Creating the United States
{
object_type: 'Exhibit Item',embed_type: 'image',embed_detail: 'http://www.myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/BillofRights/DemandforaBillofRights/Assets/us0078_enlarge_125.Jpeg',embed_alt: 'Bill of Rights Seen as a Diversion',thumbnail: {url: 'http://www.myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/BillofRights/DemandforaBillofRights/Assets/us0078_enlarge_125.Jpeg',alt: 'Bill of Rights Seen as a Diversion',height: '66',width: '125'}
}
Bill of Rights Seen as a Diversion
In A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), a tub is tossed to an angry whale to divert it from attacking a boat. This satirical phrase was applied to the constitutional amendments to secure individual rights (the Bill of Rights) because “like a tub thrown out to a whale” they diverted attention away from adopting more substantial amendments that would change the structure of the federal government.