It would be hard to overestimate the value of this publication to our understanding of the development of our constitution and our system of Government. This book is one of the core documents in the American Archive.
THE purpuse of the publication of this collection of documents
on the origin and development of our constitutional history is
to present under one cover the most
significant documents relative to the formation of the American
Federal States. The only comparable collection of documents published
by the Government of the United States is the Documentary
History of the Constitution, which was brought out some thirty-two
years ago.
Two other publications have since appeared which bring together
some of these documents. In 1911 Prof. Max Farrand, of Yale
University, brought out a new edition of the Records of the Federal
Convention in three volumes. This work included Madison's
journal and the supplementary material by Yates, McHenry, and
others. He also included certain significant correspondence of the
members of the Federal Convention. This important publication
was not only quite expensive but is now difficult to acquire at any
price. In 1920 the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
published the debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 reported
by James Madison. This also included some preliminary and
supplementary material.
In the present document greater emphasis has been placed upon
the evolution of the Constitution in the Constitutional Convention
of 1787. The documents necessary for a complete study of the
development of the Federal Constitution have been scattered so
widely in different publications, many of them inaccessible to the
ordinary reader, that it is a real service to collect all relevant
materials and publish them in one volume.
Until a few years ago our chief source of information with
regard to the proceedings of the Federal Convention was the
journal kept by James Madison, of Virginia. Since the publication
of this in the Documentary History of the Constitution,
the notes and papers kept by other members of the convention
have come to light and have been published. In the proposed
volume the notes of Robert Yates, Rufus King, William Pierce,
William Paterson, Alexander Hamilton, and James McHenry have
been reproduced. These documents, not only give a new insight
into the personal characteristics of the members of the convention,
but they Present valuable supplementary material with
reference to the arguments presented in and the actual decisions
of the Federal Convention.
In no previous publication has any attempt been made to
publish the variant texts of the plans presented to the convention
by Edmund Randolph, William Paterson, and Alexander Hamilton. It
has usually been assumed that the texts of these plans
as published in Madison's journal were authentic. Recent investigations
have shown, however, that the texts of these plans as
actually presented to the convention were in many particulars
widely different from the plans as given by Madison. Although
it is practically impossible to determine the exact text of these
different plans that were presented to the convention, it has been
deemed of great importance to publish for the first time in one
volume these variant texts.
No argument is necessary to point out the value of having these
historical papers made available in one volume. The wide dissemination
of these documents, dealing with those momentous and
stirring questions associated with the birth of our country, and
its subsequent constitutional development, will do incalculable
good and will foster a better understanding of the principles upon
which our government is founded.
The table of contents shows a list of the documents in chronological
order. The analytical subject index and index of names adds materially
to the usefulness of the volume as a book of reference.
H. H. B. MEYER,
Director, Legislative Reference Service.
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