How bad were the official records of the federal convention?

George Washington Law Review

Volumn 80, Issue 6, 2012, Pages 1620-1682

  Bilder, Mary Sarah ^a  

^a BOSTON COLLEGE   (United States)

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EID: 84882417041     PISSN: 00168076     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (180)

1. Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, Record Group 360 (National Archives).
2. THE RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787 (Max Farrand ed., 1911) [hereinafter FARRAND'S RECORDS].
3. see Max Farrand, The Records of the Federal Convention, 13 AM. HIST. REV. 44, 47-50 (1907).
4. Max Farrand, If James Madison Had Had a Sense of Humor, 62 PA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 130, 130-31 (1938).
5. This volume 4 was eventually replaced by SUPPLEMENT TO MAX FARRAND'S THE RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787 (James H. Hutson ed., 1987) [hereinafter SUPPLEMENT].
6. JOHN R. VILE, Jackson, William (1759-1828), in THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787: A COMPREHENSIVE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICA'S FOUNDING 371, 372 (2005).
7. See RICHARD BEEMAN, PLAIN, HONEST MEN: THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION 70 (2009) (declaring Jackson "an exceptionally poor choice" whose "skills as a lobbyist far surpassed those he possessed as a note taker");
8. CAROL BERKIN, A BRILLIANT SOLUTION: INVENTING THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION 44 (2002) (describing Jackson only as a "wartime friend");
9. CATHERINE DRINKER BOWEN, MIRACLE AT PHILADELPHIA: THE STORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: MAY TO SEPTEMBER 1787, at 30 (1966) (describing Jackson as a man who "finds it hard to keep up with his clever acquaintances");
10. CHRISTOPHER COLLIER & JAMES LINCOLN COLLIER, DECISION IN PHILADELPHIA: THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787, at 81 (1986) (suggesting that Madison "did not trust" Jackson to "keep adequate notes, and in this he was correct");
11. CLINTON ROSSITER, 1787: THE GRAND CONVENTION 163 (1966) (describing Jackson as "bumbling");
12. DAVID O. STEWART, THE SUMMER OF 1787: THE MEN WHO INVENTED THE CONSTITUTION (2007) (not mentioning Jackson's existence).
13. See, e.g., William Ewald & Lorianne Updike Toler, Early Drafts of the U.S. Constitution, 135 PA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 227 (2011);
14. John C. Hueston, Altering the Course of the Constitutional Convention: The Role of the Committee of Detail in Establishing the Balance of State and Federal Powers, 100 YALE L.J. 765 (1990);
15. John R. Vile, The Critical Role of Committees at the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, 48 AM. J. LEGAL HIST. 147 (2006). Professor Bill Ewald is in the process of completing an essay on the Committee of Detail that will be published in Constitutional Commentary.
16. JOURNAL, ACTS AND PROCEEDINGS, OF THE CONVENTION, ASSEMBLED AT PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, MAY 14, AND DISSOLVED MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1787, WHICH FORMED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES (John Quincy Adams ed., 1819) [hereinafter ACTS AND PROCEEDINGS].
17. Receipt by Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering (March 19, 1796), in 1 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 47, 47 (1894) [hereinafter DHC].
18. One digital image can be found of the voting tallies. See Voting Record of the Constitutional Convention, 1787 (First Page), NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION, http://www.archives.gov/press/press-kits/american- originals-photos/constitution-voting-record.jpg (last visited Aug. 25, 2012).
19. E-mail from David Langbart, Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration, to author (Nov. 22, 2010) (on file with author).
20. See, e.g., Mary Sarah Bilder, The Corporate Origins of Judicial Review, 116 YALE L.J. 503 (2006);
21. Mary Sarah Bilder, Expounding the Law, 78 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 1129 (2010);
22. Mary Sarah Bilder, The Lost Lawyers: Early American Legal Literates and Transatlantic Legal Culture, 11 YALE J.L. & HUMAN. 47 (1999).
23. I am completing a book on James Madison's creation and revision of his Convention notes: MADISON'S HAND: REVISING THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (under contract, Harvard University Press). For more on this topic, see James H. Hutson, The Creation of the Constitution: Scholarship at a Standstill, 12 REVIEWS AM. HIST. 463 (1984) (describing historiography).
24. R.B. BERNSTEIN, THE FOUNDING FATHERS RECONSIDERED 150 (2009).
25. See LANCE BANNING, THE SACRED FIRE OF LIBERTY: JAMES MADISON AND THE FOUNDING OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC 111-91 (1995);
26. JACK N. RAKOVE, JAMES MADISON AND THE CREATION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC 61-79, 232-34 (3d ed. 2007);
27. David Brian Robertson, Madison's Opponents and Constitutional Design, 99 AM. POL. SCI. REV. 225, 235-42 (2005);
28. David Reich, A More Perfect Union?, BOS. C. MAG., Spring 2010, at 46 (recounting Bernard Bailyn's talk, How Historians Get It Wrong: The American Constitution, for Example).
29. For a description of "official records," see RECORDS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787, at ii, vi-x (Kenneth E. Harris ed., 1971), microformed on Microfilm Publication M866 (Nat'l Archives & Records Admin.) [hereinafter RECORDS], available at http://www.fold3.com/image/#246-3777980.
30. Letter from William Jackson to George Washington (Sept. 17, 1787), in 5 THE PAPERS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON: CONFEDERATION SERIES 329 (W.W. Abbot et al. eds., 1997) [hereinafter WASHINGTON PAPERS].
31. Formal Journal of the Proceedings of the Convention, May 14-Sept. 15, 1787. 1 vol. 153 pages. The documents themselves bear no titles or original endorsements. The descriptions in infra notes 29-34 are from Harris.
32. Journal of the Proceedings of the Committee of the Whole House, May 30-June 19, 1787. 1 vol. 28 pages.
33. Voting Record of the Convention: Ayes, Noes, and Divided Votes. 1 vol. 8 pages.
34. Voting Record of the Convention: Loose Sheets of Ayes, Noes, and Divided Votes. 1 vol. 9 pages.
35. Herbert Friedenwald, A Letter of Jonas Phillips to the Federal Convention, in 2 PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY 107, 110 (1894).
36. Constitution, Printed, with Marginal Notes by George Washington, September 12, 1787, in GEORGE WASHINGTON PAPERS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 1741-1799: SERIES 4, GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. 1697-1799, available at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mgw4&fileName=gwpage097. db&rec Num=232.
37. The Washington Papers also include, in Washington's hand, Propositions from the Delegates of New Jersey to the Constitutional Convention, May 1787. Id., available at http:// memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId= mgw4&fileName=gwpage097.db&recNum=108.
38. THE DEBATES, RESOLUTIONS, AND OTHER PROCEEDINGS, IN CONVENTION, ON THE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION (Jonathan Elliot ed., 1830) [hereinafter THE DEBATES].
39. In subsequent editions, this volume was placed first. CHECKLIST OF UNITED STATES PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, 1789-1909, at 1669 (August Donath, ed., 3d ed. 1911).
40. THE RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787 (Max Farrand ed., 1911).
41. The microfilm records used for this research are available at http://www.fold3.com.
42. My thanks to Andrew Golden, who several years ago spent hours printing out the microfilm. NARA policy is to "make the originals available only if there is text that is obscured or otherwise unreadable on the film." E-Mail from David A. Langbart, Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration, to author (Nov. 23, 2010) (on file with author).
43. THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION 231-320 (Merrill Jensen ed., 1976) [hereinafter DHRC].
44. Hamilton is credited with writing the proceedings and report. Id. Extant minutes are believed to be in Benson's handwriting. Egbert Benson's Minutes of the Annapolis Convention, in THOMAS ADDIS EMMET COLLECTION, NOS. 9398-9399 (1977) (I have not personally examined these minutes);
45. see Annapolis Convention, Address of the Annapolis Convention, in 3 PAPERS OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON 686 n.1 (Harold C. Syrett ed., 1962);
46. Howard H. Wehmann, The "Lost" Records of the Annapolis Convention, 1786-1986, 38 MANUSCRIPTS 101 (1986).
47. Cyril M. White, Charles Thomson: The Irish-Born Secretary of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, 68 STUDIES: IRISH Q. REV. 33, 34-35 (1979).
48. See J. EDWIN HENDRICKS, CHARLES THOMSON AND THE MAKING OF A NEW NATION, 1729-1824, at 3, 9, 88-91, (1979);
49. BOYD STANLEY SCHLENTHER, CHARLES THOMSON: A PATRIOT'S PURSUIT 35, 48, 57-71 (1990);
50. LETTERS OF MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS v (Edmund C. Burnett ed., 1921).
51. Otis had been Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a member of Congress. BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS 1774-2005, H.R. DOC. NO. 108-222, at 1685 (Andrew R. Dodge & Betty K. Keed eds., 2005).
52. EDMUND BERKELEY & DOROTHY SMITH BERKELEY, JOHN BECKLEY: ZEALOUS PARTISAN IN A NATION DIVIDED 3, 22 (1973) [hereinafter BERKELEY & BERKELEY, ZEALOUS PARTISAN];
53. JUSTIFYING JEFFERSON: THE POLITICAL WRITINGS OF JOHN JAMES BECKLEY 9-10 (Gerard W. Gawalt ed., 1995);
54. Edmund Berkeley & Dorothy S. Berkeley, "The Ablest Clerk in the U. S.": John James Beckley, 70 VA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 434, 436-37 (1962) [hereinafter Berkeley & Berkeley, Ablest Clerk];
55. Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., John Beckley: An Early American Party Manager, 13 WM. & MARY Q. 40, 40-41 (1956).
56. Letter from James Madison to Edmund Randolph (April 22, 1787), in 9 PAPERS OF JAMES MADISON 397, 398 (Robert A. Rutland & William M. E. Rachal eds., 1975).
57. Charlene Bangs Bickford, "Public Attention Is Very Much Fixed on the Proceedings of the New Congress": The First Federal Congress Organizes Itself, in INVENTING CONGRESS: ORIGINS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FIRST FEDERAL CONGRESS 138, 157 (Kenneth R. Bowling & Donald R. Kennon eds., 1999).
58. see also Philip M. Marsh, John Beckley: Mystery Man of the Early Jeffersonians, 72 PA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 54, 54 (1948) (describing Beckley as an "undercover political strategist" and "an ever-present figure behind the curtain of party affairs");
59. Jeffrey L. Pasley, "A Journeyman, Either in Law or Politics": John Beckley and the Social Origins of Political Campaigning, 16 J. EARLY REPUBLIC 531, 531 (1996) ("[B]y the mid-1790s, Beckley had become in effect Jefferson's 'campaign manager . . . .").
60. RICHARD BROOKHISER, JAMES MADISON 101 (2011).
61. Nian-Sheng Huang, Notes and Documents: The Literary Legacy of William Temple Franklin: Controversies over the Publication of Franklin's Autobiography, 116 PA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 213, 213 (1992).
62. Charles Willing Littell, Major William Jackson: Secretary of the Federal Convention, 2 PA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 353, 354 (1878).
63. For further background on Jackson, see Robert K. Wright, Jr. & Morris J. MacGregor, Jr., William Jackson, in SOLDIER-STATESMEN OF THE CONSTITUTION 127, 127-29 (1987);
64. Documents: William Jackson on Conditions in France, 1794, 9 AM. HIST. REV. 525 (1904).
65. MAX FARRAND, THE FRAMING OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 56 (1913) (describing Jackson's "electioneering in advance").
66. John Quincy Adams: Memoirs (Nov. 19, 1818)
67. Jackson had called on Adams when acting as agent to gain more remuneration for the former officers of the Revolutionary War. John Quincy Adams, Diary (Nov. 19, 1818), in 30 THE DIARIES OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS: A DIGITAL COLLECTION, Massachusetts Historical Society 444, available at http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries.
68. See Elizabeth Gregory McPherson, Reports of the Debates of the House of Representatives During the First Congress, 1789-1791, 30 Q. J. SPEECH 64, 64 (1944) [hereinafter McPherson, Reports] (describing gap between notes and actual speeches);
69. Marion Tinling, Thomas Lloyd's Reports of the First Federal Congress, 18 WM. & MARY Q. 519, 530-32 (1961);
70. Elizabeth Gregory McPherson, The History of Reporting the Debates and Proceedings of Congress 3 (1940) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina) [hereinafter McPherson, History].
71. See Sanford W. Peterson, The Genesis and Development of Parliamentary Procedure in Colonial America, 1609-1801, at 1-36 (July 1983) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University) (on file with Wells Library, Indiana University).
72. See generally STEVE PINCUS, 1688: THE FIRST MODERN REVOLUTION (2009).
73. G.P., LEX PARLIAMENTARIA: OR, A TREATISE OF THE LAW AND CUSTOM OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF ENGLAND (1689) (possibly attributed to George Petyt).
74. HENRY SCOBELL, REMEMBRANCES OF METHODS, ORDERS, AND PROCEEDINGS, HERETOFORE USED AND OBSERVED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS: EXTRACTED OUT OF THE JOURNALS OF THAT HOUSE (1689).
75. JOHN HATSELL, PRECEDENTS OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS; UNDER SEPARATE TITLES WITH OBSERVATIONS (2d ed. 1785) (2 vols.).
76. Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. (May 30, 1790), in 16 PAPERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 448, 449 (Julian P. Boyd et al. eds., 1961).
77. JEFFERSON'S PARLIAMENTARY WRITINGS: PARLIAMENTARY "POCKET BOOK" AND A MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE, THE PAPERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON SECOND SERIES 41-46 (Wilbur Samuel Howell ed., 1988) [hereinafter JEFFERSON'S PARLIAMENTARY WRITINGS];
78. DARWIN PATNODE, A HISTORY OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE 47-50 (3d ed. 1982);
79. THE COLLECTED WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM: POLITICAL TACTICS 72-109 (Michael James et al. eds., 1999).
80. LUTHER STEARNS CUSHING, LEX PARLIAMENTARIA AMERICANA: ELEMENTS OF THE LAW AND PRACTICE OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1856);
81. Cushing's guide remained the American treatise until replaced by Robert's Rules of Order in the twentieth century. See Don H. Doyle, Rules of Order: Henry Martyn Robert and the Popularization of American Parliamentary Law, 32 AM. Q. 3, 5-6 (1980).
82. See MARY PATTERSON CLARKE, PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES 228-30 (1943) (discussing colonial disputes over appointing the clerk and the oath of secrecy).
83. See CALVIN JILLSON & RICK K. WILSON, CONGRESSIONAL DYNAMICS: STRUCTURE, COORDINATION, & CHOICE IN THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS, 1774-1789, at 17-42 (1994) (discussing English and colonial legislative precedents);
84. Thais M. Plaisted, The Source of Colonial Parliamentary Rules, 17 PARLIAMENTARY J. 7, 9 (1976).
85. Rick K. Wilson, Transitional Governance in the United States: Lessons from the First Federal Congress, 24 LEGIS. STUD. Q. 543, 555 (1999).
86. See HOWARD H. WEHMANN, NAT'L ARCHIVES & RECORDS ADMIN., A GUIDE TO PREFEDERAL RECORDS IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES 7-9 (rev. Benjamin L. DeWhitt, 1989).
87. Although it seems more probable that the rough journals were not made during the session, there is some ambiguity about that fact. See SENATE LEGISLATIVE JOURNAL, 1 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FIRST FEDERAL CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, MARCH 4, 1789-MARCH 3, 1791, at x (Linda Grant De Pauw et al. eds., 1972) [hereinafter DHFFC] (noting that in the Senate, the rough journal was read each day).
88. Rick K. Wilson & Calvin Jillson, Leadership Patterns in the Continental Congress: 1774-1789, 14 LEGIS. STUD. Q. 5, 21 (1989).
89. JOURNAL OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE STATES: CONTAINING THE PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FIRST FRIDAY IN JUNE, 1784, TO THE SECOND FRIDAY IN AUGUST, in 27 JOURNALS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 1774-1789, at 560-638 (Gaillard Hunt ed., 1928). It appears to have been bound with the ninth volume of the Journal of Congress (1783-1784).
90. See 10 BULLETINS OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY 159 (Apr. 1891-Jan. 1892).
91. See, e.g., 31 JOURNALS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 1774-1789, at 957-69 (John C. Fitzpatrick ed., 1934) (listing in bibliographical notes the number of printed copies of various reports and journals);
92. see also Herbert Friedenwald, The Journals and Papers of the Continental Congress, 21 PA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 161, 361-75, 445-65 (1897);
93. Journal of the House of Representatives, GOV'T PRINTING OFFICE, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action? collectionCode=HJOURNAL (last visited May 28, 2012) (describing the modern House legislative journals as "rendition of all the official actions of the House, including every motion made and every vote taken").
94. Elizabeth G. McPherson, The Southern States and the Reporting of Senate Debates, 1789-1902, 12 J. S. HIST. 223, 238-39 (1946).
95. ROBERT C. BYRD, THE SENATE, 1789-1989: ADDRESSES ON THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE 26-28 (1988) (describing belief by Republican papers that the journal had been "tampered with to suit the Federalist majority").
96. For discussion of English parliamentary practice, see, e.g., BENJAMIN BEARD HOOVER, SAMUEL JOHNSON'S PARLIAMENTARY REPORTING: DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF LILLIPUT (1953);
97. ANDREW SPARROW, OBSCURE SCRIBBLERS: A HISTORY OF PARLIAMENTARY JOURNALISM 41 (2003);
98. Arthur Aspinall, The Reporting and Publishing of the House of Commons' Debates, 1771-1834, in ESSAYS PRESENTED TO SIR LEWIS NAMIER 227, 229-30 (Richard Pares and A.J.P. Taylor eds., Macmillan 1956);
99. John Ferris, Before Hansard: Records of Debate in the Seventeenth Century House of Commons, 20 ARCHIVES 198, 198 (1992);
100. Peter D.G. Thomas, The Beginning of Parliamentary Reporting in Newspapers, 1768-1774, 74 ENG. HIST. REV. 623, 623-36 (1959).
101. WILLI PAUL ADAMS, THE FIRST AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS: REPUBLICAN IDEOLOGY AND THE MAKING OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA 247-48 (Rita and Robert Kimber trans., Rowman & Littlefield expanded ed. 2001).
102. SANDRA M. GUSTAFSON, IMAGINING DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY IN THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC 22 (2011);
103. see SANDRA M. GUSTAFSON, ELOQUENCE IS POWER: ORATORY & PERFORMANCE IN EARLY AMERICA 150 (2000).
104. See ERIC SLAUTER, THE STATE AS A WORK OF ART: THE CULTURAL ORIGINS OF THE CONSTITUTION 148-64 (2009) (discussing shorthand transcription and publishing debates).
105. Gregory E. Maggs, A Concise Guide to the Records of the State Ratifying Conventions as a Source of the Original Meaning of the U.S. Constitution, 2009 U. ILL. L. REV. 457, 481.
106. See Elizabeth Gregory McPherson, Reporting the Debates of Congress, 28 Q. J. SPEECH 141, 141-42 (1942);
107. Only after 1848 did the invention of phonetic (Pitman) shorthand permit a stenographer to keep up with a speaker. See Amy Atchison & Jennifer Lentz, Questions & Answers, 18 LEGAL REFERENCE SERVICES Q. 97, 99 (2001).
108. The Government Printing Office did not begin until 1861, and early private printers were "remembered for bribery, lost manuscripts, overcharging, and inspiring scandals and congressional investigations." JUDITH SCHIEK ROBINSON, TAPPING THE GOVERNMENT GRAPEVINE: THE USER-FRIENDLY GUIDE TO U.S. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SOURCES 18 (3d ed. 1998).
109. Michelle Springer, The Congressional Record: "Substantially a Verbatim Report?," 13 GOV'T PUBLICATIONS REV. 371, 374 (1986).
110. 44 U.S.C. § 901 (2006) (emphasis added);
111. MILDRED L. AMER, CONG. RESEARCH SERV., CRS 93-60, THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: CONTENT, HISTORY AND ISSUES 6 (1993). C-Span video coverage now records the proceedings but members abbreviate motions to save time. Ironically, the Congressional Record is "a more reliable account" because it prints the procedures as if everything had been read and stated in full.
112. The journals of the state constitutional conventions were not printed until years later. See, e.g., JOURNAL OF THE CONVENTION FOR FRAMING A CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY (1832) (citing that the Convention was held in 1779-80);
113. JOURNAL, ACTS AND PROCEEDINGS, OF A GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA (1829).
114. Readex's Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 curiously does not list legislative journals on its "genre" page, available at www.readex.com (subscription required).
115. The journals can be found with United States Continental Congress as an author or alternatively with "Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress." See, e.g., JOURNAL OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED: CONTAINING THE PROCEEDINGS FROM THE FIRST MONDAY IN NOVEMBER, 1784 (1785);
116. JOURNAL OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED: CONTAINING THE PROCEEDINGS FROM THE 3D DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1785, TO THE 3D DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1786 (1786).
117. See generally George B. Galloway, Precedents Established in the First Congress, 11 W. POL. Q. 454 (1958).
118. see ROBERT ZEMSKY, MERCHANTS, FARMERS, AND RIVER GODS: AN ESSAY ON EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN POLITICS 21, 239-42 (1971) (discussing limited publication of yeas and nays in Massachusetts). On August 10, the Convention debated whether the Constitution should regulate the "yeas & nays" and members' ability to enter the reasons for dissent in the journal of the House and the Senate.
119. See, e.g., Vasan Kesavan & Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Interpretive Force of the Constitution's Secret Drafting History, 91 GEO. L.J. 1113 (2003) (interpreting the Convention as "secret").
120. John Franklin Jameson, Studies in the History of the Federal Convention of 1787, 1 ANN. REP. AM. HIST. ASS'N 87, 90 (1902).
121. JOHN K. ALEXANDER, THE SELLING OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: A HISTORY OF NEWS COVERAGE 216-17 (1990) (discussing press coverage of reported divisions and antidemocratic ideas).
122. Staughton Lynd, The Compromise of 1787, 81 POL. SCI. Q. 225, 227 (1966);
123. James H. Hutson, Riddles of the Federal Constitutional Convention, 44 WM. & MARY Q. 411, 416-18 (1987) (analyzing Lynd's argument);
124. I have not located the vote tallies that Madison returned to Adams. Letter from James Madison to John Quincy Adams (June 27, 1819), in 3 LETTERS AND OTHER WRITINGS OF JAMES MADISON 139 (1884) ("I return the list of yeas and nays . . . with the blanks filled.").
125. U.S. CONST. art. VII (emphasis added).
126. 4 ASHER C. HINDS, HINDS' PRECEDENTS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES § 4705, at 986 (1907). The phrase remains part of the House of Representatives title for a Committee of the Whole House.
127. Documents: Papers of Dr. James McHenry on the Federal Convention of 1787, 11 AM. HIST. REV. 595, 616 (1906).
128. See New Jersey Delegates to Congress, May 1787, Propositions of the Delegates of New Jersey to the Convention, May 1787, in GEORGE WASHINGTON PAPERS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 1741-1799, ser. 4,. The Secretary likely kept a copy until the end of July. The Paterson plan and the Pinckney plan were later referred to the Committee to detail.
129. JACK N. RAKOVE, ORIGINAL MEANINGS: POLITICS AND IDEAS IN THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION 64 (1997).
130. HENRY D. COOLIDGE & JAMES W. KIMBALL, MANUAL FOR THE USE OF THE GENERAL COURT 269 (1913).
131. See OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: VOTING RECORD OF THE CONVENTION: LOOSE SHEETS OF AYES, NOES, AND DIVIDED VOTES, microformed on Microfilm Publication M866 (Nat'l Archives & Records Admin.) [hereinafter VOTING RECORD] (the verso of this sheet appears to contain the tally for the President of the Whole House);
132. Gordon Lloyd, Constitutional Convention Attendance Record, TEACHING AM. HISTORY, http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/attendance/module.html#/ August%206 (last visited May 30, 2012).
133. Hutson counts eighteen but includes the proof copy. John Kaminski at the Center for the Study of the Constitution graciously made available the following list of reports known to the Center: Abraham Baldwin (Pierpont Morgan Library), David Brearley (NARA), Pierce Butler (Gilder Lehrman Library), Pierce Butler (Lilly Library, Indiana University), John Dickinson (Library Company, Philadelphia), Elbridge Gerry (MHS), Nicholas Gilman (New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati), William Samuel Johnson (DLC), James Madison (DLC), George Mason (Huntington Library), Charles C. Pinckney (DLC), Edmund Randolph (Historical Society of Pennsylvania ("HSP")), George Washington (NARA), Hugh Williamson (DLC), James Wilson (Gilder Lerhman Collection, New-York Historical Society ("NYHS")), unknown (DLC, Force Collection), unknown (Huntington Library). E-mail from Sarah Danforth on behalf of John Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution at University of Wisconsin-Madison, to author (Jan. 5, 2012) (on file with author).
134. John Kaminski at the Center for the Study of the Constitution graciously made available the following list of reports known to the Center: Abraham Baldwin (Georgia Historical Society), David Brearley (NARA), Jacob Broom (HSP), Pierce Butler (Gilder Lehrman, Morgan Library), John Dickinson (Library Company), Elbridge Gerry (MHS), William Samuel Johnson (DLC), Rufus King (New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati), William Livingston (NYHS), James Madison (DLC), George Mason (Williams College), Charles C. Pinckney (DLC), George Washington (DLC), Hugh Williamson (DLC). E-mail from Sarah Danforth on behalf of John Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution at University of Wisconsin-Madison, to author (Jan. 5, 2012) (on file with author).
135. William Jackson, Aug. 6, 1787 Draft of the U.S. Const., art. I, available at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc4.7.jpg;
136. Report of the Committee of Detail at 5, U.S. Const. Convention, 1787, available at http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/CreatingtheUS/interactives/ constitution/HTML/executive/enlarge1.html. Neither draft contains the extensive additions produced by David Brearley's Committee of Eleven to the postponed sections of the draft after August 31.
137. See Leonard Rapport, Printing the Constitution: The Convention and Newspaper Imprints, August-November 1787, 2 PROLOGUE J. NAT'L ARCHIVES 69, 72 (1970).
138. See Denys P. Myers, History of the Printed Archetype of the Constitution of the United States, S. DOC. NO. 49, at 49 (1961)
139. reprinted in 11 GREEN BAG 2D 217 (2008).
140. U.S. CONST. art. I, § 2, cl. 3.
141. see Akhil Reed Amar, Our Forgotten Constitution: A Bicentennial Comment, 97 YALE L.J. 281, 283 (1987) (suggesting delegates did not examine the final document).
142. PAULINE MAIER, RATIFICATION: THE PEOPLE DEBATE THE CONSTITUTION, 1787-1788, at 235 (2010).
143. See, e.g., THE FEDERALIST NO. 2 (John Jay).
144. Carl L. Lokke, The Continental Congress Papers: Their History, 1789-1952, 51 NAT'L ARCHIVES ACCESSIONS 1 (1954).
145. EDMUND CODY BURNETT, THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 726 (1941). In 1803, John Dickinson sent the original papers from the Annapolis Convention to Jefferson as Chief Executive to be deposited in the public office.
146. See Andrew H. Allen, Memorandum on the Acquisition and Preservation of the Historical Archives, in LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE, S. DOC. NO. 53-22, at 8 (1894);
147. GRAHAM H. STUART, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE: A HISTORY OF ITS ORGANIZATION, PROCEDURE, AND PERSONNEL 14-28 (1949).
148. On Madison's copy of the journal, see Charles Roy Keller & George Wilson Pierson, A New Madison Manuscript Relating to the Federal Convention of 1787, 36 AM. HIST. REV. 17 (1930). Although I am uncertain, he seems not to have copied the voting tallies. Certainly no record in Madison's hand is known to be extant. After the Adams edition appeared with the vote tallies incorporated, Madison amended his notes to make them correspond to the votes in the Adams edition or to note divergences from the printed journal.
149. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION ("BANKSON'S JOURNAL") 1786-91, Roll 10, Target 17 (Nat'l Archives & Records Admin.) available at http://www.fold3.com/image/#1-9265327 [hereinafter BANKSON'S JOURNAL].
150. BERNARD BAILYN, TO BEGIN THE WORLD ANEW: THE GENIUS AND AMBIGUITIES OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS 106 (2003).
151. See Donald O. Dewey, James Madison Helps Clio Interpret the Constitution, 15 AM. J. LEGAL HIST. 38 (1971);
152. Kent Greenfield, Original Penumbras: Constitutional Interpretation in the First Year of Congress, 26 CONN. L. REV. 79 (1993);
153. H. Jefferson Powell, The Political Grammar of Early Constitutional Law, 71 N.C. L. REV. 949 (1993);
154. Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Original Intent in the First Congress, 71 MO. L. REV. 687 (2006).
155. GORDON S. WOOD, EMPIRE OF LIBERTY: A HISTORY OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC, 1789-1815, at 69 n.55 (2009).
156. See H. JEFFERSON POWELL, A COMMUNITY BUILT ON WORDS: THE CONSTITUTION IN HISTORY AND POLITICS 21-29 (2002);
157. Benjamin B. Klubes, The First Federal Congress and the First National Bank: A Case Study in Constitutional Interpretation, 10 J. EARLY REPUBLIC 19, 19, 21-22 (1990);
158. Colleen A. Sheehan, Madison v. Hamilton: The Battle over Republicanism and the Role of Public Opinion, 98 AM. POL. SCI. REV. 405, 405-06 (2004).
159. See LEGISLATIVE AND DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES 39 (M. St. Clair Clarke & D.A. Hall eds., Augustus M. Kelley 1967) (1832) [hereinafter HISTORY OF THE BANK].
160. See THE FEDERALIST NOS. 11, 12, 16, 30;
161. Editors' Note to Publius, THE FEDERALIST NO. 1;
162. See Walter Dellinger & H. Jefferson Powell, The Constitutionality of the Bank Bill: The Attorney General's First Constitutional Law Opinions, 44 DUKE L.J. 110, 119, 121-30 (1994). (Pubitemid 24836758)
163. See STUART LEIBIGER, FOUNDING FRIENDSHIP: GEORGE WASHINGTON, JAMES MADISON, AND THE CREATION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC 197-214 (1999) (describing the Washington-Madison relationship during this period).
164. JERALD A. COMBS, THE JAY TREATY: POLITICAL BATTLEGROUND OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS 160-61 (1970);
165. TODD ESTES, THE JAY TREATY DEBATE, PUBLIC OPINION, AND THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE 2 (2006).
166. See Letter from George Washington to the House of Representatives of the United States (March 30, 1796), in 1 A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS 194-96 (James D. Richardson ed., 1896) [hereinafter COMPILATION]. Although Madison was convinced that Hamilton was behind the speech, Washington received Hamilton's arguments after having already decided on a course of action. Washington knew, of course, of Hamilton's general opinion, but certain aspects of the speech seem to have been most likely the product of Washington's own instinct.
167. see also GLENN A. PHELPS, GEORGE WASHINGTON AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM 175-78 (1993);
168. JOHN YOO, THE POWERS OF WAR AND PEACE: THE CONSTITUTION AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS AFTER 9/11, at 242-44 (2005);
169. Todd Estes, The Art of Presidential Leadership: George Washington and the Jay Treaty, 109 VA. MAG. HIST. & BIOGRAPHY 127, 151 (2001);
170. Quincy Wright, The Constitutionality of Treaties, 13 AM. J. INT'L L. 242, 242 n.3 (1919).
171. Letter from Fisher Ames to George Richard Minot (Apr. 2, 1796), in 2 WORKS OF FISHER AMES 1140 (W.B. Allen ed., 1983).
172. For Madison's notes on his speech, see http://memory.loc.gov/master/mss/ mjm/06/0200/ 0292d.jpg.
173. See RICHARD LABUNSKI, JAMES MADISON AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THE BILL OR RIGHTS 191 (2006).
174. THE RATIFICATIONS OF THE NEW FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, TOGETHER WITH THE AMENDMENTS, PROPOSED BY THE SEVERAL STATES (Richmond, Aug. Davis 1788).
175. My gratitude to John Kaminski for his expertise on this point. The American Museum had printed the ratification forms as they had been passed by the states. See 8 NYPL BULLETIN 111-15.
176. Letter from John Quincy Adams to James Madison (Dec. 15, 1817), in 6 WRITINGS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 271 (W.C. Ford. ed., 1913);
177. While serving in the Senate, William Plumer had gathered "a great many documents" from Congress from 1774 onward to rescue them from "inevitable ruin." WILLIAM PLUMER, WILLIAM PLUMER'S MEMORANDUM OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, 1803-1807, at 537-39 (Everett S. Brown ed., 1923).
178. The elder Plumer was involved in the Dartmouth College case and "slow to believe" that the constitutional clause had been intended to apply. WILLIAM PLUMER, LIFE OF WILLIAM PLUMER 460 (1856).
179. Letter from James Madison to John Quincy Adams (Dec. 23, 1817), in 3 LETTERS & OTHER WRITINGS OF JAMES MADISON, 1816-1828, 52 (New York, R. Worthington 1884) (describing final Convention votes on subject).
180. The third volume contained many documents from the Documentary History of the Constitution's incredible collection of volumes 4 and 5. See Gaillard Hunt, Book Review, 1 YALE REV. 144, 144 (1912) (noting reprinting of documents).