Today’s Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser and four other Philadelphia newspapers carried the first complete text of the proposed Constitution. The Packet’s publishers, John Dunlap and David Claypoole, are the official printers for the Convention. Dunlap, a native of Ireland and veteran of the battles of Trenton and Princeton, began his relationship with the Continental Congress in 1776 when he secured a lucrative printing contract with Congress. On July 4 of that year, Dunlap printed the first published versions of the Declaration of Independence. Known as the “Dunlap broadsides,” they were quickly circulated throughout the colonies. Several years later, his printing company published the Articles of Confederation.
During the Convention, sworn to secrecy, Dunlap and Claypoole had printed copies of committee reports on at least eight occasions. Last Monday, September 17, they were given the final, signed copy of the Constitution with instructions that copies be available by ten o’clock the next morning in time for Secretary Jackson to catch the stage to New York to deliver the Constitution to the Confederation Congress. James McHenry recorded in his diary, “Major Jackson Secty. To carry it to Congress – Injunction of secrecy taken off.”
Jackson arrived in New York City today where tomorrow he will lay the Constitution and the letter of transmittal before Congress.
An hour after Jackson boarded the stage for New York, Benjamin Franklin returned to the East Room of the Pennsylvania State House where the Convention had met since the end of May. Out of deference and courtesy, the Pennsylvania Assembly had chosen to meet in another room on the second floor, relinquishing its meeting room to the federal Convention. Today, the Assembly returned to the East Room and welcomed Franklin as well as Thomas Fitzsimons and Thomas Mifflin, both members of the Assembly as well as delegates to the Convention. Franklin handed the Constitution to Speaker Mifflin who proceeded to read it to the Assembly and “a large crowd of citizens” standing the gallery.
In the excitement of the moment, not even Franklin noticed the printing error in Article V regarding regulation of the slave trade. The year 1808 had become “one thousand seven hundred and eight.” Most newspapers made the correction immediately.
Dunlap and Poole had printed approximately five hundred copies of the Constitution which the delegates, including George Washington, wasted no time distributing. Last night, Washington composed letters to Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette, enclosing copies of the Constitution, confiding to Lafayette that the Constitution “is now a child of fortune, to be fostered by some and buffeted by others. What will be the general opinion on, or the reception of it, is not for me to decide.”
North Carolina delegates William Blount, Richard Spaight, and Hugh Williamson signed a joint letter to Governor Caswell which not only included a copy of the Constitution, but a fairly lengthy explanation of its protections for North Carolina. They reassured Caswell that their interests related to slavery had not been adversely affected and that “North Carolina does not appear to us to have given up anything for we are doubtless the most independent of the Southern states, able to carry our own produce,” etc.
Luther Martin had left Philadelphia on September 4, stating his intention to return, but he never did. His objections to the form and structure of the emerging Constitution were too much to bear. Before leaving he had said to his Maryland colleague, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, “I’ll be hanged if ever the people of Maryland agree to it.” Jenifer responded, “I advise you to stay in Philadelphia lest you should be hanged.” Though obnoxious, abrasive, and often inebriated, Martin is a formidable adversary who is likely to make his voice heard in the Maryland ratifying convention.
Nicholas Gilman and Edmund Randolph sent copies to the governors of New Hampshire and Virginia, Randolph noting that the absence of his and George Mason’s signatures does not mean they “are opposed to its adoption” and their reasons “will be better explained at large, and in a personal interview, than by letter.” Even the British consul in Philadelphia, Phineas Bond, sent a copy to Lord Carmarthen, the Foreign Secretary, keeping the British government apprised of events in their former colonies.
Most of the delegates left Philadelphia yesterday morning, anxious to return home after four months of what the North Carolina delegates described as “severe and painful.” Intense interest in the Constitution has been building for weeks and many questions will be presented to the delegates during the State ratification conventions to come. Perhaps the most fundamental question was asked by Elizabeth Powel to Benjamin Franklin. “Well, Doctor,” she said, “what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” His answer was more than a description; it was a warning. “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Today ends our series on the Constitutional Convention. However, to paraphrase James Wilson, the Convention could “propose anything,” but “conclude nothing.” The next, and essential step, in the development of the Constitution is grounded in the requirement that it can not go into effect until ratified in conventions in at least nine States. Once it is ratified, begins the establishment of a government composed of a President, a bicameral legislature, a Supreme Court, and other courts that may be established by Congress. This process will not be concluded until the first Congress convenes on March 4, 1789.
Our series will continue, beginning with the first State convention through the end of the First Congress under the Constitution. Instead of a daily chronicle, we will continue with a new addition every Monday. Please JOIN US!