A motion was then made by the delegates for Massachusetts, to postpone the further consideration of the report, in order to take into consideration a motion which they read in their place; this being agreed to, the motion of the delegates for Massachusetts was taken up, and being amended was agreed to, as follows:: "Whereas, there is provision in the articles of confederation and perpetual union, for making alterations therein, by the assent of a Congress of the United States, and of the legislatures of the several states; and whereas, experience hath evinced that there are defects in the present confederation, as a mean to remedy which, several of the states, and particularly the state of New York, by express instructions to their delegates in Congress, have suggested a convention for the purposes expressed in the following resolution; and such convention appearing to be the most probable means of establishing, in these states, a firm national government: "Resolved, That, in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the articles of confederation, and reporting to Congress, and the several legislatures, such alteration and provisions therein, as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the states, render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of the government, and the preservation of the Union." In compliance with the recommendation of Congress, delegates were chosen in the several states, for the purpose of revising the articles of confederation, who assembled in Philadelphia, on the second Monday in May, 1787. General Washington was chosen president of the convention. On the 17th of September, 1787, the convention having agreed upon the several articles of the federal constitution, it was adopted and signed by all the members present. On Friday, the 28th of September, 1787, the Congress having received the report of the convention, with the constitution, recommended for ratification by the several states, and by Congress, adopted the following resolution : Resolved, unanimously, That the said report, with the resolutions and letters accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the convention, made and provided in that case." The constitution having been ratified by the number of states required, the following proceedings took place in the old Congress, preparatory to organizing the new government. Saturday, September 13, 1788.-On the question to agree to the following proposition, it was resolved in the affirmative, by the unanimous votes of nine states, viz., of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. Whereas, the convention assembled in Philadelphia, pursuant to the resolution of Congress, of the 21st of February, 1787, did, on the 17th of September, in the same year, report to the United States, in Congress assembled, a constitution for the people of the United States; whereupon, Congress, on the 28th of the same September, did resolve unanimously, that the said report, with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention of delegates, chosen in each state by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the convention, made and provided in that case;' and whereas the constitution so reported by the convention, and by Congress transmitted to the several legislatures, has been ratified in the manner therein declared to be sufficient for the establishment of the same, and such ratifications, duly authenticated, have been received by Congress, and are filed in the office of the secretary, therefore— "Resolved, That the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing electors in the several states which before the said day shall have ratified the said constitution; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective states, and vote for a president; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of Congress [New York] the place, for commencing proceedings under the said constitution." Delegates to the Convention which met at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to frame a new Constitution. New Hampshire, on the 27th of June, 1787, appointed John Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Gilman, and Benjamin West. Massachusetts, on the 9th of April, 1787, appointed Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. Connecticut, on the second Thursday of May, 1786, appointed William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. New York, on the 6th of March, 1787, appointed Robert Yates, John Lansing, jr., and Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey, on the 23d of November, 1780, appointed David Brearly, William Churchill Houston, William Paterson, and John Neilson; and on the 8th of May, 1787, added William Livingston and Abraham Clark; and on the 5th of June, 1787, added Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania, on the 30th of December, 1786, appointed Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitzsimons, James Wilson, and Governeur Morris; and on the 28th of March, 1787, added Benjamin Franklin. Delaware, on the 3d of February, 1787, appointed George Read, Gunning Bedford, jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom. Maryland, on the 26th of May, 1787, appointed James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin. Virginia, on the 16th of October, 1786, appointed George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, jr., George Mason, and George Wythe. Patrick Henry having declined his appointment as deputy, James McClurg was nominated to supply his place. North Carolina, in January, 1787, elected Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones. Richard Caswell having resigned, William Blount was appointed a deputy in his place. Willie Jones having also declined his appointment, was supplied by Hugh Williamson. South Carolina, on the 8th of March, 1787, appointed John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Pierce Butler. Georgia, on the 10th of February, 1787, appointed William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Walton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton. Dates of the Ratification of the Constitution by the Thirteen Old States. .... New Hampshire....June.....21, 1788 States since admitted into the Union by acts of Congress. THE day appointed for the meeting of the commissioners, at Albany, in the state of New York, was the 14th of June, 1754, but they did not assemble until the 19th of June, when it was found that seven colonies were represented, viz: The whole number of commissioners appointed was twenty-five, who all attended, as above named. Virginia and New Jersey, though expressly invited, did not attend. Having completed a treaty with the Indians, the commissioners took up the subject of a plan of union. A committee, consisting of one member from each colony, was appointed to draw a plan, viz.: Messrs. Hutchinson of Massachusetts, Atkinson of New Hampshire, Pitkin of Connecticut, Hopkins of Rhode Island, Smith of New York, Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Tasker of Maryland. Several plans were proposed, but an outline presented by Dr. Franklin, before he arrived in Albany, was preferred by the committee, and reported to the Congress on the 28th of June. The debates on the various topics embraced in the plan of union continued for twelve days, when the one reported, substantially as drawn by Doctor Franklin, was adopted; and the Congress adjourned on the 11th of July. This scheme of general government received the assent of all the commissioners, except those from Connecticut. Indeed, Governor Hutchinson, in his history of Massachusetts, says the vote was unanimous in the Congress; but this is contradicted by the Connecticut historians. It was, however, to be of no force unless confirmed by the several colonial assemblies-and not one of them, when the report was made by their delegates, inclined to part with so great a share of power as was to be given to this general government. The plan met with no better fate in England, where it was laid before the king and the board of trade. Doctor Franklin says: "The colonial assemblies all thought there was too much prerogative in it, and in England it was thought to have too much of the democratic in it.” Considering the rejection by the two parties, for opposite reasons, it was Franklin's opinion, thirty years afterward, that his plan was near the true medium. It is remarkable how nearly the basis approaches the constitution of the United States.* CONGRESS AT NEW YORK, 1765. THE proposal for holding a congress of delegates from the respective colonies, in consequence of the passage of the stamp act and other oppressive measures of the British parliament, was made by the corresponding committee of the New York assembly (appointed in October, 1764), and was repeatedly agitated in the different colonial legislatures. In June, 1765, the popular branch of the legislature of Massachusetts issued a circular letter proposing "a meeting of committees from the house of representatives or burgesses of the several British colonies on this continent, to consult together on the circumstances of the colonies, and the difficulties to which they are and must be reduced by the operation of the acts of parliament, for levying duties and taxes on the colonies; and to consider of a general and united, dutiful, loyal, and humble representation of their condition to his majesty aud to the parliament, and to implore relief; also, that such meeting be at the city of New York, on the first Tuesday of October next." In consequence of the circular letter referred to, the following gentlemen met at New York, on the 7th of October, 1765, viz. :— New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, were not represented; but their assemblies wrote that they would agree to whatever was done by the Congress. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was, by ballot, chosen chairman of the Congress, and John Cotton, clerk.* This Congress continued in session, from day to day, until the 24th of October, 1765, and their proceedings were approved by all of the delegates, except Mr. Ruggles, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Ogden, of New Jersey, both of whom left New York without signing the address or petitions. The proceedings of the Congress were afterward sanctioned by the various colonial assemblies. CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. Presidents of the Continental Congress, from 1774 to 1788. Sessions of the Continental Congress. The sessions of the continental Congress were commenced as follows: September 5, 1774, also May 10, 1775, at Philadelphia; December 20, 1776, at Baltimore; March 4, 1777, at Philadelphia; September 27, 1777, at Lancaster, Penn.; September 30, 1777, at York, Penn.; July 2, 1778, at Philadelphia; June 30, 1783, at Princeton, New Jersey; November 26, 1783, at Annapolis, Maryland; November 1, 1784, at Trenton, New Jersey; January 11, 1785, at New York, which, from that time, continued to be the place of meeting till the adoption of the constitution of the United States. From 1781 to 1788, Congress met annually on the first Monday in November, pursuant to the articles of confederation. Journal of the First American or Stamp-Act Congress, of 1765, published in Niles's Register, 1812, and by E. Winchester, New York, 1845. |