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Convention: A Daily Journal

Center for Civics Education

Convention: A Daily Journal

会议:《菲律宾十大网赌网站》是1787年制宪会议的日刊,会议由最初的13个州中的12个州召开,旨在修改《菲律宾十大网赌网站》,建立一个“更完美的联盟”.” It chronicles the daily activities of the Convention, profiles the delegates and their interactions with each other, and looks back to life in America in the 1780s. Writing in the first person, 这个故事是一位“观察者”从当时的报纸报道和代表们的个人笔记和信件中听到的事件讲述的.


August 11, 1788

November 15, 2021 - 5 minute read


Associate Justice James Iredell

6月21日,新罕布什尔州成为第九个投票批准宪法的州,宪法正式通过, followed by Virginia and New York by the end of July. North Carolina and Rhode Island were the outliers, still refusing to join their sister States and choosing, at least temporarily, to remain outside the union. 纽约寄给各州的通函和从《菲律宾十大网赌网站》过渡到新宪法的实际细节使问题更加复杂.

On July 26, 纽约制宪会议给其他州的州长发了一封通函,建议“在不久的将来”召开一次全体会议,审议宪法修正案.来自宾夕法尼亚州13个县的反对者正准备于9月在哈里斯堡组织一次非正式会议,敦促立法机关要求宪法规定的第一届国会召开一次“来自联邦几个州的代表大会”.” Its purpose would be to consider amendments. 在弗吉尼亚州,帕特里克·亨利(Patrick Henry)正在利用他不可思议的影响力进行类似的努力. Edmund Randolph, 制宪会议上有三名代表拒绝在文件送交美国时签字,他就是其中之一.

These were not mere threats. Article V of the new Constitution provided that Congress, “on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments.” Calling New York’s circular letter “a matter of much regret,詹姆斯·麦迪逊在给乔治·华盛顿的信中表达了他的担忧,他担心这样一个提前召开的会议可能会导致“联邦制度的改变,从而将重要的权力扔回州立法机构”.把制宪会议推迟几年,可以缓和反对宪法的情绪,“同时指出真正需要修改的错误。.”

麦迪逊甚至建议,如果纽约州把批准宪法的时间推迟到新政府成立之后,情况可能会更好. Perhaps, he continued, 在这场新的危机结束之前,罗德岛最好不要加入.” As for North Carolina, Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson on August 10, 其代表大会已于21日召开,但“尚未听到其审议的一个字。.”

麦迪逊不知道的是,8月2日,北卡罗来纳州以184比83的投票结果“既不批准也不拒绝”宪法. However, 它提出了一项《十大正规赌平台平台》和26项修正案,准备转交给其他国家. Willie Jones, a fierce critic of the Constitution and leader of the North Carolina Antis, 声称公约的行动实际上是一种迫使审议修正案的策略. It was not designed to keep North Carolina from eventually joining the union. “This was the most decent and best way of obtaining amendments,” he said. 他“不担心其他州会拒绝他们加入联邦, when they thought proper to come in.” 

Convening in the town of Hillsborough on July 21, 200多名代表代表了最大和人口最多的国家之一. A substantial majority harbored a deep distrust of government, 基于多年的政府腐败和滥用权力,这深刻地影响了他们对宪法的怀疑和反对. 

On July 23, the proposed Constitution, 《菲律宾十大网赌网站》和其他文件向全体代表宣读. James Galloway, an opponent of the Constitution from Rockingham County, then moved that the Constitution be considered paragraph by paragraph. 琼斯随即站起来,突然提出了一项替代动议——立即就宪法进行表决. “长期以来,宪法一直是这个国家每个人深思熟虑的主题,” he said, “《菲律宾十大网赌网站》的成员有如此充分的机会来审议这个问题,他们每一个人都准备对这个问题投上一票.”

Stunned, James Iredell protested, “astonished at a proposal to decide immediately, without the least deliberation, a question which is perhaps the greatest that ever was submitted to any body of men.” An early supporter of independence from Great Britain, 艾瑞德尔曾撰写过有说服力的政治文章,并帮助组织了北卡罗来纳州的新司法体系, eventually becoming the State’s attorney general. 如果不进行审议,“我希望知道我们为什么会在一起,”他要求道. Jones did not object.

For the next two weeks, Iredell and William Davie resolutely defended the Constitution, frequently supported by Richard Spaight and William Blount who, along with Davie, 代表北卡罗来纳参加了前一年在费城举行的制宪会议. Squaring off against them were Jones, Galloway, 法官塞缪尔·斯宾塞和一群怀疑论者决心保护他们的自由,防止一个充满活力的国家政府侵犯各州的权利.

More than any other provision of the Constitution, 国会“制定和征收税收”的权力吸引了反对派的注意力. 约瑟夫·麦克道尔坚定地说:“这是我永远不会同意从这个国家的人民手中放弃的权力……收税员将被派去。, and our property will be wrested out of our hands…If the tax gatherers come upon us, they will, like the locusts of old, destroy us.”  The mistrust of government was palpable. 吉尔福德县的威廉·古迪提醒大会说:“权力本来就属于人民, but if rulers be not well guarded, that power may be usurped from them.“ These were not unfounded fears of backwoods farmers, 但对任何一个拥有如此广泛的征税和破坏权力的政府的真诚怀疑.

On August 3, as the convention prepared to adjourn, Iredell wrote to his wife, Hannah, “We are for the present out of the Union, and God knows when we shall get in to it again.” On November 21, 1789, 当北卡罗来纳州最终批准宪法时,它将“再次陷入困境”, more than eight months after the First Congress convened. Three months later, 乔治·华盛顿总统提名艾瑞德尔为最高法院大法官,直到1799年他48岁去世.

 

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