The Triumph of the Constitution, by Clinton Rossiter
The triumph of the Convention of 1787 is that in raising a standard to which the wise and honest could repair, it also raised one that met the threefold test… Read more »
Tag: Federal Convention
Shaping the Electoral College Part II of XIV
Subtitle: June 1st. As with the three other major institutions of their Constitution, (House, Senate, Judiciary) our Framers were careful to properly match electors to the Electoral College. It wasn’t… Read more »
Shaping the Electoral College (Part I of XIV)
Not until the waning days of the Philadelphia Convention did our Framers complete their plan of the Electoral College. In contrast, Article I elections to Congress and Article III appointments… Read more »
In Praise of Alexander Hamilton Part III
Subtitle: The Federal Convention June 1st – June 6th. “I do not see the danger of the states being devoured by the national government. On the contrary, I wish to… Read more »
A Senate of the States: June 14th – June 18th, 1787
June 14. William Patterson (NJ), spooked by the developing Virginia Plan, asked for a one-day adjournment to work on an improved federal design. June 15. He submitted the New Jersey/Patterson… Read more »
A Senate of the States: May 25th – May 31st, 1787
In this series I will relate the debates at the Federal Convention surrounding the structure and responsibilities of the US Senate. We’ll find that the Framers assigned the new government… Read more »
Whatever Happened to the Articles of Confederation? Part IV
Subtitle: The Road to Philadelphia. Most narratives on the events leading to the federal convention in Philadelphia begin with the Mount Vernon meeting of 1785 in which delegates from Virginia… Read more »
The Framers’ Senate
Charles de Montesquieu wrote, “At the birth of societies, the rulers of republics establish institutions; and afterwards the institutions mold the rulers.” The institution of the US Senate has indeed… Read more »