Founding America: Documents from the Revolution to the Bill of Rights Read online

  Table of Contents

  Praise

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Founding America:

  Introduction

  THE IMPERIAL DISPUTE

  FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

  SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

  ART. I.

  ART. II.

  ART. III.

  ART. IV.

  ART. V.

  ART. VI.

  ART. VII.

  ART. VIII.

  ART. IX.

  ART. X.

  ART. XI.

  ART. XII.

  ART. XIII.

  “REMEMBER THE LADIES

  INVENTING A REPUBLIC

  A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE COMMON-WEALTH, OR STATE ...

  PLAN OR FRAME OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OR STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

  INDEPENDENCE

  DRAFTING THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

  REFORMING THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

  REFORMING THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

  GEORGE WASHINGTON

  POLITICAL REFORMERS

  Query XIII (excerpt) - The constitution of the State and its several characters?

  Query XIV (excerpt) - The administration of justice and the description of ...

  Query XVII

  Query XVIII

  Query XIX

  THE ROAD TO PHILADELPHIA

  RIVAL VISIONS OF UNION

  RESOLUTIONS PROPOSED BY MR RANDOLPH IN CONVENTION. MAY 29, 1787.

  Adjourned

  GETTING DOWN TO DETAILS

  ARTICLE I

  II

  III

  IV

  V

  VI

  VII [VI]

  VIII [VII]

  IX [VIII]

  X [IX]

  XI [X]

  XII [XI]

  XIII [XII]

  XIV [XIII]

  XV [XIV]

  XVI [XV]

  XVII [XVI]

  XVIII [XVII]

  XIX [XVIII]

  XX [XIX]

  XXI [XX]

  XXII [XXI]

  XXIII [XXII]

  THE CONSTITUTION

  ARTICLE. I.

  ARTICLE. II.

  ARTICLE. III.

  ARTICLE. IV.

  ARTICLE. V.

  ARTICLE. VI.

  ARTICLE. VII.

  A MORE PERFECT UNION

  THE CASE AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION

  I

  II

  III

  IV

  V

  PUBLIUS REPLIES

  THE PROBLEM OF DECLARING RIGHTS

  PROPOSING AMENDMENTS

  COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

  DEBATES

  AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.

  FRAMING THE BILL OF RIGHTS

  CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES In the HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES,

  ARTICLE THE FIRST.

  ARTICLE THE SECOND.

  ARTICLE THE THIRD.

  ARTICLE THE FOURTH.

  ARTICLE THE FIFTH.

  ARTICLE THE SIXTH.

  ARTICLE THE SEVENTH.

  ARTICLE THE EIGHTH.

  ARTICLE THE NINTH.

  ARTICLE THE TENTH.

  ARTICLE THE ELEVENTH.

  ARTICLE THE TWELFTH.

  ARTICLE THE THIRTEENTH.

  ARTICLE THE FOURTEENTH.

  ARTICLE THE FIFTEENTH.

  ARTICLE THE SIXTEENTH.

  ARTICLE THE SEVENTEENTH.

  ARTICLE THE FIRST.

  ARTICLE THE SECOND.

  ARTICLE THE THIRD.

  ARTICLE THE FOURTH.

  ARTICLE THE FIFTH.

  ARTICLE THE SIXTH.

  ARTICLE THE SEVENTH.

  ARTICLE THE EIGHTH.

  ARTICLE THE NINTH.

  ARTICLE THE TENTH.

  ARTICLE THE ELEVENTH.

  ARTICLE THE TWELFTH.

  ARTICLE THE FIRST.

  ARTICLE THE SECOND.

  ARTICLE THE THIRD.

  ARTICLE THE FOURTH.

  ARTICLE THE FIFTH.

  ARTICLE THE SIXTH.

  ARTICLE THE SEVENTH.

  ARTICLE THE EIGHTH.

  ARTICLE THE NINTH.

  ARTICLE THE TENTH.

  ARTICLE THE ELEVENTH.

  ARTICLE THE TWELFTH.

  AMENDMENT I

  AMENDMENT II

  AMENDMENT III

  AMENDMENT IV

  AMENDMENT V

  AMENDMENT VI

  AMENDMENT VII

  AMENDMENT VIII

  AMENDMENT IX

  AMENDMENT X

  For Further Reading

  List of Sources

  From the Pages of Founding America

  However peaceably your Colonies have submitted to your Government,

  shewn their Affection to your Interest, and patiently borne

  their Grievances, you are to suppose them always inclined to revolt,

  and treat them accordingly.

  (from Benjamin Franklin: “Rules by Which a Great Empire

  May Be Reduced to a Small One,” page 13)

  I long to hear that you have declared an independancy—and by the

  way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for

  you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more

  generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put

  such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember

  all Men would be tyrants if they could.

  (from a letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776, page 68)

  We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created

  equal; that they are endowed by their creator with [certain] inherent

  and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty & the

  pursuit of happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are

  instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent

  of the governed.

  (from a draft of the Declaration of Independence,

  by Thomas Jefferson, page 124)

  May the choicest of heaven’s favours, both here and hereafter, attend

  those who, under the devine auspices, have secured innumerable

  blessings for others; with these wishes, and this benediction, the Commander

  in Chief is about to retire from Service. The Curtain of seperation

  will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him will be closed

  for ever.

  (from George Washington, “Farewell Address to the

  Armies of the United States,” page 259)

  Nor should our assembly be deluded by the integrity of their own

  purposes, and conclude that these unlimited powers will never be

  abused, because themselves are not disposed to abuse them. They

  should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when a

  corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin,

  will have seized the heads of government.

  (from Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, page 267)

  Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess, and

  observe the religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot

  deny an equal freedom to those, whose minds have not yet

  yielded to the evidence which has convinced us.

  (from James Madison, “A Memorial and Remonstrance

  a
gainst Religious Assessments,” page 296)

  I can consent to no government, which, in my opinion, is not calculated

  equally to preserve the rights of all orders of men in the community.

  (from Letters from the Federal Farmer, page 435)

  But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on

  human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

  If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls

  on government would be necessary. In framing a government

  which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty

  lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed

  ; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

  (from The Federalist No. 51, page 525)

  I will candidly acknowledge, that, over and above all these considerations,

  I do conceive that the Constitution may be amended; that is

  to say, if all power is subject to abuse, that then it is possible the

  abuse of the powers of the General Government may be guarded

  against in a more secure manner than is now done.

  (from James Madison’s speech to the House of

  Representatives, June 8, 1789, page 615)

  The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,

  nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,

  or to the people.

  (from a draft of amendments to the Constitution, page 637)

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  Published in 2006 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introductions, Timeline,

  Notes, and For Further Reading.

  General Introduction, Header Introductions, Notes,

  and For Further Reading

  Copyright © 2006 by Jack N. Rakove.

  Founding America: A Timeline

  Copyright © 2006 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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  Founding America:

  Documents from the Revolution to the Bill of Rights

  ISBN-13: 978-1-59308-230-7

  eISBN : 97-8-141-14322-0

  ISBN-10: 1-59308-230-4

  LC Control Number 2005935854

  Produced and published in conjunction with:

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  Michael J. Fine, President and Publisher

  Printed in the United States of America

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  FIRST PRINTING

  Founding America:

  A Timeline

  1765 On March 22, the British Parliament adopts the Stamp Act, imposing on the American colonies a tax on legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards. Colonists respond by pressuring the men appointed to distribute the stamps to resign their commissions, boycotting British goods, and convening an intercolonial Congress to state the grounds for American opposition.

  1766 In response to colonial protests and petitions from British merchants, Parliament repeals the Stamp Act on March 18, but concurrently adopts a Declaratory Act stating that it retains the right to enact laws binding the colonists “in all cases whatsoever.”

  1767 In June and July, Charles Townshend, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduces a new bill to tax the importation into America of such goods as lead, paper, glass, and tea. American opposition to the Townshend duties is led by John Dickinson’s Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer.

  1769 In continued protests against the Townshend duties, colonists organize another boycott of British imports.

  1770 Parliament repeals all the Townshend duties except the tax on tea.

  1772 Samuel Adams organizes the Boston Committee of Correspondence, which mounts a campaign protesting a British plan to give Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson and other officials a royal salary.

  1773 In January, Hutchinson opens the Massachusetts legislature with a speech explaining why Americans should recognize the supremacy of Parliament. On September 11, Benjamin Franklin publishes Rules Whereby a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One. Parliament adopts the Tea Act, giving the near-bankrupt East India Company a monopoly on the

  sale of tea in America. On December 16, a group of sixty radicals stage the Boston Tea Party in Boston Harbor; dressed as Mohawk Indians, they board three ships—the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver—and destroy 342 crates of East India Company British tea.

  1774 In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passes a set of laws known as the Intolerable (or Coercive) Acts. In July, Thomas Jefferson writes A Summary View of the Rights of British America. With the Declaration and Resolves, adopted on October 14, the First Continental Congress unanimously agrees that the British Parliament has no right to impose taxes or other laws on unrepresented colonists. The Association, adopted on October 20, provides for the election of popular committees of inspection to enforce the proposed commercial boycott of British goods.

  1775 On April 19, military conflict begins with skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. On July 3, George Washington takes command of the newly formed Continental Army outside Boston. In July, Benjamin Franklin proposes a Plan of Confederation to the Second Continental Congress.

  1776 On January 10, Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense as an anonymous fifty-page pamphlet denouncing the British monarch and monarchy in general. Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations. In April, John Adams publishes Thoughts on Government. George Mason drafts Virginia’s Declaration of Rights; it is published on June 12. On July 4, members of the Second Continental Congress approve the Declaration of Independence. On December 26, troops led by General George Washington are victorious at the Battle of Trenton, a turning point for American military enlistment and morale after earlier defeats in Long Island and Manhattan had made the American cause seem doomed. Emanuel Leutze’s iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) was inspired by the advance of the American forces over the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

  1777 While one British army under General William Howe occupies Philadelphia, another under General John Burgoyne surrenders to American troops at Saratoga, New York. On

  November 15, the Continental Congress formally endorses the Articles of Confederation, which provide a system of national governance for the thirteen American states.

  1778 In February, the French monarchy of Louis XVI signs a treaty of alliance with the United States.

  1780 New York cedes its western land claims to Congress, initiating a process that will lead by 1784 to the creation of a national domain above the Ohio River.

  1781 On March 1, the Articles of Confederation take effect after Maryland becomes the thirteenth state to ratify. On October 19, British General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to General Washington, ending major military conflict.

  1782 Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris presents Congress with a comprehensive Report on Public Credit, initiating a debate over financial policy that lasts into the spring of 1783.

  1783 The Treaty of Paris, negotiated by John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams and signed in April, formally ends the Revolutionary War. On November 2, Washington delivers his farewell to the Armies of the United States.

  1785 On June 20, Madison publishes Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments.

  1786 In September, delegates from five states attend th
e Annapolis Convention, called by Virginia to consider ways to grant commercial powers to Congress. The delegates instead propose that a second convention be called for May to consider the general defects of the Confederation.

  1787 In February, Congress adopts a resolution approving the general convention. Thomas Jefferson publishes his Notes on the State of Virginia the same month. In May, the Constitutional Convention meets in Philadelphia, with every state but Rhode Island eventually attending. Instead of amending the Articles, the delegates draft a new document, the Constitution of the United States, which is signed on September 17 and sent to the states for ratification. In October, Melancton Smith publishes Letters from the Federal Farmer. Amid widespread anxiety that the proposed government insufficiently protects individual liberty, the first Federalist paper, written by Alexander Hamilton, is published in New York on October 27; it appears under the pseudonym “Publius,” a pen name

  Hamilton shares with James Madison and John Jay, the other two authors of what will be, in all, eighty-five essays that promote ratification of the Constitution. In December, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey ratify the Constitution.

  1788 In January, Georgia and Connecticut ratify the Constitution. Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire follow, making the nine states required for the new government to take effect. Virginia and New York soon approve. Two other states, Rhode Island and North Carolina, reject the Constitution.