranges reportedly owned as much as 25% of the oil company; their stake is in 2001 was estimated at a minimum of 2%, worth $2.7 billion on the May 21 cutoff date for the Billionaires issue. The family also was estimated to have a 1% stake in financial services firm ABN-AMRO.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The royal family's fortune seems to have been hit by declines in real estate and equities after 2008. They were also rumored to have lost up to $100 million when Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme collapsed, though the royal house denies the allegations. In 2009, "Forbes" estimated Queen Beatrix's wealth at US$300 million. This could also have been due to splitting the fortune between Queen Beatrix and her 3 sisters, as there is no right of the eldest to inherit the whole property. A surge in export revenue, recovery in real estate and strong stock market have helped steady royal family's fortunes, but uncertainty over the new government and future austerity measures needed to bring budget deficits in line may dampen future prospects. In July 2010, "Forbes" magazine estimated her net worth at $200 million This estimate was unchanged in April 2011.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Under Dutch law, there is a distinction between the royal family and the Dutch royal house. Whereas 'royal family' refers to the entire Orange-Nassau family, only a small subgroup of it constitutes the royal house. By the Royal House Membership Act 2002, membership of the royal house is limited to:


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Members of the Royal House lose their membership (and thereby, designation as prince or princess of the Netherlands) if they lose the membership of the Royal House on the succession of a new monarch (not being in the second degree of sanguinity to the monarch anymore, Article 1a), or by royal decree approved by the Council of State (Article 5). This last scenario could happen, for example, if a royal house member marries without the consent of the Dutch Parliament. For example, this happened with Prince Friso in 2004, when he married Mabel Wisse Smit.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: A detailed family tree can be found here. A detailed from the 15th century can be found on the Dutch Wikipedia at Dutch monarchs family tree.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The main house of Orange-Nassau also spawned several illegitimate branches. These branches contributed to the political and economic history of England and the Netherlands. Justinus van Nassau was the only extramarital child of William of Orange. He was a Dutch army commander known for unsuccessfully defending Breda against the Spanish, and the depiction of his surrender on the famous picture by Diego Velázquez, "The Surrender of Breda". Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd was a younger illegitimate son of Prince Maurice and Margaretha van Mechelen. His descendants were later created Counts of Nassau-LaLecq. One of his sons was the famous general Henry de Nassau, Lord of Overkirk, King William III's Master of the Horse, and one of the most trusted generals of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. His descendants became the Earls of Grantham in England. Frederick van Nassau, Lord of Zuylestein, an illegitimate son of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, gave rise to the Earls of Rochford in England. The 4th earl of Rochford was a famous English diplomat and a statesman.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: In 1815, William VI of Orange became King of the Netherlands. This summary genealogical tree shows how the current Royal house of Orange-Nassau is related:


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The gallery below show the coats of arms used by members of the house of Orange-Nassau. Their growing complexity and use of crowns shows how arms are used to reflect the growing political position and royal aspirations of the family. A much more complete armorial is given at the Armorial of the House of Nassau, and another one at at the Dutch Wikipedia.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The ancestral coat of arms of the Ottonian line of the house of Nassau is shown right. Their distant cousins of the Walramian line added a red coronet to distinguish them. There is no specific documentation in the literature on the origin of the arms. The lion was always a popular noble symbol, originating as a symbol of nobility, power, and royal aspirations in western culture going all the way back to Hercules. The lion was also heavily used as a heraldic symbol in border territories and neighbouring countries of the Holy Roman Empire and France. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the Holy Roman Emperor, who used an eagle in his personal arms and the King of France, who used the famous Fleur-de-lis. The lion was so heavily used in the Netherlands for various provinces and families (see Leo Belgicus) that it became the national arms of the Dutch Republic, its successor Kingdom of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Blue, because of its nearness to purple, which in the northern climes tended to fade (red was the other choice), was also a popular color for those with royal aspirations. The billets could have been anything from blocks of wood to abstractions of the reenforcements holding the shield together. The fact that these were arms were very similar to those of the counts of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) did not seem to cause too much confusion.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Henry III of Nassau-Breda came to the Netherlands in 1499 as heir to his uncle, Engelbrecht II of Nassau-Breda. His and his uncle's arms are shown below. When Philbert, prince of Orange died in 1530, his sister's son René of Breda inherited the Princedom of Orange on condition that he used the name and coat of arms of the Châlon-Orange family. History knows him therefore as René of Châlon instead of as "René of Nassau-Breda." The 1st and 4th grand quarters show the arms of the Chalons-Arlay (the gold bend) princes of Orange (the bugle). The blue and gold cross is the arms of Jeanne of Geneva, who married one of the Chalons princes. The 2nd and 3rd show the quarterings of Brittany and Luxembourg-St. Pol. The inescutcheon overall is his paternal arms quartered of Nassau and Breda. William the Silent's father, William the Rich, was rich only in children. He bore the arms shown below. Clockwise from upper left they displayed the arms of Nassau (1st quarter), Katzenelenbogen (3rd quarter), Dietz (2nd quarter), Vianden (4th quarter).


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The princes of Orange in the 16th and 17th century used the following sets of arms. On becoming prince of Orange, William placed the Châlon-Arlay arms in the center ("as an inescutcheon") of his father's arms. He used these arms until 1582 when he purchased the marquisate of Veere and Vlissingen. It had been the property of Philip II since 1567, but had fallen into arrears to the province. In 1580 the Court of Holland ordered it sold. William bought it as it gave him two more votes in the States of Zeeland. He owned the government of the two towns, and so could appoint their magistrates. He already had one as First Noble for Philip William, who had inherited Maartensdijk. This made William the predominant member of the States of Zeeland. It was a smaller version of the countship of Zeeland (& Holland) promised to William, and was a potent political base for his descendants. William then added the shield of Veere and Buren to his arms as shown in the arms of Frederick Henry, William II and William III with the arms of the marquisate in the top center, and the arms of the county of Buren in the bottom center. William also started the tradition of keeping the number of billets in the upper left quarter for Nassau at 17 to symbolize the original 17 provinces of the Burgundian/Habsburg Netherlands, which he always hoped would form one united nation.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: When John William Friso became Prince of Orange, he used the arms below. However, he was never recognized outside of Holland and areas friendly to Holland as Prince of Orange. His son, William IV, recognized as Prince of Orange, seems to have used the original arms of William the Silent. When the princes of Orange fled the Netherlands during the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland, and when France occupied the Netherlands, they were compensated by Napoleon with the Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda. These principalities were confiscated when Napoleon invaded Germany (1806) and William VI supported his Prussian relatives. He succeeded his father as prince of Orange later that year, after William V's death. The house of Orange-Nassau also had several illegitimate lines (see below) who based their arms on the arms of Nassau-Dillenburg.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: When William VI of Orange returned to the Netherlands in 1813 and was proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands, he quartered the former Arms of the Dutch Republic (1st and 4th quarter) with the "Châlon-Orange" arms (2nd and 3rd quarter), which had come to symbolize Orange. As an in escutcheon he placed his ancestral arms of Nassau. When he became King in 1815, he combined the Dutch Republic Lion with the billets of the Nassau arms and added a royal crown to form the Coat of arms of the Netherlands. In 1907, Queen Wilhelmina replaced the royal crown on the lion and the shield bearers of the arms with a coronet.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Wilhelmina further decreed that in perpetuity her descendants should be styled "princes and princesses of Orange-Nassau" and that the name of the house would be "Orange-Nassau" (in Dutch "Oranje-Nassau"). Only those members of the members of the Dutch Royal Family that are designated to the smaller "Royal House" can use the title of prince or princess of the Netherlands. Since then, individual members of the House of Orange-Nassau are also given their own arms by the reigning monarch, similar to the United Kingdom. This is usually the royal arms, quartered with the arms of the principality of Orange, and an in escutcheon of their paternal arms.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: As sovereign Princes, the princes of Orange used an independent prince's or the . Sometimes, only the coronet part was used (, and ). After the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and as the principality of Orange had been incorporated into France by Louis XIV, they used the Dutch Royal Crowns. The full coats of arms of the princes of Orange, later Kings of the Netherlands, incorporated the arms above, the crown, 2 lions as supporters and the motto "Je maintiendrai" ("I will maintain"), the latter taken from the Chalons princes of Orange, who used "Je maintiendrai Chalons".


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Besides being sovereign over the principality of Orange, this is a partial listing of larger estates and titles that William the Silent and his heirs possessed, most enfeoffed to some other sovereign, either the King of France, the Habsburgs, or the States of the provinces of the Netherlands:


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: In most of the estates in the more populous provinces of Holland and Zealand, the land itself was secondary to the profit on the commerce that flowed through it.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The Dutch Royal Family also makes extensive use of royal standards that are based on their coats of arms, but not identical to them (as the British Royal Family does). Some examples from the Royal Family's website are:


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: The standards of the current sons of the former Queen, now Princess Beatrix and their wives and the Queen's husband:


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: Traditionally, members of the Nassau family were buried in Breda; but because that city was in Spanish hands when William died, he was buried in a new crypt in the New Church, Delft. The monument on his tomb was originally very modest, but it was replaced in 1623 by a new one, made by Hendrik de Keyser and his son Pieter. Since then, most of the members of the House of Orange-Nassau, including all Dutch monarchs, have been buried in that church. His great-grandson William the Third, King of England and Scotland and Stadtholder in the Netherlands, was buried in Westminster Abbey.


title: House of Orange-Nassau

text: In Robert A. Heinlein's 1956 science fiction novel "Double Star", the House of Orange reigns over – but does not rule over – an empire of humanity that spans the entire Solar System.


title: Trophy wife

text: A trophy wife is a wife who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband. The term is often used in a derogatory or disparaging way, implying that the wife in question has little personal merit besides her physical attractiveness, requires substantial expense for maintaining her appearance, is often unintelligent or unsophisticated, does very little of substance beyond remaining attractive, and is in some ways synonymous with the term gold digger. A trophy wife is typically relatively young and attractive, and may be a second, third or later wife of an older, wealthier man. A trophy husband is the male equivalent.


title: Trophy wife

text: In his "Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899), Thorstein Veblen suggested that "The original reason for the seizure and appropriation of women seems to have been their usefulness as trophies." The term's more recent etymological origins are disputed. One claim is that "trophy wife" originally appeared in a 1950 issue of "The Economist" newspaper, referring to the historical practice of warriors capturing the most beautiful women during battle to bring home as wives. William Safire claimed that the term "trophy wife" was coined by Julie Connelly, a senior editor of "Fortune" magazine, in a cover story in the issue of August 28, 1989, and immediately entered common usage. Author Tom Wolfe, himself often credited with coining the term, disclaimed it in a talk given at Brown University in 1996, wherein he also credited "Fortune" magazine in an article published "not that long ago". Many sources claim the term was coined earlier (for example, the "Online Etymology Dictionary" cites 1984), but easy online access to William Safire's article about the term has led many (such as the "Oxford English Dictionary") to believe that August 28, 1989, was its first use. However, the idiom is found in passing in a quote in a 1965 publication, apparently referring to the wife of Bernie Madoff. The 1994 marriage of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall was widely followed by the US mass media as an extreme example of this concept. At the time of their marriage, he was 89 years old and she was 26.


title: Trophy wife

text: Elizabeth McClintock, a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame, believes the phenomenon in modern society is less common than other research suggests.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament on 21 May 2019, during his inauguration. The election result was the one-party majority, a novelty in Ukraine, for President Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party with 254 seats.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: About 80 percent of the elected candidates were new to parliament; 83 deputies managed to get reelected from the previous parliament and 13 deputies from earlier convocations. All deputies from Servant of the People were political newcomers. 61 percent of the new MPs had never before been engaged in politics.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Out of 225 constituencies, 26 were suspended due to the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and the ongoing occupation of parts of Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast by separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic (since April 2014).


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October 2019, the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament early on 21 May 2019 (a day after his inauguration), despite claims that he did not have the legal grounds to do this. After Zelenskyy issued the decree (calling early elections), a lawsuit was filed to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which sought to declare the decree unconstitutional and therefore illegal. The court declared the decree to be legal on 20 June 2019.<ref name="poll/30010735"></ref> The official reason why Zelenskyy dissolved parliament was "a lack of a government coalition".


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Following the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) party became the largest party, after securing 132 seats. On 21 November 2014, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, People's Front, Self Reliance, Fatherland and the Radical Party all signed a coalition agreement. Arseniy Yatsenyuk became Prime Minister on 2 December 2014. The Radical Party left the coalition on 1 September 2015 in protest over a vote in parliament involving a change to the Ukrainian Constitution that would lead to decentralization and greater powers for areas held by separatists. February 2016 saw the start of the fall of the Yatsenyuk cabinet after the economy minister Aivaras Abromavičius announced his resignation claiming the government did not have real commitment to fight corruption. On 17 and 18 February 2016, the Fatherland and Self Reliance parties left the coalition; meaning that the coalition became 5 deputies short of the 226 needed. On 14 April 2016, Volodymyr Groysman became the new Prime Minister and the Groysman government began with a new cabinet of ministers.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Due to the short period of time available to organize the 2019 parliamentary election, current Ukrainian public procurement laws were not followed and to bypass this, local election commissions will work under deferred payment.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Under current law 225 members of the Verkhovna Rada are elected by nationwide closed party-list proportional representation with 5% electoral election threshold and the other 225 seats elected in constituencies with a first-past-the-post electoral system in one round (candidate with the highest vote total wins). 21 parties take part in the election in the nationwide party-list. For the elections there was established a state financing for all political parties that received 2% support, but on 2 October 2019 that law was canceled.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Out of 225 constituencies, 26 are suspended due to the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and the occupation of parts of Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast by separatists (since April 2014).


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Candidates had until 20 June to submit documents to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine to register as candidates for the position of deputy of the Verkhovna Rada. On 25 June 2019, the Central Election Commission ended its registration process. It registered 5,845 candidates for the elections: 3,171 candidates in the single-member constituencies and 2,674 candidates in the single nationwide constituency with 22 parties.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: Since 2014, various politicians have proposed to reform the electoral system to 100% party-list proportional representation with open lists. President Zelenskyy is the main proponent. The proposal is opposed by Yulia Tymoshenko. A vote on the proposal (authored by the president) was supposed to take place on 22 May 2019, but members of parliament voted against including it in the agenda.


title: 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election

text: About 80 percent of the elected candidates had never been elected to parliament; 83 deputies managed to get reelected from the previous parliament and 13 deputies from earlier convocations. All deputies from Servant of the People were political newcomers. 61 percent of the new MPs had never before been engaged in politics.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Colgan Air Flight 3407 (marketed as Continental Connection Flight 3407 under a codeshare agreement with Continental Airlines), was a scheduled passenger flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, which crashed on February 12, 2009. The aircraft, a Bombardier Q400, entered an aerodynamic stall from which it did not recover, and crashed into a house at 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, New York, at 10:17 pm EST (03:17 UTC), killing all 49 passengers and crew on board, as well as one person inside the house.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted the accident investigation and published a final report on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, which found the probable cause to be the pilots' inappropriate response to the stall warnings. Flight 3407 is the most recent aviation incident involving a U.S.-based airline that resulted in multiple casualties.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Families of the accident victims lobbied the U.S. Congress to enact more stringent regulations for regional carriers, and to improve the scrutiny of safe operating procedures and the working conditions of pilots. The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administrative Extension Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–216) required some of these regulation changes.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Colgan Air Flight 3407 (9L/CJC 3407) was marketed as Continental Connection Flight 3407. It was delayed two hours, departing at 9:18 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (02:18 UTC), en route from Newark Liberty International Airport to Buffalo Niagara International Airport.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The twin-engine turboprop Bombardier Q400, FAA registry N200WQ, was manufactured in 2008 for delivery to Colgan. It was delivered to Colgan on April 16, 2008.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: This was the first fatal accident for a Colgan Air passenger flight since the company was founded in 1991. One previous repositioning flight, with no passengers, crashed offshore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in August 2003, killing both of the crew on board. The only prior accident involving a Colgan Air passenger flight occurred at LaGuardia Airport, when another plane collided with the Colgan aircraft while taxiing, resulting in minor injuries to a flight attendant.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Captain Marvin Renslow, 47, of Lutz, Florida, was the pilot in command, and Rebecca Lynne Shaw, 24, of Maple Valley, Washington, served as the first officer. The cabin crew consisted of two flight attendants. Captain Renslow was hired in September 2005 and had accumulated 3,379 total flight hours, with 111 hours as captain on the Q400. First Officer Shaw was hired in January 2008, and had 2,244 hours, 774 of them in turbine aircraft, including the Q400.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Two Canadian passengers, one Chinese passenger, and one Israeli passenger were on board. The remaining 41 passengers, as well as the crew members, were American.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Shortly after the flight was cleared for an instrument landing system approach to runway 23 at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, it disappeared from radar. The weather consisted of light snow and fog with wind of . The deicing system had been turned on 11 minutes after takeoff. Shortly before the crash, the pilots discussed significant ice buildup on the aircraft's wings and windshield. Two other aircraft reported icing conditions around the time of the crash.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The last radio transmission from the flight occurred when the first officer acknowledged a routine instruction to change to tower radio frequency. The plane was northeast of the radio beacon KLUMP (see diagram) at that time. The crash occurred 41 seconds after that last transmission. Since ATC approach control was unable to get any further response from the flight, the assistance of Delta Air Lines Flight 1998 and US Airways Flight 1452 was requested. Neither was able to spot the missing plane.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Following the clearance for final approach, landing gear and flaps (5°) were extended. The flight data recorder (FDR) indicated the airspeed had slowed to . The captain then called for the flaps to be increased to 15°. The airspeed continued to slow to . Six seconds later, the aircraft's stick shaker activated, warning of an impending stall, as the speed continued to slow to . The captain responded by abruptly pulling back on the control column, followed by increasing thrust to 75% power, instead of lowering the nose and applying full power, which was the proper stall-recovery technique. That improper action pitched the nose up even further, increasing the g-load and increasing the stall speed. The stick pusher activated (The Q400 stick pusher applies an airplane-nose-down control column input to decrease the wing's angle of attack (AOA) after an aerodynamic stall), but the captain overrode the stick pusher and continued pulling back on the control column. The first officer retracted the flaps without consulting the captain, making recovery even more difficult.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: In its final moments, the aircraft pitched up 31°, then pitched down 25°, then rolled left 46° and snapped back to the right at 105°. Occupants aboard experienced g-forces estimated at nearly 2 G. The crew made no emergency declaration, as they rapidly lost altitude and crashed into a private home at 6038 Long Street, about from the end of the runway, with the nose pointed away from the airport. The aircraft burst into flames, as the fuel tanks ruptured on impact, destroying the house of Douglas and Karen Wielinski, and most of the plane. Douglas was killed; his wife Karen and their daughter Jill managed to escape with minor injuries. Very little damage occurred to surrounding homes, though the lots in that area are only 60 ft (18.3 m) wide. The home was close to the Clarence Center Fire Company, so emergency personnel were able to respond quickly. Two firefighters were injured; 12 nearby houses were evacuated.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: A total of 50 people perished, including the 49 passengers and crew on board when the aircraft was destroyed, and one resident of the house that was struck. Four injuries happened on the ground, including two other people inside the home at the time of the crash. Among the dead were:


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began their inquiry on February 13, with a team of 14 investigators. Both the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were recovered and analyzed in Washington, DC.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Data extracted from the FDR revealed the aircraft went through severe pitch and roll oscillations shortly after the extension of flaps and landing gear, which was followed by the activation of the "stick shaker" stall-warning system. The aircraft fell , and then crashed on a northeast heading, opposite of the approach heading to the airport. Occupants experienced estimated accelerations of up to 2 g prior to impact.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Freezing temperatures made access to crash debris difficult. Portable heaters were used to melt ice left in the wake of the firefighting efforts. Human remains were carefully removed, and then finally identified, over a period of several weeks. The cockpit had sustained the greatest impact force, while the main cabin was mostly destroyed by the ensuing fire. Passengers in the rear section were still strapped in their seats.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The autopilot was in control until it automatically disconnected when the stall-warning stick shaker activated. The NTSB found no evidence of severe icing conditions, which would have required the pilots to fly manually. Colgan recommended its pilots to fly manually in icing conditions, and required them to do so in severe icing conditions. In December 2008, the NTSB issued a safety bulletin about the danger of keeping the autopilot engaged during icing conditions. Flying the plane manually was essential to ensure pilots would be able to detect changes in the handling characteristics of the airplane, which are warning signs of ice accumulation.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: After the captain reacted inappropriately to the stick shaker, the stick pusher activated. As designed, it pushed the nose down when it sensed a stall was imminent, but the captain again reacted improperly and overrode that additional safety device by pulling back again on the control column, causing the plane to stall and crash. Bill Voss, president of Flight Safety Foundation, told "USA Today" that it sounded like the plane was in "a deep stall situation".


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: On May 11, 2009, information was released about Captain Renslow's training record. According to an article in "The Wall Street Journal", before joining Colgan, he had failed three "check rides", including some at Gulfstream International's training program, and "people close to the investigation" suggested that he might not have been adequately trained to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane's fatal descent. Investigators examined possible crew fatigue. The captain appeared to have been at Newark airport overnight, prior to the day of the 9:18 p.m. departure of the accident flight. The first officer commuted from Seattle to Newark on an overnight flight.<ref name="ntsb/aar-10/01"></ref> These findings during the investigation led the FAA to issue a "Call to Action" for improvements in the practices of regional carriers.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Another press report said that the captain had failed five prior tests, and also alleged "flirtatious" conversation in the cockpit between the captain and the much younger first officer.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: In response to questioning from the NTSB, Colgan Air officials acknowledged both pilots apparently were not paying close attention to the aircraft's instruments, and did not properly follow the airline's procedures for handling an impending stall. "I believe Capt. Renslow did have intentions of landing safely at Buffalo, as well as first officer Shaw, but obviously in those last few moments ... the flight instruments were not being monitored, and that's an indication of a lack of situational awareness," said John Barrett, Colgan's director of flight standards.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The official transcript of the crew's communication, obtained from the CVR, as well as an animated depiction of the crash, constructed using data from the FDR, were made available to the public on May 12, 2009. Some of the crew's communication violated federal rules banning nonessential conversation.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: On June 3, 2009, "The New York Times" published an article detailing complaints about Colgan's operations from an FAA inspector who observed test flights in January 2008. As in a previous FAA incident handling other inspectors' complaints, the Colgan inspector's complaints were deferred and the inspector was demoted. The incident was under investigation by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the agency responsible for U.S. Government federal whistle-blower complaints. On August 5, 2009, the OSC released a report stating that the inspector's removal from the Colgan inspection team was proper.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: On February 2, 2010, the NTSB issued its final report, describing the details of its investigation that led to 46 specific conclusions.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: One conclusion determined that both the captain and the first officer were fatigued at the time of the accident, but the NTSB could not determine how much it degraded their performance.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Among those conclusions were the fact that both the captain and the first officer responded to the stall warning in a manner contrary to their training. The NTSB could not explain why the first officer retracted the flaps and suggested that the landing gear should also be retracted, though it did find that the current approach-stall training was not adequate:


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, while concurring, made it clear that she considered fatigue to be a contributing factor. She compared the 20 years that fatigue had remained on the NTSB's Most Wanted List of transportation safety improvements, during which no meaningful action was taken by regulators in response, to the changes in tolerance for alcohol over the same period, noting that the impact on performance from fatigue and alcohol were similar.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: However, Vice Chairman Christopher A. Hart and Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt III did not agree with Hersman regarding the inclusion of fatigue as a contributing factor, on the grounds that evidence was insufficient to support such a conclusion. Notably, the same kind of pilot errors and standard operating procedure violations had been found in other accidents where fatigue was not a factor.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The FAA proposed or implemented several rule changes as a result of the Flight 3407 accident, including:


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: Congress appropriated $24 million to help facilitate creation of the PRD. But eleven years later, despite lobbying by a group of relatives of crash victims, the FAA had still not completed the PRD as directed by the NTSB. It was not until May 2021 that the FAA introduced the PRD. The FAA's page about the PRD says:


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: In February 2019, to mark the 10th anniversary of the crash, ceremonies were held in Buffalo and the surrounding area in remembrance of the victims.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The Cineflix/National Geographic series "Mayday" featured the incident in the fourth episode of season 10, titled "Dead Tired". The dramatization was broadcast with the title "Stalled in the Sky" in the United Kingdom.


title: Colgan Air Flight 3407

text: The flight was also included in a "Mayday: The Accident Files" season two (2019) special titled "Rookie Errors", which looked at the role of inexperienced pilots in aviation disasters.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ""; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: He is the son of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the previous and first emir. The country has been ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty since 1783.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was born on 28 January 1950 in Riffa, Bahrain. His parents were Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, then Crown Prince, and Hessa bint Salman Al Khalifa.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: After attending Manama secondary school in Bahrain, Hamad was sent to England to attend Applegarth College in Godalming, Surrey before taking a place at The Leys School in Cambridge. Hamad then underwent military training, first with the British Army at Mons Officer Cadet School at Aldershot in Hampshire, graduating in September 1968. Four years later, in June 1972, Hamad attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, graduating the following June with a degree in leadership.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: Hamad was designated as heir apparent by his father on 27 June 1964. In 1968, he was appointed as the chairman of the irrigation council and Manama municipal council. He was commissioned into the Bahrain National Guard on 16 February 1968 and appointed as its commander the same year, remaining in that post until 1969 when he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force. In 1970, Hamad became the head of the Bahraini department of defence and the vice-chairman of the administrative council, remaining in both offices until 1971. From 1971 to 1988 he was the minister of state for defence.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: In October 1977, Sheikh Hamad started learning to fly helicopters, successfully completing the training in January 1978. He then worked to establish the Bahrain Amiri Air Force, which came into being in 1987 when the defence force air wing was reconstituted as an air force.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: On the death of his father Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Hamad became Emir of Bahrain on 6 March 1999. As Emir, Hamad brought several political reforms to Bahrain. These included the release of all political prisoners, the dissolution of the State Security Court and the abolition of the 1974 Decree on State Security Measures. Additionally, many Bahraini citizens were permitted to return after several years in exile overseas. In 2002, he declared himself king. He enjoys wide executive authorities which include appointing the prime minister and his ministers, commanding the army, chairing the Higher Judicial Council, appointing the parliament's upper half and dissolving its elected lower half.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: After Hamad took power in 1999, he focused on attaining stability in a nation riddled with profound tensions after the 1990s uprising. The King succeeded in improving the living standards and in making Bahrain a financial hub. During the period 2003–2010 the Shi'ite community accused his government of corruption, discrimination in housing and jobs, recruiting foreigners to the military services and bringing Sunni tribes from Asia to change the demographic composition of the nation.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: Although King Hamad's reign has seen the admittance of Shi'ites into positions in the government, there have still been calls for a more equitable distribution of positions and jobs. The Al Khalifa family lead a large number of ministerial and governmental posts including the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bahrain Economic Development Board and the Supreme Council for Women. The vast majority of significant positions in the Bahrain Defence Force are held by Sunnis.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: On 14 February 2011, the tenth anniversary of a referendum in favour of the National Action Charter, and ninth anniversary of the writing of the Constitution of 2002, Bahrain was rocked by protests inspired by the Arab Spring and co-ordinated by a Facebook page named "Day of Rage in Bahrain", a page that was liked by tens of thousands just one week after its creation. The Bahrain government responded with what has been described as a "brutal" crackdown on the protests, including violations of human rights that caused anger. Later on, demonstrators demanded that Hamad step down. As a result of this "massive" crackdown, "Foreign Policy Magazine" classified him as ranking 3rd out of 8 of "America's Unsavory Allies" calling him "one of the bad guys the U.S. still supports".


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: On 11 February 2011, King Hamad ordered that 1,000 Bahraini Dinars (approximately US$2,667) be given to "each family" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the National Action Charter referendum. Agence France-Presse linked the BD1,000 payments to 14 February 2011 demonstration plans.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: On 15 February 2011, Hamad apologized for the deaths of two demonstrators in a rare TV speech and urged an investigation into the incident. Two days later, four protesters were killed and hundreds wounded when protesters were attacked in Pearl Roundabout at 03:00 am local time. The Pearl Roundabout was evacuated and encircled by the Bahraini army. Two days later, Prince Salman, Hamad's son, ordered the withdrawal of army troops from there after the death of another protester caused by live ammunition next to Pearl roundabout.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: During the peak of the Bahraini uprising in mid March 2011, Hamad declared a State of National Safety for three months just after Salman summoned Peninsula Shield Force troops to enter Bahrain. Saudi Arabia deployed about 1,000 troops with armoured support, and the United Arab Emirates deployed about 500 troops. Opposition parties reacted strongly, calling it an "occupation". Hamad, however, claimed that he deployed the troops to "protect infrastructure and to secure key installations".


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: In June 2011, Hamad commissioned the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, headed by respected human rights lawyer M. Cherif Bassiouni, to look into the events surrounding the unrest. The establishment of the BICI was praised by Barack Obama and the international community as a step towards establishing responsibility and accountability for the events of the 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising. The BICI reported its findings in November 2011 and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "commend[ed] King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa's initiative in commissioning it". In August 2012, Amnesty International stated that "the government's response has only scratched the surface of these issues. Reforms have been piecemeal, perhaps aiming to appease Bahrain's international partners, and have failed to provide real accountability and justice for the victims".


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: The king was invited by the British court to the wedding of Prince William, but declined amidst protests by human rights activists, who had pledged to disrupt his stay in Britain because of his violent response to demonstrators.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: In August 2020, King Hamad explained to visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Bahrain is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state, implicitly rejecting the normalization of ties with Israel. However, on 11 September 2020, it was announced that Bahrain and Israel had agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. On 15 September 2020, Bahrain officially opened state to state relations with Israel, signing diplomatic agreements at a public ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C.


title: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

text: On 19 September 2022, he attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, London.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris FC (), commonly known as Aris Thessaloniki FC, AFC or simply Aris, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. Created in 1914 as "Aris Thessaloniki Football Club", the club was a founding member of the Macedonian Football Clubs Association, as well as the Hellenic Football Federation. The colours of the club are golden/yellow, a dominant colour in the culture of Macedonia and reminiscent of the Byzantine heritage of Thessaloniki, and black. It is named after Ares, the ancient Olympian "God of War," associated also with courage and masculinity, whose image is portrayed on the club's logo as depicted in the Ludovisi Ares sculpture.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris Thessaloniki was also one of the strongest and most popular teams in Greece during the interwar period. They have won the Greek championship three times (1928, 1932, 1946), the Greek Cup once (1970), and they had an undefeated home record in European competitions for 28 matches from 1968 to 2020, when they lost to Kolos. The team's home ground is the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: The club was established as a football club ("Podosferikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis") by a group of 22 young friends in a coffee bar in Votsi area on 25 March 1914 and given the name Aris from Ares, the ancient god of war. Its nickname was inspired by the two Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, when Greece fought against the Ottoman Empire before engaging in a war with Bulgaria. In Greek mythology, Aris was a deity who was in conflict with Heracles, the mythological character after which Aris's rival football team, Iraklis, was named. Aris holds a fierce rivalry with PAOK. At first, the club was based on a near the Arch and Tomb of Galerius, but after the accession of two minor football clubs in 1919 and 1921 the club's base was moved near to Flemming Street of eastern Thessaloniki. The first stadium was built on the site where Mars Field Park currently lies on Stratou Avenue. Quickly the club became very popular and soon new teams apart from football were established.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: During this early stage of football in Greece no professional league was established. Instead, three minor leagues [in Macedonia (E.P.S.M.), Athens (E.P.S.A.) and Piraeus (E.P.S.P.)] were created, with the champions of each league competing in a postseason mini tournament to claim the title of the national champion. The first official game was held in 1923 against Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki (Alexander the Great), another Thessalonician team. That year marked the first title, when Aris was named regional champion of Macedonia, something that was repeated next year.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: In 1926 the club was renamed "Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki" to include also other sports than football.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris' first major success was between 1927 and 1928 when they won the first Greek Championship, beating finalists Atromitos and Ethnikos Piraeus exploiting the abstention from the championship teams of RECs. In the first race on 24 May, the team of Thessaloniki prevailed 3–1 Atromitos, while three days after losing to Ethnikos Piraeus 3–2. In iterative matches played in June in Thessaloniki, Aris won both of his opponents by 3–1 and thus crowned the first champion of Greece. Coach of the team was the German Thomas Kessler, and prominent players of Aris were, among others, Kostas Vikelidis, Savvas Vogiatzis that emerged and top scorer with six goals, Nikos Aggelakis, scorer of the finals with four goals and Dionysis Caltech.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: The following year, it was held the final stage of national championships although Aris won the championship title in Thessaloniki, playing two matches barrage against PAOK. The first took place on 12 May 1929 and ended 1–1, while the second was held on 2 June with Aris to beats 4–3, having Nikos Aggelakis scoring a hat-trick.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: On 20 April 1929, the first friendly match took place between Aris and Panathinaikos, the "yellows" to defeat 5–4.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: The second championship came four years later in 1932, only this time his opponents were Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, Ethnikos, PAOK and Iraklis. Aris managed to collect 22 points in this mini tournament, four more than the second, Panathinaikos, scoring large wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos, 7–3 against Iraklis and 3–0 versus AEK and Olympiacos in Athens, also new star players emerged, Kitsios, Aggelakis, Bogdanos, Gigopoulos, while Belgian manager De Valer guided effectively the club.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Four years after winning the first Panhellenic title, the "yellows" won the championship. Aris became champion amassing a total of 22 points, four more than second Panathinaikos and scoring big wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos with four goals Maywood, 6–1 on Apollon Athens with six goals in the Aggelakis' first home appearance with the first group of Kleanthis Vikelidis, 7–3 vs Iraklis with four goals Kitsos and away 0–3 over Olympiacos, PAOK and AEK. Leading scorer of the league emerged Nikos Kitsos with 15 goals and Nikos Aggelakis to 14.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Big stars of that team were Kitsos, Aggelakis, Caltech, and Vogdanou Gkikopoulos while coach De Valera.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: That same year, the EPO instituted for the first time the Greek Cup, Mars crashing Panathinaikos 7–2 in the quarterfinal. This was followed by victory over Apollon Athens, to reach the final where they lost 5–3 from AEK Athens, losing the chance to win the first doubles.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris won their third title in 1946, playing against two teams, AEK from Athens and Olympiacos from Piraeus, champions of the other two minor domestic leagues. Aris beat Olympiacos twice, scoring two goals and conceding none; came to a draw with AEK in Athens and defeated them in PAOK's stadium in Thessaloniki (score 4–1). Aris has not won a championship since the establishment of the First Division (1959).


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Up to 1959, when the united First Division was created, Aris managed to finish first 14 times in the Macedonian division.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris' status remained high during this period, which was marked by the construction of the club's homeground, the Kleanthis Vikelides Stadium, named after the legendary homonymous player. Before World War II, Aris' homeground was located in the center of the city, near the Thessaloniki International Fair, but was abandoned in 1936 in order for the "Pedion tou Areos" park ("Mars Field") to be created. The club managed to buy some land during 1951 in a quarter of the city named Charilaou, where the new Stadium was slowly built.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Also in 1959, the tripartite minor league system was abandoned and a new, unified Championship was created.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: The club's accomplishments during these years were significant. It was one of the first teams in Greece to qualify for European tournaments. Under the leadership of Alexandros Alexiades, Giorgos Pantziaras and Takis Loukanidis.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris earned high placings in the League during the 1960s and 1970s, with apex the 1970 Hellenic Cup Title against the club's fierce rival, PAOK, in Kaftanzoglio Stadium.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: In the 1970s, Aris was reorganized and a vast number of young players from Thessaloniki, including Kouis, Foiros, Drambis, Zindros and Papafloratos led the club. Its most important achievements during that period included a successful 1980 UEFA campaign when Aris eliminated Benfica and Perugia. Aris was also the first Greek club to score a victory both in Italy and Portugal. At home, the team shared first place with Olympiacos at the end of the 1980 campaign, though it lost the title 2–0 in a tie-breaker against the Piraeus club in Volos National Stadium.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: After the mid-1980s and the retirement of the club's honored old guard, Aris entered in a slow decline, rarely reaching European league qualification or notable Greek League position, which—in combination with appreciable financial troubles that left the club near bankruptcy—led to the club's relegation to the Second Division in 1997 and 2005. Both times though Aris managed to resume its place in the first division.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: In recent years, specially after the creation of an Aris Members' Society that controls the club's fortunes, Aris has qualified several times for the UEFA Europa League, finished fourth in the Super League three times, and has reached in the Greek Cup Final four times, losing in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010, when 25,000 Aris fans went to Athens in the biggest ever move of fans in Greece. In 2008 and 2010 Aris made it through to the UEFA Europa League group stage after eliminating Real Zaragoza and Austria Wien respectively during the Cup's play-off rounds. During the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League they managed to play for the first time in club's history in Europe after Christmas, after a very good appearance in the group stage where they won 1–0 at home and 2–3 away and eliminated the title holders Atlético Madrid. Recent developments include the interest from the club's board to construct a new, modern stadium in eastern Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area to replace the obsolete Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium and the modernization and expansion of the club's training facilities in Neo Rysio, Thessaloniki.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Also, in a unique move for Greek standards, the board decided in December 2009 to establish a radio station, "Aris FM 92.8" in order to promote the communication between Aris fans around the country and the coverage of the clubs activities. In 2014, due to financial problems Aris was relegated to the third tier of Greek football.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: After their relegation many were wondering who was going to take care of the team. American business man Alex Kalas emerged the first season with him in charge of the football department while they failed to gain promotion to the Football League. In summer 2015 where the next elections for the role of head of football department Kalas won again and promised to put more money into the club. Kalas also made a number of signings, Honduran legend Carlos Costly, Sierra Leone international John Kamara, Spaniard Guillermo Pérez Moreno, Portuguese footballer Fábio Ruben Moreira Tavares, defender Paschalis Melissas and defender Stavros Petavrakis. Due to Aris failing to get into the second division Kalas was sacked despite only being there for a month. Aris would have to play another year in Gamma Ethniki.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: While in the Gamma Ethniki, the team demanded that the Hellenic Football Federation allow them to be promoted to a higher level of Greek football. The federation declined to do this and several appeals against the decision were rejected. As a result, 10,000 fans took to the streets on the 26 and 31 August 2015 in Thessaloniki to protest the decision. These protests caused clashes between the police and the fans that led to arrests and Aris didn't manage to get promoted to the professional divisions.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Although after the Aris election Arvanitidis became leader of the football department, Theodoros Karipidis was named the head of football department the day afterwards. He signed many players in a few days including former Greek footballer of the club Andreas Tatos, former Real Madrid defender Raul Bravo club legend Sergio Koke, as well as many Super League quality players like Kostas Kaznaferis, Vasilios Rovas, Nikos Tsoumanis, Giannis Siderakis as well as many others. Theodoros Karipidis appointed Nikos Anastopoulos as the manager. During the 2015–16 season Aris managed to be promoted to the second division of Greece with a 21-point difference from the second club. Finally, Irene Karypidis became the major shareholder with overwhelming proportion over 89%.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Aris' fan base is spread across all the economic classes in the city of Thessaloniki and all over Greece. Their rivalry is against clubs such as arch-rival PAOK, but also against the biggest clubs of Athens Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. Matches against PAOK are local derbies and an event that splits Thessaloniki and Northern Greece in two. Aris' main fan club is called "Super 3" and has a symbol a bulldog. It exist since 1988 with 50 more Super 3 clubs spread all over Greece and Europe. There are over 12,000 Super 3 members. In the rest of Europe there are also some organized Aris' fan clubs in countries such as Germany, Italy and Sweden. According to some polls Aris is the 5th most popular team in Greece with around 300.000 fans, an amount quite big considering the lack of titles for many decades.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Against Panathinaikos in the 2010 Greek Cup final, 30,000 Aris fans descended to Athens to what has been described as "the biggest football fans move in Greece".


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: A company of young Thessalonians inspired the name of the club by Ares, the ancient Olympian "God of War", after the successful military operations of the Kingdom of Greece during the Balkan Wars, and the liberation of Thessaloniki in 1912 from the Ottoman empire. The emblem of the team is a resting Ares (Greek: Άρης), as depicted in the Ludovisi Ares sculpture. This emblem was chosen in the late 1970s to replace an older and simpler logo which was used since 1914. Also, during the 2000s, a scheme of meander was added to the crest.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: The colors of the team are yellow or gold of glory, dominant colour in the culture of Macedonia, and black. Alternative colours also used include white or even dark red uniforms. During the 2000s, the club introduced also a shade of lime.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: The stadium of Aris Thessaloniki is named "Kleanthis Vikelides" after the club's legendary player. It is located at 69 Alkminis, Charilaou; 54249 Thessaloniki, and was built in 1951. In 1972, it got a new roof, in 1975 a new north stand, and in 2004, it was fully renovated. Its current total capacity is 22,800 spectators.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Since the late 1970s, Aris Thessaloniki has created its own training grounds in Neo Rysio (Dasygenio Sports Center), just outside Thessaloniki near the International Airport covering three hectares and including football fields, hosting area with gym, pool and sauna, press room, offices, restaurant and locker rooms. The facilities were rebuilt in September 2010 after a demand placed by manager Héctor Cúper. The facilities were renovated again in 2018 and the grass was ultimately changed in 2019.


title: Aris Thessaloniki F.C.

text: Key: 3R = Third Round, 4R = Fourth Round, 5R = Fifth Round, GS = Group Stage, QF = Quarter-finals, SF = Semi-finals, RU = Runner-up.


title: Constitutional Convention (United States)

text: The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York, was to create a new Frame of Government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington of Virginia, former commanding general of the Continental Army in the late American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and proponent of a stronger national government, to become President of the convention. The result of the convention was the creation of the Constitution of the United States, placing the Convention among the most significant events in American history.


text: The convention took place in the old Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. At the time, the convention was not referred to as a "constitutional convention". It was contemporarily known as the Federal Convention, the Philadelphia Convention, or the Grand Convention at Philadelphia. Nor did most of the delegates arrive intending to draft a new constitution. Many assumed that the purpose of the convention was to discuss and draft improvements to the existing Articles of Confederation, and would not have agreed to participate otherwise. Once the convention began, however, most of the delegates – though not all – came to agree in general terms that the goal would be a new system of government, not simply a revised version of the Articles of Confederation.


text: Several broad outlines were proposed and debated, most notably Madison's Virginia Plan and William Paterson's New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan was selected as the basis for the new government, and the delegates quickly reached consensus on a general blueprint of a federal government with three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) along with the basic role of each branch. However, disagreement over the specific design and powers of the branches delayed progress for weeks and threatened the success of the convention. The most contentious disputes involved the legislature, specifically the composition and election procedures for the Senate as the upper legislative house of a bicameral Congress, and whether "proportional representation" was to be defined by a state's geography or by its population. The role of the executive was also hotly debated, including the key issues of whether to divide the executive power among three people or vest the power in a single chief executive to be called the President; how a president would be elected; the length of a presidential term and the number of allowable terms; what offenses should be impeachable; and whether judges should be chosen by the legislature or the executive. Finally, slavery was also a contentious issue, with the delegates debating the insertion of a fugitive slave clause; whether to allow the abolition of the slave trade; and whether slaves were to be counted in proportional representation. Most of the time during the convention was spent on deciding these issues.


text: Progress was slow until mid-July, when the Connecticut Compromise resolved enough lingering arguments for a draft written by the Committee of Detail to gain acceptance. Though more modifications and compromises were made over the following weeks, most of this draft can be found in the finished version of the Constitution. After several more issues were debated and resolved, the Committee of Style produced the final version in early September. It was voted on by the delegates, inscribed on parchment with engraving for printing, and signed by 39 of 55 delegates on September 17, 1787. The completed proposed Constitution was printed in several copies for review which began the debates and ratification process. Soon after it was also printed in newspapers for public review.


text: During the American Revolution, the thirteen American states replaced their colonial governments with republican constitutions based on the principle of separation of powers, organizing government into legislative, executive and judicial branches. These revolutionary constitutions endorsed legislative supremacy by placing most power in the legislature—since it was viewed as most representative of the people—including power traditionally considered as belonging to the executive and judicial branches. State governors lacked significant authority, and state courts and judges were under the control of the legislative branch.


text: After declaring independence from Britain in 1776, the thirteen states created a permanent alliance to coordinate American efforts to win the Revolutionary War. This alliance, the United States, was to be governed according to the Articles of Confederation, which was more of a treaty between independent countries than a national constitution. The Articles were adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1777 but not finally ratified by all states until 1781.


text: Under the Articles, the United States was essentially a federation of independent republics, with the Articles guaranteeing state sovereignty and independence. The Confederation was governed by the Congress of the Confederation, a unicameral legislature whose members were chosen by their state legislatures and where each state was entitled to one vote. Congress's powers were limited to waging war and directing foreign affairs. It could not levy taxes or tariffs, and it could only request money from the states and could not force delinquent states to pay. Since the Articles could only be amended by a unanimous vote of the states, each state had effective veto power over any proposed change. A super majority (nine of thirteen state delegations) was required for Congress to pass major legislation such as declaring war, making treaties, or borrowing money. The Confederation had no executive or judicial branches, which meant the Confederation government lacked effective means to enforce its own laws and treaties against state non-compliance. It soon became evident to nearly all that the Confederation government, as originally organized, was inadequate for managing the various problems confronting the United States.


text: Once the crucial task of winning the war had passed, states began to look to their own interests rather than the country's. By the mid-1780s, states were refusing to provide Congress with funding, which meant the government could not meet the interest on its foreign debt, pay the soldiers stationed along the Ohio River, or defend American navigation rights on the Mississippi River against Spanish interference. In 1782, Rhode Island vetoed an amendment that would have allowed Congress to levy taxes on imports to pay off federal debts. A second attempt was made to approve a federal impost in 1785; however, this time it was New York which disapproved.


text: The Confederation Congress also lacked the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. Britain, France and Spain imposed restrictions on American ships and products, while the U.S. was unable to coordinate retaliatory trade policies. When Massachusetts and Pennsylvania placed reciprocal duties on British trade, neighboring states such as Connecticut and Delaware established free ports to gain an economic advantage. Some states even began applying customs duties against the trade of neighboring states. In 1784, Congress proposed an amendment to give it powers over foreign trade; however, it failed to receive unanimous approval by the states.


text: Many upper-class Americans complained that state constitutions were too democratic and, as a result, legislators were more concerned with maintaining popular approval than doing what was best for the nation. The most pressing example was the way state legislatures responded to calls for economic relief. Many people were unable to pay taxes and debts due to a post-war economic depression that was exacerbated by a scarcity of gold and silver coins. States responded by issuing paper currency, which often depreciated in value, and by making it easier to defer tax and debt payments. These policies favored debtors at the expense of creditors, and it was proposed that Congress be given power to prevent such populist laws.


text: When the government of Massachusetts refused to enact similar relief legislation, rural farmers resorted to violence in Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787). This rebellion was led by a former Revolutionary War captain, Daniel Shays, a small farmer with tax debts, who had never received payment for his service in the Continental Army. The rebellion took months for Massachusetts to put down, and some desired a federal army that would be able to put down such insurrections.


text: These and other issues greatly worried many of the Founders that the Union as it existed up to that point was in danger of breaking apart. In September 1786, delegates from five states met at the Annapolis Convention and invited all states to a larger convention to be held in Philadelphia in 1787. The Confederation Congress later endorsed this convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation". Rhode Island was the only state that refused to send delegates, though it would become the last state to ratify the Constitution, in May 1790.


text: Originally planned to begin on May 14, the convention had to be postponed when very few of the selected delegates were present on that day due to the difficulty of travel in the late 18th century. On May 14, only delegates from Virginia and Pennsylvania were present. It was not until May 25 that a quorum of seven states was secured and the convention could begin inside the Pennsylvania State House. New Hampshire delegates would not join the convention until July 23, more than halfway through the proceedings.


text: Among the first things that the Convention did were to choose a presiding officer, unanimously electing George Washington to be the president of the convention and to select James McHenry to be the convention's secretary. The Convention then adopted rules to govern its proceedings. Each state delegation received a single vote either for or against a proposal in accordance with the majority opinion of the state's delegates. This rule increased the power of the smaller states.


text: When a state's delegates divided evenly on a motion, the state did not cast a vote. Throughout the convention, delegates would regularly come and go. Only 30 to 40 delegates were present on a typical day, and each state had its own quorum requirements. Maryland and Connecticut allowed a single delegate to cast its vote. New York required all three of its delegates to be present. If too few of a state's delegates were in attendance, the state did not cast a vote. After two of New York's three delegates, John Lansing, Jr. and Robert Yates (politician), abandoned the convention on July 10 with no intention of returning, New York was unable to vote on any further proposals, although Alexander Hamilton would continue to occasionally speak during the debates.


text: The rules allowed delegates to demand reconsideration of any decision previously voted on. This enabled the delegates to take straw votes to measure the strength of controversial proposals and to change their minds as they worked for consensus. It was also agreed that the discussions and votes would be kept secret until the conclusion of the meeting. Despite the sweltering summer heat, the windows of the meeting hall were nailed shut to keep the proceedings a secret from the public. Although William Jackson was elected as secretary, his records were brief and included very little detail. Madison's "Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787," remain the most complete record of the convention, along with notes kept by Yates through mid-July. Due to the pledge to secrecy, Madison's account was not published until after his death in 1836, while Yates's notes on the convention's first two months were published in 1821.


text: James Madison of Virginia arrived in Philadelphia eleven days early and determined to set the convention's agenda. Before the convention, Madison studied republics and confederacies throughout history, such as ancient Greece and contemporary Switzerland. In April 1787, he drafted a document titled, "Vices of the Political System of the United States," which systematically evaluated the American political system and offered solutions for its weaknesses. Due to his advance preparation, Madison's blueprint for constitutional revision became the starting point for the convention's deliberations.


text: Madison believed the solution to America's problems was to be found in a strong central government. Congress needed compulsory taxation authority as well as power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. To prevent state interference with the federal government's authority, Madison believed there needed to be a way to enforce the federal supremacy, such as an explicit right of Congress to use force against non-compliant states and the creation of a federal court system. Madison also believed the method of representation in Congress had to change. Since under Madison's plan, Congress would exercise authority over citizens directly—not simply through the states—representation ought to be apportioned by population, with more populous states having more votes in Congress.


text: Madison was also concerned with preventing a tyranny of the majority. The government needed to be neutral between the various factions or interest groups that divided society—creditors and debtors, rich and poor, or farmers, merchants and manufacturers. Madison believed that a single faction could more easily control the government within a state but would have a more difficult time dominating a national government comprising many different interest groups. The government could be designed to further insulate officeholders from the pressures of a majority faction. To protect both national authority and minority rights, Madison believed Congress should be granted veto power over state laws.


text: While waiting for the convention to formally begin, Madison sketched out his initial proposal, which became known as the Virginia Plan and reflected his views as a strong nationalist. The Virginia and Pennsylvania delegates agreed with Madison's plan and formed what came to be the predominant coalition within the convention. The plan was modeled on the state governments and was written in the form of fifteen resolutions outlining basic principles. It lacked the system of checks and balances that would become central to the US Constitution. It called for a supreme national government and was a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation. On May 29, Edmund Randolph, the governor of Virginia, presented the Virginia Plan to the convention.


text: The same day, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina introduced his own plan that also greatly increased the power of the national government; however, the supporters of the Virginia Plan ensured that it, rather than Pinckney's plan, received the most consideration. Many of Pinckney's ideas did appear in the final draft of the Constitution. His plan called for a bicameral legislature made up of a House of Delegates and a Senate. The popularly elected House would elect senators who would serve for four-year terms and represent one of four regions. The national legislature would have veto power over state laws. The legislature would elect a chief executive called a president. The president and his cabinet would have veto power over legislation. The plan also included a national judiciary.


text: On May 30, the Convention agreed, at the request of Gouverneur Morris, "that a national government ought to be established consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive and Judiciary". This was the convention's first move towards going beyond its mandate merely to amend the Articles of Confederation and instead produce an entirely new government. Once it had agreed to the idea of a supreme national government, the convention began debating specific parts of the Virginia Plan.


text: The Virginia Plan called for the unicameral Confederation Congress to be replaced with a bicameral Congress. This would be a truly national legislature with power to make laws "in all cases to which the separate states are incompetent." It would also be able to veto state laws. Representation in both houses of Congress would be apportioned according either to "quotas of contribution" (a state's wealth as reflected in the taxes it paid) or the size of each state's non-slave population. The lower house of Congress would be directly elected by the people, while the upper house would be elected by the lower house from candidates nominated by state legislatures.


text: Immediately after agreeing to form a supreme national government, the delegates turned to the Virginia Plan's proposal for proportional representation in Congress. Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, the most populous states, were unhappy with the one-vote-per-state rule in the Confederation Congress because they could be outvoted by the smaller states despite representing more than half of the nation's population. Nevertheless, the delegates were divided over the best way to apportion representatives. Quotas of contribution appealed to southern delegates because they would include slave property, but Rufus King of Massachusetts highlighted the impractical side of such a scheme. If the national government did not impose direct taxes (which, for the next century, it rarely did), he noted, representatives could not be assigned. Calculating such quotas would also be difficult due to lack of reliable data. Basing representation on the number of "free inhabitants" was unpopular with delegates from the South, where forty percent of the population was enslaved. In addition, the small states were opposed to any change that decreased their own influence. Delaware's delegation threatened to leave the Convention if proportional representation replaced equal representation, so debate on apportionment was postponed.


text: On June 9, William Paterson of New Jersey reminded the delegates that they were sent to Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, not to establish a national government. While he agreed that the Confederation Congress needed new powers, including the power to coerce the states, he was adamant that a confederation required equal representation for states. James Madison records his words as follows:


text: On May 31, the delegates discussed the structure of Congress and how its members would be selected. The division of the legislature into an upper and lower house was familiar and had wide support. The British Parliament had an elected House of Commons and a hereditary House of Lords. All the states had bicameral legislatures except for Pennsylvania. The delegates quickly agreed that each house of Congress should be able to originate bills. They also agreed that the new Congress would have all the legislative powers of the Confederation Congress and veto power over state laws.


text: There was some opposition to the popular election of the lower house or House of Representatives. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and Roger Sherman of Connecticut feared the people were too easily misled by demagogues and that popular election could lead to mob rule and anarchy. Pierce Butler of South Carolina believed that only wealthy men of property could be trusted with political power. The majority of the convention, however, supported popular election. George Mason of Virginia said the lower house was "to be the grand depository of the democratic principle of the government."


text: There was general agreement that the upper house or Senate should be smaller and more selective than the lower house. Its members should be gentlemen drawn from the most intelligent and virtuous among the citizenry. Experience had convinced the delegates that such an upper house was necessary to tame the excesses of the democratically elected lower house. The Virginia Plan's method of selecting the Senate was more controversial. Members concerned with preserving state power wanted state legislatures to select senators, while James Wilson of Pennsylvania proposed direct election by the people. It was not until June 7 that the delegates unanimously decided that state legislatures would choose senators.


text: On the question of proportional representation, the three large states still faced opposition from the eight small states. James Wilson realized that the large states needed the support of the Deep South states of Georgia and the Carolinas. For these southern delegates, the main priority was protection of slavery. Working with John Rutledge of South Carolina, Wilson, along with Charles Pinckney of South Carolina and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise on June 11. This resolution apportioned seats in the House of Representatives based on a state's free population plus three-fifths of its slave population. Nine states voted in favor, with only New Jersey and Delaware against. This compromise would give the South at least a dozen additional congressmen and electoral college votes. That same day, the large-state/slave-state alliance also succeeded in applying the three-fifths ratio to Senate seats (though this was later overturned).


text: As English law had typically recognized government as having two separate functions—law making embodied in the legislature and law executing embodied in the king and his courts—the division of the legislature from the executive and judiciary was a natural and uncontested point. Even so, the form the executive should take, its powers and its selection would be sources of constant dispute through the summer of 1787. At the time, few nations had nonhereditary executives that could serve as models. The Dutch Republic was led by a stadtholder, but this office was usually inherited by members of the House of Orange. The Swiss Confederacy had no single leader, and the elective monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were viewed as corrupt. Great Britain had yet to fully evolve parliamentary democracy; the King directed policy and chose his ministers directly, irrespective of Parliament's wishes, and "prime minister" was merely an informal title at the time.


text: As a result of their colonial experience, Americans distrusted a strong chief executive. Under the Articles of Confederation, the closest thing to an executive was the Committee of the States, which was empowered to transact government business while Congress was in recess. However, this body was largely inactive. The revolutionary state constitutions made the governors subordinate to the legislatures, denying them executive veto power over legislation. Without veto power, governors were unable to block legislation that threatened minority rights. States chose governors in different ways. Many state constitutions empowered legislatures to select them, but several allowed direct election by the people. In Pennsylvania, the people elected an executive council and the legislature appointed one of its members to be chief executive.


text: The Virginia Plan proposed a national executive chosen by Congress. It would have power to execute national laws and be vested with the power to make war and treaties. Whether the executive would be a single person or a group of people was not defined. The executive together with a "convenient number" of federal judges would form a Council of Revision with the power to veto any act of Congress. This veto could be overridden by an unspecified number of votes in both houses of Congress.


text: James Wilson feared that the Virginia Plan made the executive too dependent on Congress. He argued that there should be a single, unitary executive. Members of a multiple executive would most likely be chosen from different regions and represent regional interests. In Wilson's view, only a single executive could represent the entire nation while giving "energy, dispatch, and responsibility" to the government.


text: Wilson used his understanding of civic virtue as defined by the Scottish Enlightenment to help design the presidency. The challenge was to design a properly constituted executive that was fit for a republic and based on civic virtue by the general citizenry. He spoke 56 times calling for a chief executive who would be energetic, independent, and accountable. He believed that the moderate level of class conflict in American society produced a level of sociability and inter-class friendships that could make the presidency the symbolic leader of the entire American people. Wilson did not consider the possibility of bitterly polarized political parties. He saw popular sovereignty as the cement that held America together linking the interests of the people and of the presidential administration. The president should be a man of the people who embodied the national responsibility for the public good and provided transparency and accountability by being a highly visible national leader, as opposed to numerous largely anonymous congressmen.


text: On June 1, Wilson proposed that "the Executive consist of a single person." This motion was seconded by Charles Pinckney, whose plan called for a single executive and specifically named this official a "president". Edmund Randolph agreed with Wilson that the executive needed "vigor", but he disapproved of a unitary executive, which he feared was "the foetus of monarchy". Randolph and George Mason led the opposition against a unitary executive, but most delegates agreed with Wilson. The prospect that George Washington would be the first president may have allowed the proponents of a unitary executive to accumulate a large coalition. Wilson's motion for a single executive passed on June 4. Initially, the convention set the executive's term of office to seven years, but this would be revisited.


text: Wilson also argued that the executive should be directly elected by the people. Only through direct election could the executive be independent of both Congress and the states. This view was unpopular. A few delegates such as Roger Sherman, Elbridge Gerry, and Pierce Butler opposed the direct election of the executive because they considered the people too easily manipulated. However, most delegates did not question the intelligence of the voters; rather, what concerned them was the slowness by which information spread in the late 18th century. Due to a lack of information, the average voter would be too ignorant about the candidates to make an informed decision.


text: Sherman proposed an arrangement similar to a parliamentary system in which the executive should be appointed by and directly accountable to the legislature. A majority of delegates favored the president's election by Congress for a seven-year term, though there was concern that this would give the legislature too much power. Southern delegates supported selection by state legislatures, but this was opposed by nationalists such as Madison who feared that such a president would become a power broker between different states' interests rather than a symbol of national unity. Realizing that direct election was impossible, Wilson proposed what would become the electoral college—the states would be divided into districts in which voters would choose electors who would then elect the president. This would preserve the separation of powers and keep the state legislatures out of the selection process. Initially, however, this scheme received little support.


text: The issue was one of the last major issues to be resolved. Resolution was achieved by adjustment to the electoral college proposal. At the time, before the formation of modern political parties, there was widespread concern that candidates would routinely fail to secure a majority of electors in the electoral college. The method of resolving this problem, therefore, was a contested issue. Most thought that the House of Representatives should then choose the president since it most closely reflected the will of the people. This caused dissension among delegates from smaller states, who realized that this would put their states at a disadvantage. To resolve this dispute, the Convention agreed that the House would elect the president if no candidate had an electoral college majority, but that each state delegation would vote as a bloc, rather than individually.


text: The Virginia Plan made no provision for removing the executive. On June 2, John Dickinson of Delaware proposed that the president be removed from office by Congress at the request of a majority of state legislatures. Madison and Wilson opposed this state interference in the national executive branch. Sherman argued that Congress should be able to remove the president for any reason in what was essentially a vote of no-confidence. George Mason worried that would make the president a "mere creature of the legislature" and violate the separation of powers. Dickinson's motion was rejected, but in the aftermath of the vote there was still no consensus over how an unfit president should be removed from office.


text: On June 4, the delegates debated the Council of Revision. Wilson and Alexander Hamilton of New York disagreed with the mixing of executive and judicial branches. They wanted the president to have an absolute veto to guarantee his independence from the legislative branch. Remembering how colonial governors used their veto to "extort money" from the legislature, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania opposed giving the president an absolute veto. Gerry proposed that a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress be able to overrule any veto of the Council of Revision. This was amended to replace the council with the president alone, but Madison insisted on retaining a Council of Revision and consideration of the veto power was postponed.


text: In the English tradition, judges were seen as agents of the king and his court who represented him throughout his realm. Madison believed that in the American states, this direct link between state executives and judges was a source of corruption through patronage, and thought the link had to be severed between the two, thus creating the "third branch" of the judiciary which had been without any direct precedent before this point.


text: On June 4, delegates unanimously agreed to a national judiciary "of one supreme tribunal and one or more inferior tribunals". The delegates disagreed on how federal judges should be chosen. The Virginia Plan called for the national legislature to appoint judges. James Wilson wanted the president to appoint judges to increase the power of that office.


text: On June 13, the revised report on the Virginia Plan was issued. This report summarized the decisions made by the delegates in the first two weeks of the convention. It was agreed that a "national judiciary be established, to consist of one supreme tribunal". Congress would have the power to create and appoint inferior courts. Judges were to hold office "during good behavior", and the Senate would appoint them.


text: The small state delegates were alarmed at the plan taking shape: a supreme national government that could override state laws and proportional representation in both houses of Congress. William Paterson and other delegates from New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and New York created an alternative plan that consisted of several amendments to the Articles of Confederation. Under the New Jersey Plan, as it was called, the Confederation Congress would remain unicameral with each state having one vote. Congress would be allowed to levy tariffs and other taxes as well as regulate trade and commerce. Congress would elect a plural "federal executive" whose members would serve a single term and could be removed by Congress at the request of a majority of state governors. There would also be a federal judiciary to apply US law. Federal judges would serve for life and be appointed by the executives. Laws enacted by Congress would take precedence over state laws. This plan was introduced on June 15.


text: On June 18, Alexander Hamilton of New York presented his own plan that was at odds with both the Virginia and New Jersey plans. It called for the constitution to be modeled on the British government. The bicameral legislature included a lower house called the Assembly elected by the people for three year terms. The people would choose electors who would elect the members of a Senate who served for life. Electors would also choose a single executive called the governor who would also serve for life. The governor would have an absolute veto over bills. There would also be a national judiciary whose members would serve for life. Hamilton called for the abolition of the states (or at least their reduction to sub-jurisdictions with limited powers). Some scholars have suggested that Hamilton presented this radical plan to help secure passage of the Virginia Plan by making it seem moderate by comparison. The plan was so out of step with political reality that it was not even debated, and Hamilton would be troubled for years by accusations that he was a monarchist.