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Center for Civics Education
Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham
Director, Center for Civics Education
949-214-3200
[email protected]
Convention: A Daily Journal is a day-by-day journal of the 1787 Constitutional Convention convened by twelve of the original thirteen states to amend the Articles of Confederation and create a “more perfect union.” 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, the story is told from an “observer” hearing events as told in contemporary newspaper accounts and delegates’ personal notes and letters.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 8/9/2021 - 4 minute read
The previous day, June 4, debate on whether Virginia would ratify the Constitution began when George Nicholas delivered a very long speech outlining and defending the organization and major structures of the proposed form of government, concluding “it was founded on the strictest principles of true policy and liberty,” to which “he was willing to trust his own happiness, and that of posterity.”
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By Center for Civics Education Posted on 8/2/2021 - 4 minute read
On May 29, 1765, a tall, lanky, coarsely dressed member of the Virginia House of Burgesses stood and asked for recognition. Preparing to adjourn the session and return to their plantations and stately mansions, delegates representing the aristocratic Tidewater region were not anxious to waste their time listening to an impudent upstart from the Piedmont who had served in the House for only nine days. He had already infuriated the House when he challenged the integrity of John Robinson, a popular figure in Virginia politics, speaker of the House, and treasurer of the colony for thirty years. Now he was to try their patience once again.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 7/26/2021 - 5 minute read
Within days after the Constitutional Convention adjourned in Philadelphia, the Constitution was published to the people of Virginia. But from the outset it was evident that a bumpy road lay ahead before, or if, the Constitution would be ratified in that State. No sooner had the Convention adjourned on September 17, that Governor Edmund Randolph was writing to Richard Henry Lee explaining why he had not signed the Constitution. The next day Randolph sent a copy of the Constitution to Virginia’s Lt. Governor, Beverley Randolph. The accompanying letter noted that “although the names of Col. Mason and myself are not subscribed, it is not therefore to be concluded, that we are opposed to its adoption.” He added that he would rather explain his reasons in person rather than in a letter.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 7/19/2021 - 5 minute read
On this day in 1788, General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney wrote to George Washington, informing him that “South Carolina has ratified the federal Constitution. Our Convention assembled the 12th instant, and yesterday the vote of ratification was taken – 149 Ayes - & 73 Noes. I enclose you a list of the Members who voted on each side. You will be pleased to find that the names you are best acquainted with, were in favour of the Constitution, and that those who were against it, have declared they would do all in their power to reconcile their constituents to its adoption and would exert themselves in its support.”
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 7/12/2021 - 5 minute read
The most prominent and prolific opponent of the Constitution during the debate in the South Carolina legislature was Rawlins Lowndes, a Charleston lawyer and politician who had acquired plantations along the Combahee and Santee Rivers. Although as an associate justice of South Carolina he had declared the odious Stamp Act unlawful and unenforceable; participated the in Committee of Safety with Charles Pinckney, Henry Laurens, and other Patriots; and was among eleven men assigned to draft a new constitution for his State, Lowndes had opposed independence from Britain and the armed rebellion that sparked it.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 7/5/2021 - 5 minute read
Debate over ratification of the Constitution in South Carolina actually began several months before its ratification convention convened in Charleston. Beginning on January 16, the State House of Representatives held a three-day debate on the Constitution as part of its process for calling a convention. Debating the Constitution in the legislature was peculiar because, as everyone knew, the ratification convention would be the body responsible for determining whether South Carolina would endorse or oppose it. However, all four delegates to the Constitutional Convention from South Carolina were members of the House and debate at this time would provide an opportunity for the House to hear directly from men who had actually helped to draft the document.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 6/28/2021 - 5 minute read
Life in Nova Scotia was not what John Kizell, Boston King, and nearly three thousand other former slaves had hoped for. Having left the United States for Nova Scotia under British flags to ensure their freedom, they found the climate of their new home inhospitable, the soil unsuitable for farming, and the reception from the local residents less than welcoming. Slavery in the south was replaced by discrimination, neglect, and destitution in Nova Scotia.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 6/21/2021 - 5 minute read
Like its sister colonies, South Carolina had wrestled against British authority for more than a decade before independence was approved in Philadelphia on July 2, 1776. Years earlier, when the Massachusetts legislature had proposed a meeting of the British North American colonies to “consult together on the present circumstances of the colonies,” South Carolina was one of nine to send delegates. It had been the first meeting to devise a plan to oppose British imposition of new taxes in general and the Stamp Act in particular. Known as the Stamp Act Congress, it had taken place in New York City in October 1765 at the City Hall, later called Federal Hall and the place where George Washington would be inaugurated as the first President of the United States under the Constitution.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 6/14/2021 - 5 minute read
The unanticipated adjournment on February 22 of New Hampshire’s ratifying convention reverberated throughout the States. Even though it was generally believed that New Hampshire would ratify at its second convention scheduled for mid-June, its delaying action had created a precedent, slowed the momentum toward ratification, and gave critics of the Constitution time to convince the people that its ratification would do more harm than good.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 6/7/2021 - 5 minute read
The decision of the New Hampshire ratifying convention to adjourn and reconvene at a later date had been of great concern to George Washington. Responding to the news of New Hampshire’s decision, he wrote to Henry Knox on March 30. “The conduct of the State of New Hampshire has baffled all calculation,” he noted, “and happened extremely mal-apropos for the election of delegates to the convention of this State” – his own State of Virginia.
For more information, please contact the Director:
Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham Director, Center for Civics Education [email protected] 949-214-3200