Additional Resources
AHG 510B: Great American Texts: Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
Master of American History and Government
Ashland University
AHG 510B:
Great American Texts:
Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
Instructor: Christopher Flannery
Sunday July 22 to Friday July 27, 2007
Course Description:
This course is an intensive study of one important text in American history, politics or literature. Examples might include The Federalist Papers, Franklin’s Autobiography, Tocqueville’s Democracy in America or Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. The text may change from course to course, and the course may be repeated up to two times with the permission of the Associate Director.
Those most devoted to the principles and forms of Republics, were alarmed for the cause of liberty itself, at stake in the American Experiment…Nor was I unaware of the value of [the Notes]… for the History of a Constitution on which would be staked the happiness of a people great even in its infancy, and possibly of Liberty throughout the world. (James Madison, pp. 15, 17, Notes)
From May 25 to September 17, 1787, delegates from twelve of the thirteen independent United States of America met in the State House in Philadelphia deliberating in secret about "the situation of the United States" and considering what measures might be necessary to "render the Constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The result of their deliberations was the Constitution of the United States that remains the supreme law of the land to this day. James Madison’s "Notes" are by far the best record we have of these deliberations. They are one of the most authoritative records we have of the intentions of the framers of the Constitution when they were drafting that document. In this course we will study these "Notes" as thoroughly as we can, aiming at a fuller understanding of the Constitution and the founding statesmanship that produced it.
Course Objectives
This course has three broad objectives: to engage in the serious reading of an important text in American history and government; to understand the reasoning behind some of the articles and clauses of the Constitution; and to understand the founding politics or statesmanship manifested at the Constitutional Convention. More specifically, the course aims to increase participants’ familiarity with and understanding of:
- How to read a complex text.
- Some of the fundamental principles animating the American Founding.
- The articles, sections, and clauses of the Constitution of 1787.
- The deliberations in the Constitutional Convention.
- The main structures and procedures of the new American government devised in the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
- Some of the most important framers who deliberated at the Constitutional Convention.
Course Requirements
A 3—4 page seminar paper (due during the week) and a final examination.
Grades will be assigned in the following manner.
| Class Participation | 25% | |
| Paper | 25% | |
| Final Examination | 50% | |
| 100% |
Required Readings:
James Madison. Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987. ISBN: 0393304051.
Selected readings from Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds. The Founders’ Constitution. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987. ISBN: 0865973024. Available on—line at: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.
Constitutional Convention Website ( http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/).
Recommended Readings:
Amar, Akhil Reed. America’s Constitution — A Biography. New York, NY: Random House, 2005.
Bowen, Catherine Drinker. Miracle at Philadelphia — The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787. Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1966.
Farrand, Max, ed. Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Yale University Press, 1966.
Kaminski, John P., Gaspare J. Saladino, Richard Leffler, Charles H. Schoenleber and Margaret A. Hogan, eds. The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution. Madison House Publishers.
If you have a chance to familiarize yourself with the Notes before the class begins, you might begin by perusing the Constitutional Convention Website created by Gordon Lloyd ( http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/), which will be a great help to us during this course. In particular, you might glance at the Introduction to this Website and read the Introduction to the Constitutional Convention.
Students auditing the course as a part of a Teaching American History Grant program must complete the readings and fully participate in the seminars during the week.
Course Schedule
(Subject to change according to the pace of our reading and conversation)
Sunday, July 22
4:30 6:00 pm: Introduction to this course and Session I
Topic: Novus Ordo Seclorum
Focus: What were the foundations, forms, and purposes of the first political institutions established through the American Revolution in the newly sovereign United States of America?
Reading:
- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 1, Document 5)
- Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 12, 1776 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 1, Document 3)
- Massachusetts Constitution: Preamble and Part the First. A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, March 2, 1780 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 1, Document 6)
- Articles of Confederation, March 1, 1781 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 1, Document 7)
7:00 8:30 pm: Session 2 Institute Lecture (required)
Monday, July 23
9:00 10:30 am: Session 3
Topic: Crisis of the American Experiment 1780—1787
Focus: What defects or vices did Americans quickly discover in the new governments they had instituted and in the principles on which the foundations of those governments had been laid? How did these defects threaten the "e;safety and happiness" of the American people? What remedies were suggested that seemed more likely to effect Americans’ safety and happiness?
Reading:
- Alexander Hamilton to James Duane, September 3, 1780, on "the defects of our present system" (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 5, Document 2)
- James Madison, Notes on Debates in Congress, January 28, 1783 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 5, Document 5)
- James Madison, Notes on Debates in Congress, February 21, 1783 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 5, Document 6)
- George Washington to James Warren, October 7, 1785 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 5, Document 9)
10:50 am 12:20 pm: Session 4
Topic: Prologue
Focus: How did the Philadelphia Convention come about? Who attended, for what purpose, and under what authority?
Reading:
- Annapolis Convention, Proceedings of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government, September 11, 1786 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 6, Document 2)
- Act of the Virginia General Assembly, December 1, 1786 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 6, Document 3)
- Resolution of the Continental Congress, February 1, 1787 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 6, Document 6)
- James Madison, Vices of the Political System of the United States (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 5, Document 16)
- Introduction to the Constitutional Convention http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/
4:30 6:00 pm: Session 5
Topic: Constitutional Convention Act I, scenes 1—6: The rules, the delegates, the Randolph Plan
Focus: Of what significance were the rules adopted by the convention? In what respects did the "Virginia Plan" represent a new constitution rather than a mere revision of the Articles? What were the delegates’ initial reactions and questions concerning the Virginia Plan? What parts of the Virginia Plan were rejected or amended? What did the delegates mean when they spoke of a national government as opposed to a federal government?
Reading:
Tuesday, July 24
9:00 10:30 am: Session 6
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act I, scenes 7—9: The Amended Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Hamilton Plan
Focus: What different principles animate the New Jersey and Virginia Plans and the Hamilton Proposal? Why were the New Jersey and Hamilton Plans introduced? What are the arguments for representation of the states, as opposed to the people, in the federal government? Consider the discussions of the executive power, bicameralism, and the role of the judiciary in the context of "republican principles." What do "republican principles" say about the sources of power, the powers, and the structure of the federal government? Is Madison’s extended republic argument a departure from republican principles?
Reading:
10:50 am 12:20 pm: Session 7
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act II: The Connecticut Compromise, scenes 1—5
Focus: What accounts for the persistence of the New Jersey Plan supporters despite their defeat earlier? What are the arguments against the "legality" and "practicality" of the Amended Virginia Plan? When and how did the Connecticut Compromise emerge as a viable alternative? How did the "partly national, partly federal" concept enter the discussion? Why did Madison argue that the issue facing the delegates was not small states vs. large states but the slavery question? What is the significance of who was elected to the Gerry Committee? Who changed their minds and why during this month long discussion over representation? Who favored and who opposed the Connecticut Compromise? What else, besides the representation issue, was discussed during this part of the Convention?
Reading:
4:30 6:00 pm: Session 8
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act II: The Connecticut Compromise, scene 6
Focus: Why did Madison argue that the issue facing the delegates was not small states vs. large states but the slavery question? What is the significance of who was elected to the Gerry Committee? Who changed their minds and why during this month long discussion over representation? What else, besides the representation issue, was discussed during this part of the Convention?
Reading:
Wednesday, July 25
9:00 10:30 am: Session 9
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act III: The Committee of Detail Report, scene 1
Focus: Who was elected to the Committee of Detail and what has been his position so far with respect to the republican and federal issues? How does the Committee on Detail Report differ from the original and amended Virginia Plans?
Reading:
10:50 am 12:20 pm: Session 10
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act III: The Committee of Detail Report, scene 2
Focus: During their deliberations of the Report did the delegates let "experience be their guide"? What powers and what rights of Congress did the delegates suggest be enumerated? What was the status of the Executive and the Judiciary branches by the end of the discussions of the Report? Who was elected to the Slave Trade Committee and what had they said about slavery up to that point? How did the slavery provisions undergo changes during the deliberations?
Reading:
4:30 6:00 pm: Session 11
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act III: The Committee of Detail Report, scene 3
Focus: What alterations did the delegates make between August 6 and August 31 to the 23 articles of the Committee of Detail Report? What do these alterations tell us about their thinking?
Reading:
Thursday, July 26
9:00 10:30 am: Session 12
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act IV: The End is in Sight, scene 1
Focus: The Brearley Committee was created to take care of "leftovers." How did it handle the disputes concerning the Executive branch? Who was on the Committee of Style and how did the Report differ from the Committee of Detail Report? Why did Randolph, Mason, and Gerry decide against signing the Constitution? Were their reasons similar? Did the delegates attempt to accommodate their objections?
Reading:
10:50 am 12:20 pm: Session 13
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act IV: The End is in Sight, scene 2
Focus: What last hour changes did the delegates make to the Report? Why did Randolph, Mason, and Gerry decide against signing the Constitution? Were their reasons similar? Did the delegates attempt to accommodate their objections?
Reading:
4:30 6:00 pm: Session 14
Topic: Constitutional Convention, Act IV: The End is in Sight, scenes 3—4
Focus: Why did Randolph, Mason, and Gerry decide against signing the Constitution? Were their reasons similar? Did the delegates attempt to accommodate their objections? What provisions did the delegates make for submitting the Constitution to Congress and the states for ratification? What is the legendary significance of Washington’s chair?
Reading:
Friday, July 27
9:00 10:30 am: Session 15
Topic: Epilogue
Focus: How did the Confederation Congress greet the "Report" from the Philadelphia Convention? How did James Madison describe the work of the Convention to Thomas Jefferson?
Reading:
- The Constitution of the United States (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 1, Document 9)
- Notes from the Continental Congress, September 26—28, 1787 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 6, Document 12)
- James Madison, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, October 27, 1787 (The Founders’ Constitution, Chapter 17, Document 22)
10:50 am 12:20 pm: Session 16
Topic: Summary and Review
1:30 3:00 pm: Session 17
Final Examination