Nerdy Advanced Placement

A Rising Sun · Unit 3 · Topics 3.8–3.9

Primary sources: The Constitutional Convention and Ratification

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  • I · Plain Men January 25, 1788
  • The Boston room: what is recorded and what is stagedA Rising Sun production; based on the Massachusetts convention report · January 25, 1788
  • Amos Singletary fears the men who will governAmos Singletary; convention report collected by Jonathan Elliot · January 25, 1788
  • Jonathan Smith knows the cost of weak governmentJonathan Smith of Lanesborough; convention report collected by Jonathan Elliot · January 25, 1788
  • Constitution of the United States, with Amendments I–XConstitutional Convention; Amendments I–X proposed by the First Congress · Signed 17 September 1787. Amendments I–X proposed 25 September 1789 and ratified 15 December 1791.
  • Five ratification instruments before Boston's decisionConventions of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut; tally by A Rising Sun · December 1787–January 1788
  • II · In All Cases Whatsoever April–May 1787
  • Who collects the taxes under the Articles?Continental Congress and the ratifying states · March 1, 1781
  • Congress calls a convention to revise the ArticlesConfederation Congress · February 21, 1787
  • Parliament's phrase: in all cases whatsoeverParliament of Great Britain · March 18, 1766
  • Madison proposes a national negativeJames Madison to George Washington · April 16, 1787
  • The Convention's rule of secrecyFederal Convention; recorded by James Madison · May 29, 1787
  • Randolph presents the Virginia PlanEdmund Randolph and the Virginia delegation; resolutions preserved by James Madison · May 29, 1787
  • III · Swallowed Up June 9–July 17, 1787
  • Paterson fears being swallowed up; Wilson counts citizensJames Madison, recording William Paterson and James Wilson · June 9, 1787
  • The New Jersey Plan loses on June 19James Madison · June 19, 1787
  • Madison identifies Northern and Southern interests · adapted speechJames Madison; our spoken adaptation · June 30, 1787
  • Bedford threatens a foreign ally · Madison's accountJames Madison, recording Gunning Bedford Jr. · June 30, 1787
  • Bedford's distrust · Yates's accountRobert Yates, recording Gunning Bedford Jr. · June 30, 1787
  • A full stop: five to five, then a committeeJames Madison, recording the Convention and Roger Sherman · July 2, 1787
  • The whole compromise passes, 5–4–1James Madison, recording the Convention · July 16, 1787
  • The national legislative veto loses, 7–3James Madison, recording the Convention · July 17, 1787
  • IV · Property in Men August 8–29, 1787
  • Morris challenges the count of enslaved inhabitantsJames Madison, recording Gouverneur Morris · August 8, 1787
  • Rutledge puts interest before humanityJames Madison, recording John Rutledge · August 21, 1787
  • Mason, Cotesworth Pinckney and Morris on the slave-trade bargainJames Madison, recording the Convention · August 22, 1787
  • George Mason and his son offer a reward for two men who escapedGeorge Mason and George Mason, Jr. · September 30, 1786
  • Twenty years, seven states to four, and property in menJames Madison · August 25, 1787
  • Navigation legislation and the fugitive clauseJames Madison, recording the Convention · August 29, 1787
  • United States enslaved population: 1790 and 1860U.S. Census Bureau; Campbell Gibson and Kay Jung · 1790 / 1860
  • V · Rising or Setting September 4–19, 1787
  • Mason's objection to direct popular election — adapted performanceJames Madison, reporting George Mason · July 17, 1787
  • The September committee's case for electorsJames Madison, reporting Gouverneur Morris · September 4, 1787
  • Mason's written objection: state declarations give no securityGeorge Mason · September 1787 · printed November 1787
  • Mason, Sherman, and the rejected bill-of-rights committeeJames Madison, recording George Mason, Roger Sherman, and the state vote · September 12, 1787
  • Randolph’s conscience and the three refusals — adapted dialogueJames Madison, reporting Edmund Randolph and the Convention's close · September 17, 1787
  • Franklin cannot tell whether the sun is rising or settingBenjamin Franklin, as recorded by James Madison · September 17, 1787
  • The Constitution reaches the Pennsylvania PacketJohn Dunlap and David Claypoole, printers; Federal Convention, constitutional text · September 19, 1787
  • VI · Publius September 1787–January 1788
  • Brutus IBrutus (pseudonym; identity not asserted) · October 18, 1787
  • Federalist No. 10James Madison, writing as Publius · November 1787
  • Observations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State ConventionsMercy Otis Warren, writing as A Columbian Patriot · 1788 · after Massachusetts ratified
  • VII · Brother Plough Joggers January–February 1788
  • Hancock assents in confidence of amendmentsJohn Hancock, as reported · February 6, 1788
  • Massachusetts ratifies and recommends amendmentsConvention of the people of Massachusetts · February 6, 1788
  • Federalist No. 51James Madison, writing as Publius · February 6, 1788
  • Federalist No. 78: the judicial checkAlexander Hamilton, writing as Publius · May 1788 · later argument
  • VIII · Thunder June–July 1788
  • Henry challenges 'We, the people'Patrick Henry; reported by David Robertson · June 4, 1788
  • Henry declines the Constitutional ConventionUnited States Senate, historical catalogue · 1787
  • Randolph chooses unionEdmund Randolph; reported by David Robertson · June 4, 1788
  • New Hampshire: the ninth ratificationState ratifying convention · June 21, 1788
  • Henry promises constitutional oppositionPatrick Henry; reported by David Robertson · June 25, 1788
  • Virginia: 89–79State ratifying convention · June 25, 1788
  • Philadelphia carries the union through its streetsFrancis Hopkinson, procession account · July 4, 1788 · account published that July
  • Rush sees a nation in the processionBenjamin Rush, attributed anonymous letter · Letter July 9, 1788 · published July 15
  • New York: 30–27State ratifying convention · July 26, 1788
  • North Carolina's convention ratifiesNorth Carolina ratifying convention · November 21, 1789
  • Rhode Island's convention: thirty-four to thirty-twoContemporary newspaper notice, reproduced by the Lilly Library · 1790
  • IX · Expressly October 1788 – December 15, 1791
  • What the people are entitled toThomas Jefferson · December 20, 1787
  • Parchment barriers and overbearing majoritiesJames Madison · October 17, 1788
  • The election promise: rights through CongressJames Madison · January 2, 1789
  • Amend rights without reopening the whole structureJames Madison, as recorded in the House debate · June 8, 1789
  • The nauseous project and the honest man's obligationJames Madison · August 19, 1789
  • The Articles reserve powers not expressly delegatedContinental Congress and the ratifying states · Ratification completed 1 March 1781
  • The House refuses to add expresslyUnited States House of Representatives, reported debates · 18 and 21 August 1789
  • Madison answers the expressly amendmentJames Madison, as reported in the Annals of Congress · August 18, 1789
  • Madison challenges the bank’s implied powersJames Madison, as reported in the House debate · February 2, 1791
  • The Tenth Amendment reserves undelegated powersFirst United States Congress and the ratifying states · Proposed 25 September 1789
  • Twelve proposals; ten become the Bill of RightsFirst Congress of the United States · September 25, 1789
  • Virginia's Senate agrees to the amendmentsVirginia House of Delegates journal, recording the Senate's message · December 15, 1791
  • Original federal scope, explained in BarronChief Justice John Marshall, for the Supreme Court · 1833
  • The only living signerJames Madison · June 1, 1831
  • Madison's will transfers rather than emancipatesJames Madison · April 15, 1835
  • Franklin completes the rising-sun sentenceJames Madison, recording Benjamin Franklin · September 17, 1787
  • Exam Room only
  • Madison connects electors to the political weight of slaveryJames Madison · July 19, 1787
  • Background
  • Articles of Confederation: the revenue routeContinental Congress and the ratifying states · March 1, 1781
  • Belinda petitions for a share of the wealth her labor producedBelinda; petition submitted in her name · February 14, 1783
  • Dickinson asks Read to subscribe his nameJohn Dickinson to George Read · September 15, 1787
  • Franklin consents, with doubts — read by WilsonBenjamin Franklin; read by James Wilson; recorded by James Madison · September 17, 1787
  • A republic, if you can keep it — McHenry's accountJames McHenry, recording Elizabeth Powel and Benjamin Franklin · Journal page headed 18 · conversation date uncertain
  • Morris rejects election of the executive by CongressGouverneur Morris, recorded by James Madison · July 17, 1787
  • The Powel–Franklin parlor is a reconstructionA Rising Sun production, based on James McHenry's journal · 1787–09
  • Henry invokes a higher orderPatrick Henry; reported by David Robertson · June 24, 1788
  • The reporter cannot hear MadisonDavid Robertson, reporting James Madison · June 6, 1788
  • Madison asks about republican virtueJames Madison; reported by David Robertson · June 20, 1788
  • Massachusetts: 187–168State ratifying convention · February 6, 1788
  • The first complete draft names the statesCommittee of Detail; preserved in James Madison's notes · August 6, 1787
  • The storm interrupts HenryDavid Robertson, convention report · June 24, 1788
  • Brutus's objection to a large republicBrutus (pseudonym) · October 18, 1787
  • Why the general government needs rights limitsBrutus (pseudonym) · November 1, 1787
  • Washington hears of Madison's electionGeorge Washington · February 16, 1789
  • The field is left to Monroe and MadisonJames Madison · January 14, 1789
  • New Jersey restricts voting to white male citizensNew Jersey legislature · November 16, 1807
  • New Jersey's qualified inhabitantsNew Jersey provincial convention · July 2, 1776
  • Surviving evidence of participation in New JerseyMontgomery Township election officials · October 13, 1801
  • What have we got: McHenry's anecdoteJames McHenry · September 1787
  • Henry opposes Madison for the SenateEdmund Randolph · November 10, 1788
  • The earlier Rhode Island town poll rejects the ConstitutionRhode Island General Assembly, town-return tally · March 1788
  • The Senate threatens restrictions on Rhode Island tradeUnited States Senate; contextual summary by the National Archives · May 18, 1790
  • Your delegate: a labeled composite roleOur teaching reconstruction; Harvard town instruction and convention testimony · 1788
  • Allen reads a collective agreement: staging disclosureA Rising Sun production, based on the Free African Society articles · May 1787
  • We, the free Africans: articles of mutual aidFree African Society of Philadelphia; preserved by William Douglass · May 17, 1787
  • Rufus King reports Hancock's first appearanceRufus King to James Madison · January 30, 1788
  • Madison plans Billey's separation from himJames Madison to James Madison, Sr. · September 8, 1783
  • Madison reports from PhiladelphiaJames Madison to Thomas Jefferson · May 15, 1787
  • Massachusetts convention: meeting place and final voteMassachusetts convention journal and contemporary debate reports, collected by Jonathan Elliot · 1788–01–17–1788–02–06
  • The Northwest Ordinance's slavery prohibition and exceptionsConfederation Congress · July 13, 1787
  • The Address and Reasons of Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of PennsylvaniaThe dissenting members of the Pennsylvania ratifying convention · December 18, 1787
  • Washington and the dropped paper, as Pierce recalled itWilliam Pierce, recalling George Washington and his own reaction · Opening period of the Convention · recalled later
  • Pierce sketches Luther MartinWilliam Pierce · 1787
  • Luther Martin will resume tomorrowJames Madison, recording Luther Martin · June 27–28, 1787
  • Paterson presents the New Jersey PlanWilliam Paterson and allied delegations; recorded by James Madison · June 15, 1787
  • Paterson would rather submit to a monarch — adapted from MadisonJames Madison, recording William Paterson and James Wilson · June 9, 1787
  • Sherman's two principles of representationJames Madison, recording Roger Sherman · June 11, 1787
  • Wilson compares the Virginia and New Jersey plansJames Madison, recording James Wilson · June 16, 1787
  • Jonathan Smith addresses his brother ploughjoggersJonathan Smith of Lanesborough, as reported · January 25, 1788