The Debate on the Constitution: Part One: September 1787 to February 1788

Federalist and Anti-Federalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification

• Alphabetical list of Writers featured in The Debate on the Constitution, Part One
• Complete Table of Contents

• John Adams
• Samuel Adams
• Fisher Ames
• John Armstrong
• Isaac Backus
• Joseph Barrell
• Nathaniel Barrell
• George Bryan
• Samuel Bryan
• Charles Carter, Jr.
• Tench Coxe
• William Cushing
• Nathan Dane
• Thomas Dawes, Jr.
• John Dickinson
• Oliver Ellsworth
• William Findley
• Benjamin Franklin
• Elbridge Gerry
• Christopher Gore
• Alexander Hamilton
• John Hancock
• William Heath
• Patrick Henry
• Jeremiah Hill
• Abraham Holmes
• Francis Hopkinson
• Samuel Huntington
• James Iredell
• William Irvine
• Charles Jarvis
• John Jay
• Thomas Jefferson
• William Jones
• Martin Kinsley
• Marquis de Lafayette
• Arthur Lee
• Henry ("Light-Horse Harry") Lee
• Richard Henry Lee
• James Madison (1749-1812)
• James Madison (1751-1836)
• John Marshall
• Luther Martin
• George Mason
• Armand-Marc, Comte de Montmorin-Saint-Herem
• Eleonore Francois Elie, Marquis de Moustier
• Samuel Nasson
• Samuel Osgood
• Louis-Guillaume Otto, Comte de Mosloy
• Samuel Holdens Parsons
• Edmund Pendleton
• Henry Pendleton
• Timothy Pickering
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
• Edmund Randolph
• David Redick
• Benjamin Rush
• Roger Sherman
• Daniel Shute
• Amos Singletary
• John Smilie
• Jonathan Smith
• Melancton Smith
• William Stephens Smith
• Isaac Snow
• John Stevens, Jr.
• Ezra Stiles
• Increase Sumner
• Lawrence Taliaferro
• George Thatcher
• Samuel Thompson
• Charles Tillinghast
• George Lee Turberville
• Charles Turner
• Joseph Bradley Varnum
• James Wadsworth
• Thomas Baker Wait
• Bushrod Washington
• George Washington
• Noah Webster
• Pelatiah Webster
• Samuel West
• Robert Whitehill
• William Widgery
• James Wilson
• James Winthrop
• Benjamin Workman
  

DEBATES IN THE PRESS AND IN PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE (September 17, 1787-January 12, 1788)

• Benjamin Franklin's Speech at the Conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, September 17, 1787 "I Agree to This Constitution, with All Its Faults"
• "Z" Replies to Franklin's Speech, December 6, 1787 "No Wonder He Shed a Tear"
• Alexander Hamilton's Conjectures About the New Constitution, September 1787
• "A Revolution Effected by Good Sense and Deliberation," September 24, 1787
• David Redick to William Irvine, September 24, 1787 "The Loss of American Liberty"
• Strictures on the Proposed Constitution, September 26, 1787
• "An American Citizen" [Tench Coxe] I, September 26, 1787 The English and American Constitutions Contrasted
• "An American Citizen" [Tench Coxe] II, September 28, 1787 Senators and Nobles
• "An American Citizen" [Tench Coxe] III, September 29, 1787 An Uncorrupted House
• "Cato" I, September 27, 1787 Deliberate with Coolness, Analyze with Criticism, Reflect with Candor
• Reply to "Cato" I: "Cjsar" I, October 1, 1787 On the Language of Distrust
• Rebuttal to "Cjsar" I: "Cato" II, October 11, 1787 On the Right of Free Deliberation
• James Madison to George Washington, September 30, 1787 Congress Forwards the Constitution to the States
• Richard Henry Lee to George Mason, October 1, 1787 On the Deviousness of Congress's Action, and the Need for Amendments
• Rev. James Madison to James Madison, c. October 1, 1787 For an Experimental Period and an Absolute Separation of Powers
• "Southwark," October 3, 1787 Antifederalists—Tories Reborn
• "Centinel" [Samuel Bryan] I, October 5, 1787 "A Most Daring Attempt to Establish a Despotic Aristocracy"
• James Wilson's Speech at a Public Meeting, October 6, 1787 "Every Thing Which Is Not Given, Is Reserved"
  • Reply to Wilson's Speech: "A Democratic Federalist," October 17, 1787 What Shelter from Arbitrary Power?
  • Reply to Wilson's Speech: "Centinel" [Samuel Bryan] II, October 24, 1787 To Avoid the Usual Fate of Nations
  • Reply to Wilson's Speech: "Cincinnatus" [Arthur Lee] I, November 1, 1787 To Defeat a Monstrous Aristocracy
  • Reply to Wilson's Speech: "An Officer of the Late Continental Army" [William Findley?], November 6, 1787 "A Set of Aspiring Despots, Who Make Us Slaves"
  • Rebuttal to "An Officer of the Late Continental Army": "Plain Truth," November 10, 1787 "I Have Answered All the Objections"
  • Reply to Wilson's Speech: "Cincinnatus" [Arthur Lee] V, November 29, 1787 "O Sense Where Is Your Guard! Shame Where Is Your Blush!"
• "An Old Whig" [George Bryan et al.] I, October 12, 1787 No Amendments Will Ever Be Made Without Violent Convulsion or Civil War
• "Marcus," October 15, 1787 Interests and the Constitution
• "A Citizen of America" [Noah Webster], October 17, 1787 An Examination Into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution
• "Brutus" I, October 18, 1787 "If You Adopt It ... Posterity Will Execrate Your Memory"
  • The Weaknesses of Brutus Exposed: "A Citizen of Philadelphia" [Pelatiah Webster], November 8, 1787 "Congress Can Never Get More Power Than the People Will Give"
• A Political Dialogue, October 24, 1787 "There Is Some Trick In It"
• James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, October 24, 1787 The Constitution Explained and Justified, with an "Immoderate Digression" on a Defeated Proposal
  • Thomas Jefferson Replies to Madison, December 20, 1787 "The Will of the Majority Should Always Prevail"
• "Cato" III, October 25, 1787 The Dangers to Liberty and Happiness
• "Publius," The Federalist I [Alexander Hamilton], October 27, 1787 "Vigour of Government Is Essential to the Security of Liberty"
• "John Humble," October 29, 1787 "To Lick the Feet of Our Well Born Masters"
• "Americanus" [John Stevens, Jr.] I, November 2, 1787 "We Must Think, We Must Reason, For Ourselves"
• Elbridge Gerry to the Massachusetts General Court, November 3, 1787 "The Greatest Men May Err"
  • Reply to Elbridge Gerry: "A Landholder" [Oliver Ellsworth] IV, November 26, 1787 "To Alarm the Fears of the People"
  • A Further Reply to Elbridge Gerry: "A Landholder" [Oliver Ellsworth] V, December 3, 1787 "To Combat Phantoms"
• Letters from the "Federal Farmer" to "The Republican," November 8, 1787 "Examine Coolly Every Article, Clause, and Word"
  • Refutation of the "Federal Farmer": Timothy Pickering to Charles Tillinghast, December 24, 1787 "The Best Constitution We ... Have Any Right To Expect"
• George Washington to Bushrod Washington, November 10, 1787 "Is It Best for the States to Unite, or Not to Unite?"
• Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787 "The Tree of Liberty Must Be Refreshed from Time to Time with the Blood of Patriots and Tyrants"
• "Publius," The Federalist VI [Alexander Hamilton], November 14, 1787 "Men Are Ambitious, Vindictive and Rapacious"
• "Brutus" III, November 15, 1787 "Representation Is Merely NominalA Mere Burlesque"
• Resolution of the Inhabitants of Pittsburgh, November 17, 1787 Nothing Better Could Be Expected
• "Philanthrop" to the Public, November 19, 1787 "Real True Self Interest Considered on a Large Extensive Scale, Is Public Good"
• "A Landholder" [Oliver Ellsworth] III, November 19, 1787 "Power When Necessary for Our Good Is as Much to Be Desired as the Food We Eat"
• "Publius," The Federalist VIII [Alexander Hamilton], November 20, 1787 Militarism, the Inevitable Result of Disunion
• "Publius," The Federalist IX [Alexander Hamilton], November 21, 1787 A Confederate Republic: The Internal Advantages of a Republican with the External Force of a Monarchical Government
• George Mason, "Objections to the Constitution," circulated early October 1787, published in full November 22, 1787 America Under the Constitution: "A Monarchy, or a Corrupt Oppressive Aristocracy"
  • A "Prolix" Comment on Mason's "Objections": James Madison to George Washington, October 18, 1787
  • Reply to Mason's "Objections": "Civis Rusticus," January 30, 1788 Not to Condemn, But to Correct
  • Answers to Mason's "Objections": "Marcus" [James Iredell] IV, February 20March 19, 1788 "A System of Government Which I Am Convinced Can Stand the Nicest Examination"
    
  • I, February 20, 1788
  • II, February 27, 1788
  • III, March 5, 1788
  • IV, March 12, 1788
  • V, March 19, 1788
• "Cato" V, November 22, 1787 Can an American Be a Tyrant? On the Great Powers of the Presidency, the Vagueness of the Constitution, and the Dangers of Congress
• "Publius," The Federalist X [James Madison], November 22, 1787 "To Break and Control the Violence of Faction"
• "A Countryman" [Roger Sherman?] II, November 22, 1787 On the Interests of Rulers and Ruled
• "Americanus" [John Stevens, Jr.] II, November 23, 1787 "Cato's" Folly: "A President Possessing the Powers of a Monarch"
• Louis Guillaume Otto to Comte de Montmorin, November 26, 1787 There Is No Way to Go Back
• "Brutus" IV, November 29, 1787 Fair Representation Is the Great Desideratum in Politics
• "Publius," The Federalist XIV [James Madison], November 30, 1787 "A Revolution Which Has No Parallel in the Annals of Human Society"
• "Americanus" [John Stevens, Jr.] III, November 30, 1787 On Representation and the Modern State
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] III, November 30, 1787 On the Present Prosperity: Recommit the Constitution
• Samuel Adams to Richard Henry Lee, December 3, 1787 The Sovereignty and Diversity of the States Will Be Lost
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] IV, December 4, 1787 The Despotism and Misery of a Uniform National State
• "Publius," The Federalist XVI [Alexander Hamilton], December 4, 1787 Civil War and the Death of the Union
• "Americanus" [John Stevens, Jr.] IV, December 5 & 6, 1787 On the Errors of "Cato" and of Celebrated Writers
• Richard Henry Lee to Governor Edmund Randolph, December 6, 1787 Must We Kill Ourselves For Fear of Dying?
• John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, December 6, 1787 The Dangers of the One and of the Few
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] V, December 11, 1787 On the "Derangement" of the Federal Courts
• George Lee Turberville to James Madison, December 11, 1787 Some Puzzling Questions
• "Publius," The Federalist XXI [Alexander Hamilton], December 12, 1787 The Extent and Malignity of the Present Disease
• "Americanus" [John Stevens, Jr.] V, December 12, 1787 On Montesquieu, a System Monger Without Philosophic Precision, and More on the Errors of "Cato"
• "Philadelphiensis" [Benjamin Workman] IV, December 12, 1787 "This Monster, This Colossus of Despotism"
• "Brutus" V, December 13, 1787 On the "Necessary and Proper" and the "General Welfare" Clauses, and on Congress's Power to Tax: the States Will Be Destroyed
• "Publius," The Federalist XXII [Alexander Hamilton], December 14, 1787 Further Defects in the Present System
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] VI, December 14, 1787 The Power to Incorporate, and the Regulation of Commerce
• Lawrence Taliaferro to James Madison, December 16, 1787 "The Federal Sistum Is Rufly Handeld"
• "A Landholder" [Oliver Ellsworth] VII, December 17, 1787 "No Religious Test Shall Ever Be Required"
• Dissent of the Minority of the Pennsylvania Convention, December 18, 1787
  • Reply to the Pennsylvania Minority: "America" [Noah Webster], December 31, 1787
  • A Cumberland County Mutual Improvement Society Addresses the Pennsylvania Minority, January 2, 1788 "Support the Drooping Cause of Liberty" and Annihilate "the Proposed Aristocratic Delusion"
  • Reply to the Pennsylvania Minority: "A Citizen of Philadelphia" [Pelatiah Webster], January 23, 1788 "Their Folly and Wickedness in Opposing the New Government"
• "Publius," The Federalist XXIII [Alexander Hamilton], December 18, 1787 On Military Power: Ends and Means
• "Publius," The Federalist XXIV [Alexander Hamilton], December 19, 1787 The Danger of a Standing Army: "An Intention to Mislead the People"
• "Philadelphiensis" [Benjamin Workman] V, December 19, 1787 "Diabolical Plots and Secret Machinations ...to Destroy Your Liberties"
• Joseph Barrell to Nathaniel Barrell, December 20, 1787 "A Constitution ... Dictated by Heaven Itself"
• Ezra Stiles: Pluses and Minuses of the Constitution, December 24, 1787
• "Publius," The Federalist XXVII [Alexander Hamilton], December 25, 1787 On the Acceptance of Federal Authority
• Governor Edmund Randolph's Reasons for Not Signing the Constitution, December 27, 1787 "I Will, as an Individual Citizen, Accept the Constitution"
• George Washington to Charles Carter, December 27, 1787 The Constitution or Anarchy: The Need to Ratify
• "Brutus" VI, December 27, 1787 The Dangers of Unlimited Taxation: "Give! Give!"
• "Publius," The Federalist XXX [Alexander Hamilton], December 28, 1787 "An Unrestrained Power of Taxation"? On the Necessity and Uses of Federal Revenue
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] IX, December 28, 1787 On the Virtues of "Pure Blood" and Limited Federal Power
• Luther Martin, "The Genuine Information" I, II, VIII, IX, XII, December 28, 1787-February 8, 1788 Resisting the Federalists' "Violent Struggle ... to Obtain All Power and Dominion"
  • I, December 28, 1787
  • II, January 1, 1788
  • VIII, January 22, 1788
  • IX, January 29, 1788
  • XII, February 8, 1788
• "The New Roof" [Francis Hopkinson], December 29, 1787 Skilful Architects and Intriguing Old Women
• "Giles Hickory" [Noah Webster] I, December 1787 On the Absurdity of a Bill of Rights
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] X, January 1, 1788 A Summary View: "This System Ought to Be Rejected"
• "Publius," The Federalist XXXII-XXXIII [Alexander Hamilton], January 2, 1788 On Repugnancy, Concurrence, and Reciprocal Forbearance
• "Centinel" [Samuel Bryan] VIII, January 2, 1788 "The Rapacious Hand of Power"
• "Brutus" VII, January 3, 1788 "Unlimitted Authority in Matters of Revenue"?
• "Publius," The Federalist XXXIV [Alexander Hamilton], January 4, 1788 State vs. National Revenues: "Calculate ... on Permanent Causes of Expence"
• Samuel Osgood to Samuel Adams, January 5, 1788 "An Inexhaustable Fountain of Corruption"
• "The Republican" to the People, January 7, 1788 "The Principal Circumstances Which Render Liberty Secure"
• Resolutions of the Tradesmen of the Town of Boston, January 8, 1788 To Promote Trade, Industry, and Morality
• "Publius," The Federalist XXXVI [Alexander Hamilton], January 8, 1788 The Representation of Interests and Federal Taxation
• Thomas B. Wait to George Thatcher, January 8, 1788 "Darkness, Duplicity, and Studied Ambiguity"
• "Brutus" VIII, January 10, 1788 On the Calamity of a National Debt That Cannot Be Repaid, and on Standing Armies
• "Mark Antony," January 10, 1788 Slavery "Ought To Be Regreted ... But It Is Evidently Beyond Our Controul": A Defense of the Three-Fifths Clause
• James Madison to Governor Edmund Randolph, January 10, 1788 The Dangers of a Second Convention
• Samuel Holden Parsons to William Cushing, January 11, 1788 "Our Security Must Rest in Our Frequently Recurring Back to the People"
• "Publius," The Federalist XXXVII [James Madison], January 11, 1788 "An Abstract View of the Subject"
• "Agrippa" [James Winthrop] XII, January 11, 15, 18, 1788 "Cherish the Old Confederation Like the Apple of Our Eye"
• "Publius," The Federalist XXXVIII [James Madison], January 12, 1788 A Bedlam of Criticism and a Counsel of Perfection
• "Americanus" [John Stevens, Jr.] VI, January 12, 1788 "An Iron Handed Despotism"?

• Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention, November 20-December 15, 1787
  • James Wilson's Opening Address, November 24, 1787
  • John Smilie Responds to Wilson on the Lack of a Bill of Rights, November 28, 1787
  • James Wilson and John Smilie Debate the Need for a Bill of Rights, November 28, 1787
  • "The Defect Is in the System Itself": Robert Whitehill on the Dangers of the Powers of Congress and the Illogic of the Habeas Corpus Clause, November 30, 1787
  • Benjamin Rush Speaks Against a Bill of Rights, November 30, 1787
  • William Findley on the Constitution as a Plan for National Consolidation, December 1, 1787
  • James Wilson Replies to Findley, December 1, 1787
  • James Wilson on the Slave-Trade Clause, December 3, 1787
  • Robert Whitehill Replies to Wilson on the Slave-Trade Clause, December 3, 1787
  • James Wilson's Summation and Final Rebuttal, December 11, 1787
  • Benjamin Rush on Morality and Government, December 12, 1787
  • Robert Whitehill's Amendments and the Final Vote, December 12, 1787
• Connecticut Ratifying Convention, January 39, 1788
• Oliver Ellsworth Defends the Taxing Power and Comments on Dual Sovereignties and Judicial Review, January 7, 1788
• Governor Samuel Huntington on the Need for Coercive National Power, January 9, 1788

Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, January 9February 7, 1788

• Letter to the Massachusetts Centinel by "Marcus" Objecting to Instructing the Delegates, January 9, 1788
• Fisher Ames on Biennial Elections and on the Volcano of Democracy, January 15, 1788
• A Sharp Exchange on the Powers of Congress and Its Probable Corruption, January 17, 1788
• Major Martin Kinsley on the Excessive Powers of Congress, January 21, 1788
• Thomas Dawes, Jr., on Legitimate Standing Armies, January 24, 1788
• Amos Singletary and Jonathan Smith on "Leviathan" Swallowing Up "Us Little Folks" and on the Danger of Anarchy, January 25, 1788
• Abraham Holmes and Christopher Gore on the Possible Abuses of the Federal Judiciary, January 30, 1788
• General William Heath on Slavery, January 30, 1788
• Charles Jarvis on the Amendment Procedure: An Irrefutable Argument for Ratification, January 30, 1788
• The Reverend Daniel Shute and Colonel William Jones on Religious Tests and Christian Belief, January 31, 1788
• John Hancock Proposes Ratification, with Amendments Recommended to "Quiet the Apprehensions of Gentlemen," January 31, 1788
• Samuel Adams Supports Hancock's Proposition, January 31, 1788
• Samuel Nasson's "Pathetick Apostrophe" to Liberty, and Judge Increase Sumner's Reply, February 1, 1788
• Isaac Backus on Religion and the State, Slavery, and Nobility, February 4, 1788
• Charles Jarvis Supports Hancock's Strategy on Amendments, February 4, 1788
• Nathaniel Barrell, a "Plain Husbandman," Warns of the Passion for Power, but Favors Ratification, February 5, 1788
• John Hancock's Final Observations: "We Must All Rise or Fall Together," February 6, 1788
• The Form of the Ratification of Massachusetts, February 6, 1788

APPENDIX

• The Declaration of Independence
• The Articles of Confederation
• Letter from the Constitutional Convention to the President of Congress
• Resolutions of the Convention Concerning the Ratification and Implementation of the Constitution
• The Constitution

Biographical Notes
Chronology of Events 1774-1804
Notes on State Constitutions, 1776-90
Note on the Texts
Notes
Index

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