DEBATES, RESOLUTIONS AND OTHER PROCEEDINGS; OF THE CONVENTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, CONVENED AT BOSTON, ON THE 9TH OF JANUARY 1788, AND CONTINUED UNTIL THE 7TH OF FEBRUARY FOLLOWING, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ASSENTING TO AND RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION RECOMMENDED BY THE GRAND FEDERAL CONVENTION. TOGETHER WITH THE YEAS AND NAYS ON THE DECISION OF THE GRAND QUESTION. TO WHICH THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION IS PREFIXED

[Massachusetts]

Published by Printed and sold by Adams and Nourse, in Court-Street; and Benjamin Russell, and Edmund Freeman, in State-Street, Boston, 1788

About this Item

219, [1 blank] pp, as issued. Followed by contemporary ink manuscript index on four succeeding blank pages. Bound in modern quarter calf and marbled boards. Light to moderate foxing, Good+. The proposed federal Constitution is printed at pages 3-19, followed by the Resolution of Submission and the Letter to Congress dated September 17, 1787, the day on which the delegates signed the Constitution. The Debates and other proceedings, commencing January 9, 1788, begin at page 23, and are reported in detail. Included are, not only the yeas and nays, but also the debates and speeches [summarized in varying degrees] of the delegates. Hancock, Adams, Gerry, Ames, King, Sedgwick, Minot, and other luminaries participated in one of the most thoughtful recorded discussions on the foundations of a just republican society, the nature of good government, and the means of protecting citizens against its encroachments. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution on February 6, 1788, proposing amendments that would explicitly guarantee the reserved rights of the States, trial by jury, and other protections. The minority's concerns-- about the absence of a Bill of Rights, the overshadowing of local governments-- and their final gracious assent to the ultimate verdict against them, are also reported here. FIRST EDITION. Evans 21242. JCB 3207. II Gephart 9607. II Harv. Law Cat. 80. Seller Inventory # 34643

Bibliographic Details

Title: DEBATES, RESOLUTIONS AND OTHER PROCEEDINGS; ...

Publisher: Printed and sold by Adams and Nourse, in Court-Street; and Benjamin Russell, and Edmund Freeman, in State-Street, Boston

Publication Date: 1788

Binding: Hardcover

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition