Description:

Connecticut Ratifies U.S. Constitution

This series of issues and partial issues contains extensive reports on the Connecticut Ratification Convention that met in Hartford from January 4 to January 9, 1788. The convention approved the proposed Constitution of the United States by a vote of 128 in favor to 40 opposed.

[CONSTITUTION]. The New-Haven Gazette, and the Connecticut Magazine, January 10, 1788 (6 pp); January 17, 1788; January 24, 1788; February 21, 1788; February 28, 1788 (pp3-8 only); March 6, 1788 (pp3-6 only); with Volume III title page. New Haven, CT: Josiah Meigs. 42 pp., 8.75" x 10.375". Disbound; general toning; tape repairs to several pages and margins with minimal effect on text.

Excerpts
[Oliver Ellsworth speech:]
"We must unite, in order to preserve peace among ourselves. If we are divided, what is to hinder war from breaking out among the states? States, as well as individuals, are subject to ambition, to avarice, to those jarring passions which disturb the peace of society. What is to check these? If there is a parental hand over the whole, this, and nothing else can restrain the unruly conduct of the members." (January 10, p3/c1)
"The constitution before us is a complete system of legislative, judicial, and executive power. It was designed to supply the defects of the former system, and, I believe, upon a full discussion it will be found calculated to answer the purposes for which it was designed." (January 10, p4/c2)

"The Convention got through with debating upon the constitution by sections. It was canvassed critically and fully. Every objection was raised against it that the ingenuity and invention of its opposers could devise. The writer of this account would wish to exhibit to public view, tho' he is sensible he could do it but imperfectly, the whole of the debates upon this interesting subject, but they would be so exceedingly prolix, that he is obliged to give up any such attempt. Suffice it to say, that all the objections to the constitution vanished, before the learning and eloquence of a Johnson, the genuine good sense and discernment of a Sherman, and the Demosthenean energy of an Ellsworth." (January 17, p5/c3)

"Ratification of the Federal constitution by the convention.

"In the Name of the PEOPLE of the STATE of CONNECTICUT,

"WE, the delegates of the people of said state, in General Convention assembled, pursuant to an act of the legislature in October last, have assented to and ratified, and by these presents do assent to, ratify and adopt the constitution reported by the convention of delegates in Philadelphia, on the 17th day of September A. D. 1787, for the United States of America.
"DONE in Convention, this 9th day of January, 1788. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands." (January 17, p5/c3-p6/c1)

[Speech of Governor Samuel Huntington:]
"The great secret of preserving liberty is to lodge the supreme power so as to be well supported and not abused. If this could only be effected no nation would ever lose its liberty. The history of man clearly shows that it is dangerous to entrust the supreme power in the hands of one man. The same source of knowledge proves that it is not only inconvenient, but dangerous to liberty, for the people of a large community to attempt to exercise in person the supreme authority. Hence arises the necessity that the people should act by their representatives...." (January 24, p3/c3)
"The constitution effectually secures the states in their several rights. It must secure them for its own sake; for they are the pillars which uphold the general system." (January 24, p4/c3)

Historical Background
Delegates from seven states assembled in convention in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787, to consider modifications to the government of the Articles of Confederation, which had governed the new nation since 1781. From the beginning, several delegates, including especially James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York, hoped to create a new framework of government rather than revising the old one. Delegates from five more states joined the original group, and ultimately fifty-five delegates from twelve states attended some of the meetings. Rhode Island sent no delegates.

Over the next four months, the delegates drafted an entirely new Constitution. The Committee of Style produced the final version in early September, and on September 17, 1787, thirty-nine delegates signed the document. Thirteen others left before the final ceremony, and three who remained refused to sign it.

In a short speech on the final day, Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin said, "I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them.... I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution.... It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies...."

George Washington, the president of the Philadelphia Convention, submitted the Constitution to Arthur St. Clair, the President of the Congress of the Confederation in New York City for that body's approval. Congress received and read the proposed Constitution on September 20 and began debate on it on September 26. Congress formally forwarded the Constitution, the resolutions of the convention, and George Washington's letter to each of the states, and the debates over the merits of the proposed Constitution began.

On October 19, the Connecticut Assembly ordered the election of delegates at town meetings throughout the state on November 12. The convention would convene in Hartford in January. Philadelphia Convention delegates from Connecticut Oliver Ellsworth, Roger Sherman, and William Samuel Johnson—architects of the Connecticut Compromise that allowed the Constitution to emerge from the convention—returned to Hartford to urge the adoption of the Constitution. Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution on January 9, 1788.

Article VII of the proposed Constitution provided that the "Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same." Several states moved quickly. Delaware became the first to ratify, on December 7, 1787. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify. Virginia followed on June 25. Aware that the Constitution had more than enough ratifications to be the basis for the new federal government, New York ratified the Constitution on July 26. On September 13, 1788, the Congress of the Confederation certified that the Constitution had been ratified by more than the required number of states.

Additional Content
This issue also includes [Francis Hopkinson], "The New Roof," an allegory supporting the ratification of the Constitution (January 17, p1/c1-p2/c1; January 24, p1/c1-p2/c2); New York Governor George Clinton's speech to the legislature (January 24, p2/c2-p3/c2); an excerpt from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations "On the Extravagant Fees of Attornies" (February 21, p3/c3-p4/c1); a report from the Pennsylvania Society for Encouraging Manufactures and the Useful Arts (February 21, p6/c3-p7/c3); a report on the first New Hampshire ratification convention that met for a week and adjourned (March 6, p6/c2-3); and a variety of national and international news, notices, and advertisements.

The New Haven Gazette, and the Connecticut Magazine (1784-1789) was a weekly newspaper in New Haven, Connecticut. It began as the New Haven Gazette, published by Josiah Meigs (1757-1822), Daniel Bowen, and Eleutheros Dana (1761-1788). In April 1786, Bowen left the partnership to publish the New Haven Chronicle. Dana left the partnership in August 1787, and Meigs continued to edit the newspaper alone.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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