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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 More

Edited by Bernard Bailyn

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Story of the Week Noah Webster, “On the Absurdity of a Bill of Rights”
March 16, 2017

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In this Library of America volume (and its companion) is captured, on a scale unmatched by any previous collection, the extraordinary energy and eloquence of our first national political campaign.

When the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia ended its secret proceedings on September 17, 1787, few Americans were prepared for the document that emerged. Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the framers had created a fundamentally new national plan that placed over the states a supreme government with broad powers. They proposed to submit it to conventions in each state, elected “by the People thereof,” for ratification.

Immediately, a fierce storm of argument broke. Federalist supporters, Antifederalist opponents, and seekers of a middle ground strove to balance public order and personal liberty as they praised, condemned, challenged, and analyzed the new Constitution.

Assembled here in chronological order are hundreds of newspaper articles, pamphlets, speeches, and private letters written or delivered in the aftermath of the Constitutional Convention. Along with familiar figures like Franklin, Madison, Patrick Henry, Jefferson, and Washington, scores of less famous citizens are represented, all speaking clearly and passionately about government. The most famous writings of the ratification struggle—the Federalist essays of Hamilton and Madison—are placed in their original context, alongside the arguments of able antagonists, such as “Brutus” and the “Federal Farmer.”

Part One includes press polemics and private commentaries from September1787 to January 1788. That autumn, powerful arguments were made against the new charter by Virginian George Mason and the still-unidentified “Federal Farmer,” while in New York newspapers, the Federalist essays initiated a brilliant defense. Dozens of speeches from the state ratifying conventions show how the “draft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter,” in Madison’s words, had “life and validity…breathed into it by the voice of the people.” Included are the conventions in Pennsylvania, where James Wilson confronted the democratic skepticism of those representing the western frontier, and in Massachusetts, where John Hancock and Samuel Adams forged a crucial compromise that saved the country from years of political convulsion.

Informative notes, biographical profiles of all writers, speakers, and recipients, and a detailed chronology of relevant events from 1774 to 1804 provide fascinating background. A general index allows readers to follow specific topics, and an appendix includes the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution (with all amendments).

See the contents for this volume (PDF)

Bernard Bailyn (1922–2020), editor, was Adams University Professor and James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard University and a Pulitzer Prize–winning author of numerous books, including The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, Voyagers to the West, and Atlantic History: Concept and Contours. In 2010 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.

This Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.

Project support for this volume was provided by The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation

The Debate on the Constitution: Part One is kept in print by a gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Guardians of American Letters Fund, in honor of John C. Whitehead.
Table of Contents
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”?
DEBATES IN THE STATE RATIFYING CONVENTIONS
- 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
Contributors

John Adams
Samuel Adams
Fisher Ames
Isaac Backus
Joseph Barrell
Nathaniel Barrell
George Bryan
Samuel Bryan
Tench Coxe
Thomas Dawes Jr.
Oliver Ellsworth
William Findley
Benjamin Franklin
Elbridge Gerry
Christopher Gore
Alexander Hamilton
John Hancock
William Heath
Abraham Holmes
Francis Hopkinson
Samuel Huntington
James Iredell
Charles Jarvis
Thomas Jefferson
William Jones
Martin Kinsley
Arthur Lee
Richard Henry Lee
James Madison (1749–1812)
James Madison (1751–1836)
Luther Martin
George Mason
Eleonore François Elie, Marquis de Moustier
Samuel Nasson
Samuel Osgood
Louis-Guillaume Otto, Comte d Mosloy
Samuel Holden Parsons
Timothy Pickering
Edmund Randolph
David Redick
Benjamin Rush
Roger Sherman
Daniel Shute
Amos Singletary
John Smilie
Jonathan Smith
Isaac Snow
John Stevens Jr
Ezra Stiles
Increase Sumner
Lawrence Taliaferro
Samuel Thomspon
George Lee Turberville
Charles Turner
Joseph Bradley Varnum
James Wadsworth
Thomas Baker Wait
George Washington
Noah Webster
Pelatiah Webster
Samuel West
Robert Whitehill
William Widgery
James Wilson
James Winthrop
Benjamin Workman

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