To Kosciuszko’s way of thinking, the Polish constitution did not go far enough. He was a republican who wanted a direct democracy descending from the people—all the people. While the great debate raged in Warsaw, he was charged with guarding the Russian border. The Polish rebel was in Miedzyboza when he received an order from the military commission in Warsaw to swear an oath to protect the constitution. It was not the full democracy he had hoped for, but the May 3 Constitution represented progress and hope for a democratic Poland. Kosciuszko signed it and asked ten of his fellow officers also
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