9780821400111 - Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 von James Madison. (1 Ergebnisse)

Hardcover. Zustand: Fine. Zustand des Schutzumschlags: fine. Fine, tight copy in equally fine dust jacket. Second printing of this edition. Hardcover. xxiii+ 659 pp. The single most important and indispensable primary source document emerging from the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison's record of the debates held in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17 of that year. Delegates from 12 states (Rhode Island did not particpate) met to revise the ineffectual Articles of Confederation and devise a stronger federal government. George Washington was named President of the Convention. Due to the complexity and divisiveness of the matter at hand, it was decided that proceedings would be held in secret, with no public dissemination of the debates; in fact the windows of the Pennslyvania State House (later Independence Hall) weer nailed shut to prevent those outside the building from overhearing and reporting on the debates. The notes by William Jackso n, who was elected secretary of the Convention were brief and contained littl;e detail on what was said. James Madison kept these, the most complete record of the sessions, though his adherance to the pledge of secrecy, they were not published until 1840, fourteen years after his death in 1826.