a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal

[rainbow402]

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/u...litics&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Hi Teacher,

Could you please analyze the structure of the sentence I highlighted in red in above quote? The quote is excerpted from a piece of news from New York Times.

What is the meaning of " had at" ?

 

[Barb_D]

a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law (You have a typo here: it should be its, not is.)
A Constitution that had the ideal of equal citizenship under the law.

Where did it have it? At its very core.


At its core tells you where the ideal existed.

 

[rainbow402]

Barb_D, thanks for the help. It makes sense now.:roll:

 

[BobK]

...(You have a typo here: it should be its, not is.)[/COLOR] ...

;-) The NY Times editor no doubt has trouble knowing when to use an apostrophe (not here), and so adopts the expedient of dropping the T too.

b