Chapter XIX: Section 4: "The President by and with the advice and consent of the (6)

Sherman, Roger, Conn., attends convention, i., 32;
favors conservative course toward states, 34;
Pierce's sketch of, 34, n.;
opposes election of Representatives by the people, 39;
favors election of one Senator from each state, 45;
favors election of executive by state legislatures, 50, 54, 375;
favors three years' term for executive, 54;
thinks legislature should have power to remove executive, 63;
favors an executive council, 68;
opposes negative by executive, 71;
opposes ratification of constitution by conventions, 80;
opposes creation of inferior judiciary tribunals, 82;
favors election of Representatives by state legislatures, 85;
favors elections to Senate by state legislatures, 94, 99;
favors limiting power of negative on state laws, 104;
proposes proportional representation in House and by states in
Senate, 114;
proposes each state have one vote in Senate, 120;
opposes oath to national government by state officers, 122;
proposes one-year term for Representatives, 124;
proposes five years' term for Senators, 128;
opposes leaving time and mode or electing Representatives to state
legislatures, 129;
proposes election of judges by national legislature, 131;
thinks money bills may originate in Senate, 133;
opposes two branches of legislature, 196;
favors election of Representatives by state legislatures, 205;
consents to two years' term for Representatives, 208;
favors compensation of Representatives by states, 211;
opposes ineligibility of Representatives to state offices, 217, 220,
223;
favors six years' term for Senators, 237;
favors six or four years' term for Senators, 240;
favors rights of small states, 258;
proposes committee on representation, 287, 320;
favors vote by states in Senate, 313;
moves to postpone question of representation, 318;
opposes increase in representation, 325, 326;
opposes periodical census, 329;
thinks representation should be fixed by census, 333;
thinks representation fairly apportioned, 339;
favors leaving question of taxation to state legislatures, 349;
thinks Senators may vote per capita, 357;
thinks government should have coercive power over states, 363;
thinks government will act on states in requiring tax quotas, 363;
moves that government should not interfere with internal policy of
states, 371;
opposes direct taxation by national government, 371;
thinks state courts will consider state laws contravening national
authority invalid, 372;
opposes negative by legislature of state laws, 372;
opposes ineligibility of executive to second term, 379;
opposes tenure of executive for good behavior, 380;
favors appointment of judges by Senate, 382;
favors appointment of judges by executive with consent of Senate,
387;
opposes creation of inferior judicial tribunals, 389;
favors negative of each branch of legislature on the other, ii., 91;
thinks time of meeting of legislature should be specified, 94;
moves Representatives be inhabitants of their states, 107;
thinks representation should stand, 111;
moves that representation not exceed 1 to 40,000, 112;
thinks slaves should be included in representation, 114;
thinks yeas and nays may not be required, 136;
moves publication of journal of legislature, 138;
thinks general government can make any regulations as to
citizenship, 146;
thinks those in power should be free from temptation, 163;
favors payment of legislature partly by states and partly by nation,
168;
thinks power of negative should not be extended, 174;
thinks revision of acts by President unnecessary, 177;
favors no tax on exports, 178, 180;
opposes appointment of treasurer by joint ballot, 184;
thinks executive should not have power to commence war, 188;
thinks state debts may be assumed by government, 192;
appointed on grand committee, 193;
thinks states should partially control militia, 196, 197;
thinks resistance to national laws treason, 207;
thinks report on state debts meaningless, 210;
favors limiting representation of large states, 210;
moves settlement of debts on basis of taxation, 211;
thinks provision as to slave trade may stand, 218, 224;
thinks question of taxing exports settled, 224;
moves that states have power to train militia, 230;
withdraws motion, 230;
proposes mixed control of militia, 231;
thinks states should appoint militia officers, 233;
thinks negative of state laws by general government unnecessary,
236;
thinks judiciary will decide controversies between states, 241;
opposes election of executive by joint ballot of legislature, 242;
objects to executive appointing all officers, 246;
objects to legislatures of states appointing federal officers, 247;
moves express provision for paying debts, 249;
opposed to taxing men as property, 251;
thinks revenue the object of import tax on slaves, 252;
on committee of August 25, 254;
moves amendment to pardoning power, 254;
moves militia be under executive when in active service, 255;
favors removability of judges on application of legislature, 257;
moves judicial power extend to land grants, 260;
reports amendments on commercial regulations and judicial power,
260;
moves to prohibit bills of credit or payments in anything but coin,
262;
wishes to crush paper money, 262, 263;
thinks states should have power to lay embargoes, 264;
thinks state legislatures may deal with impost question, 265;
moves that states may tax exports for national treasury, 265;
opposes surrender of fugitive slaves and servants, 266;
desires commercial regulations by majority vote, 270;
declare all should have equal privileges, 275;
thinks Union cannot dismember a state, 276;
moves admission of new states by consent of state legislatures, 278;
thinks constitution may guarantee public lands, 281;
thinks no religious test will be applied for office, 283;
thinks ratification should be from ten states, 284, 287;
thinks ratification should be by all states, 285;
moves to postpone ratification question, 287;
moves to take up report of committee of eleven, 290;
moves to refer draft of constitution to committee, 292;
on committee, 292;
opposes national bankruptcy law, 294;
favors ineligibility of members of legislature to other offices,
295;
does not object to election of Vice-President by majority, 300;
thinks army in time of peace should be restricted, 305;
willing to defer to those who think revenue bills vital, 306;
thinks large states will have advantage in nominating candidates
for President, 309;
thinks President should not be chosen from three candidates, 311;
thinks when legislature votes for President it should vote by
states, 313;
moves eventual election of President by House of Representatives,
318;
approves of Vice-President being President of Senate, 326;
favors inclusion of Senate in treaty-making, 327;
thinks whole legislature should participate in treaties of peace,
333;
moves that majority of whole Senate vote for treaties, 334;
thinks supreme court should not try President, 336;
thinks representation large enough, 339;
moves states be required to consent to amendments, 341;
favors submitting constitution to Congress, 344;
favors two-thirds vote to override President's negative, 361;
thinks state bills of rights sufficient, 364;
thinks legislature should appoint treasurer, 371;
objects to power to cut canals, 372;
thinks provision for liberty of press unnecessary, 375;
thinks accounts may be published from time to time, 376;
opposes address to states, 378;
favors additional representation for North Carolina, 378;
thinks states and nation may have concurrent commercial
jurisdiction, 381;
seconds motion to vest appointments in President and others, 383;
thinks three-quarter states may oppress others by amendments, 385;
thinks conventions may act on amendments, 386;
moves that states be preserved, 386;
moves to strike out clause concerning amendments, 386.

Signing constitution, mode proposed, ii., 391;
takes place, 393.

Slavery and slave trade, debate on, ii., 218, 250;
compromise on, brought in, 269;
power to prohibit, objected to, 366.

Slaves, import tax on, agreed to, ii., 252;
delivery up of fugitive, proposed, 267;
agreed to, 274;
verbal amendment made, 384.

South Carolina, motion that representation of, be increased, ii., 110.

Spaight, Richard Dobbs, N. C., attends convention, i., 2;
moves rule for revision of questions, 11;
Pierce's sketch of, 11, n.;
seconds motion for representation by free inhabitants, 37;
favors election to Senate by free population, 43;
withdraws motion for elections to Senate by state legislatures, 44;
moves reconsideration of appointment of executive by electors, ii.,
39;
seconds motion to elect executive by national legislature, 40;
fears capital will be located at New York, 139;
favors commercial regulations by majority vote, 271;
moves Senate choose President from thirteen candidates, 311;
moves seven years' term for executive, 316;
moves six years' term, 316;
moves electors meet at seat of government, 317;
proposes President make appointments during recess of Senate, 329;
moves special provision respecting territorial rights, 332.

State acts, validity of, debated, ii., 267, 293;
certain, prohibited, 377.

State debts, debate on assumption of, ii., 192.

State laws, negative of.
_See_ Legislature, national, negative of.

State police, non-interference in, by national government, debated,
i., 371.

State representation, equal in House, debated, i., 268;
in Senate, 273, 286;
committee to arrange, debated, 287, 292;
report of committee, 293.
_See_ Legislature, national, representation in.

States, admission of new, provision for, agreed to, i., 78, 137, 390;
debated, ii., 274, 275, 277, 278, 279, 280, 384.

Strong, Caleb, Mass., attends convention, i., 5;
favors one-year term for Representatives, 207;
Pierce's sketch of, 207, n.;
favors committee on representation, 291;
favors equal representation by states in Senate, 359;
opposes inclusion of judiciary in revisionary power, ii., 20;
thinks executive will not be re-elected, 40;
thinks question of voting in Senate should be postponed, 118;
favors $4 per day as payment for legislature, 170;
moves revenue bills originate in House, 170.

Style and arrangement, committee on.
_See_ Committee on style and arrangement.

Sumptuary laws, debate on, ii., 202, 366;
committee on, _see_ Committee on sumptuary laws.

Supreme Court.
_See_ Judiciary, national supreme.

T

Taxation, by representation, debated, i., 342, 349, ii., 47;
basis of, by free and slave population, debated, i., 343;
direct on states in proportion to representation, debated, 350;
direct by national government, opposed, 371;
proposed that it be by quotas, ii., 207;
according to congressional representation, debated, 208, 211;
definition of direct, asked, 208;
by population, proportion agreed to, 210;
power of, on exports, debated, 217, 218, 376;
on migration of slaves, debated, 218;
on slaves, debated, 219, 241;
capitation and direct, debated, 375.
_See_ Legislature, national, representation in.

Term of members of legislature.
_See_ Legislature, national, term of.

Territory, guaranty of, to each state, debated, i., 121.

Tonnage dues.
_See_ Navigation acts.

Treason, debate on, ii., 202.

Treasurer, appointment of.
_See_ Legislature, national, power of.

Treaties, power to make, debated, i., 242, 243, ii., 238, 327;
force of, debated, 252;
power to interpret, by judiciary, debated, 259;
of peace, how to be made, 330, 332, 333;
provision for, reconsidered, 333;
proposed that they require two-thirds Senate, 334, 335;
proposed that they require majority, 335;
notice of, to Senators, proposed, 335.
_See_ Legislature, national, Senate.

U

University, national.
_See_ Legislature, national, power of.

V

Varnum, J. M., letter from, with address from Rhode Island, i., 9, n.

Vermont, admission of, to Union, debated, ii., 276.

Veto power.
_See_ Executive, national, negative of.

Vice-President, duties of, defined, ii., 299, 300, 326.

Virginia plan, the, presented to convention, i., 13;
debated in committee of the whole, 32;
debated, 39;
reported on from committee of the whole, 134, 184;
vote on, 185.

Voting, restriction of, to freeholders, debated, ii., 96.

W

War, power to declare, debated, ii., 187.

Washington, George, Va., attends convention, i., 1;
elected president of convention, 3;
thanks convention for election, 3;
Pierce's sketch of, 3, n.;
rebukes member for losing his notes, 48, n.;
John Jay's letter to, ii., 48, n.;
Knox's letter to, 158, n.;
urges increase in representation, iv., 392;
asks instructions concerning journals, 397.

Williamson, Hugh, N. C., attends convention, i., 2;
objects to election of executive by districts, 57;
Pierce's sketch of, 57, n.;
moves impeachability of executive, 65;
favors limiting Senate to twenty-five members, 95;
opposes indefinite power of negative on state laws, 103;
favors proportional representation, 114;
favors states paying representatives, 210;
moves that number in Senate be fixed, 235;
favors six years' term for Senators, 236;
thinks rights of small states not menaced, 253;
favors committee on representation in Senate, 291;
opposes compromise proposed, 361;
thinks Senate better able to consider money bills than House, 309;
thinks proposed representation unfair to southern states, 324;
favors reducing representation of northern states, 324;
amends motion fixing periodical census, 330;
thinks New Hampshire representation too large, 348;
opposes election of executive by people, 378;
opposes eligibility of executive to re-election, ii., 8, 41;
opposes election of executive by electors, 8;
favors six years' term for executive, 9;
moves number of electors be based on Representatives, 10;
moves electors be paid out of national treasury, 17;
suggests national officers take oath to support state governments,
30;
favors ratification of constitution by conventions, 35;
favors voting per capita in Senate, 38;
dislikes single executive, 41;
suggests voting for three persons for executive, 54;
favors forbidding national capital at state capital, 66;
seconds motion to limit negative of each branch of legislature on
the other, 91;
moves representation in House based on taxation, 110;
favors reconsidering question of money bills, 116;
thinks provision for filling vacancies in Senate necessary, 117;
insists upon guarding qualifications of Senators, 125, 131;
thinks provision on money bills should be retained, 141;
moves nine years' citizenship for Representatives, 144;
opposes eligibility of members of legislature to other offices, 163;
moves postponement of question of money bills, 171;
moves to make three-quarters of legislature necessary to overcome
executive negative, 176;
thinks exports should not be taxed, 179;
thinks state lands ought to be given up, 193;
appointed on grand committee, 193;
favors restrictions on army, 195;
moves quotas of states be determined, 211;
opposes apportionment of taxation by representation, 212;
thinks states should not have power to tax exports, 213;
thinks slave trade should be left to states, 223;
on committee on navigation acts, 225;
thinks prohibition of _ex post facto_ laws unnecessary, 228;
thinks discussion of negative of state laws unnecessary, 237;
doubts if judiciary can impartially decide controversies between
states, 241;
opposes slavery, but wishes union, 251;
on committee of August 25, 254;
moves to postpone question of executive succession, 256;
seconds motion to make it impossible for states to levy imposts,
265;
moves clause of articles of confederation as to state acts, 267;
favors commercial regulations by two-thirds vote, 270;
thinks question of new states should be left to legislature, 275,
278;
on committee of August 31, 292;
thinks ineligibility of members of legislature should extend to
offices created during their term, 295, 296;
objects to President's dependence on Senate in appointments, 302;
moves to reconsider representation, 307;
objects to Senate electing President, 308, 310, 315;
moves election of President by one-third of all electors, 310;
moves electors voting be the only ones counted, 311;
favors separate provision for re-electing President, 313;
moves seven years' term for President, 316;
moves six years' term for President, 316;
thinks electors should meet at seat of government, 317;
suggests eventual election of President by whole legislature, voting
by states, 318;
thinks Vice-President unnecessary, 326;
thinks treaties of peace important, 330, 332;
thinks treaties may be made without majority of people, 333;
opposes requirement that treaties be ratified by majority of whole
Senate, 334;
proposes that notice of treaties to Senators be required, 335;
thinks Senate will lean towards President, 336;
moves increase in representation in House of Representatives, 338;
moves that old Congress sanction constitution, 346;
favors two-thirds vote to override President's negative, 361;
fears too many laws, 362;
moves provision for juries in civil suits, 363;
moves increase of representation, 369;
seconds motion against direct tax, 375;
suggests signing letter only, 393.

Wilson, James, Pa., attends convention, i., 1;
nominates William Temple Franklin for secretary of convention, 3;
Pierce's sketch of, 3, n.;
favors election of Representatives by the people, 41, 205;
favors election of Senators by the people, 44, 95;
favors a single executive, 49, 50, 67;
favors election of executive by the people, 53, 55, ii., 6, 47;
favors three years' term for executive, i., 54;
moves election of executive by district electors, 56;
opposes an executive council, 68;
favors negative by executive on legislature, 69, 71;
favors creation of inferior judiciary, 73, 82;
favors inclusion of judiciary in power of negative, 75;
opposes appointment of judges by legislature, 77;
favors ratification by plurality of States, 81;
favors election of Representatives by the people, 84;
favors preservation of state governments for local purposes, 90;
favors inclusion of judiciary in revisionary power, 91, ii., 17, 25;
favors election to Senate by districts, i., 98;
favors absolute negative in legislature, 104;
favors proportional representation, 113, 115, 257;
favors representation by free inhabitants, 119;
thinks voting in Senate should be on same plan as in House, 121;
opposes Jersey plan, 146;
opposes Hamilton plan, 185;
insists that states are dependent on each other, 188;
favors two branches of legislature, 198;
thinks state governments may encroach on national government, 201;
favors one-year term for Representatives, 207;
favors national compensation of Representatives, 211;
moves that compensation be fixed by legislature, 212;
opposes age limit for Representatives, 214;
opposes ineligibility of Representatives to other offices, 214, 220;
opposes elections to Senate by state legislatures, 233;
favors six years' term for Senators, 237;
favors nine years' term for Senators, 243;
opposes eligibility of Senators to state offices, 247;
opposes sending for New Hampshire delegates, 272;
opposes representation by states in Senate, 273;
admits question of number of Senators is embarrassing, 280;
opposes committee on representation in Senate, 291;
moves question of voting in Senate, 308;
opposes originating money bills in House, 309, 312;
opposes yielding equal vote in Senate to small states, 314;
thinks representation of western states should be based on property,
320;
thinks wealth an impracticable rule of representation, 334;
opposes inclusion of three-fifths of blacks as basis of
representation, 339;
favors guaranty of republican government to the states, 342;
moves that representation be according to direct taxation, 344;
favors representation based on free inhabitants and three-fifths
of slaves, 344;
favors adjusting taxation to representation, 349;
thinks equal vote in Senate favored by minority, 355;
insists that numbers are correct basis for representation, 355;
thinks small states would abandon plea of equality in taxes and
troops, 356;
thinks originating money bills in House of little consequence, 356;
insists on proportional representation in Senate, 362;
favors non-interference of national government with state police,
371;
opposes election of executive by the people, 375;
opposes election of executive by legislature, 377;
favors appointment of judges by executive, 384;
favors continuance of old Congress till new government starts, 390;
favors guaranty to states of republican government and against
violence, 392;
favors impeachability of executive, ii., 11;
thinks departments should act separately, 24;
thinks oath of allegiance unnecessary, 30;
opposes election of executive by legislature, 43;
suggests election of executive by members of national legislature
selected by lot, 44, 47;
on committee to report constitution according to resolutions, 48;
favors specifying general principles for executive, 56;
opposes disqualification from legislature of persons having
unsettled accounts, 64;
thinks time of meeting of legislature should be fixed, 93;
favors winter as time for meeting of legislature, 95;
thinks suffrage in the States should not be prescribed by
legislature, 96;
favors requiring Representatives to be inhabitants, 108;
opposes requirement of seven years' inhabitancy for Representatives,
108, 109;
thinks question of representation by free inhabitants premature,
114;
opposed to originating money bills in House, 115;
reviews question of citizenship of Representatives, 116;
objects to vacancies in Senate being filled by state executives,
116;
thinks provision as to money bills of no value to large states, 118,
120;
opposes fourteen years' residence as necessary for Senators, 123;
moves to reconsider requirement of seven years for Representatives,
132;
thinks number for quorum should not be small, 134;
thinks publication of legislative journal necessary, 138;
moves four years' citizenship for Representatives, 142;
insists Representatives need not be natives, 145;
thinks new government bound by Pennsylvania's promises to
foreigners, 148;
moves seven years' citizenship for Senators, 149;
thinks people will disapprove members of legislature holding
other offices, 164;
thinks good men will refuse legislature if debarred from other
offices, 165;
seconds motion to have acts revised by executive and judiciary, 172;
thinks legislature will swallow up powers of government, 175;
favors making three-fourths of legislature necessary to overcome
executive negative, 176;
explains difference between "duties" and "imposts," 177;
thinks exports may be taxed, 179;
opposed to power to emit bills of credit, 182;
thinks it unnecessary to define felonies, etc., 185;
thinks law of felonies, etc., ought to be declared, 185;
moves that treason be against United States, 205;
thinks treason may be against a state, 206;
thinks proof of treason may be difficult, 207;
favors power to tax exports, 215;
seconds motion to tax exports by two-thirds of legislature, 217;
thinks slaves should be taxed, 222;
favors commitment of question of navigation acts, 225;
thinks prohibition of _ex post facto_ laws unnecessary, 228;
thinks Senate should not make appointments, 235;
thinks negative of state laws unnecessary, 237;
objects to Senate's power to make treaties, 239;
thinks judiciary may decide controversies between states, 242;
seconds motion for election of executive by the people, 243;
thinks larger states should have larger share in election of
executive, 295;
thinks Senate should not have separate voice in election of
executive, 246;
thinks state legislatures will order federal offices filled by
state appointment if permitted, 247;
thinks pardon before conviction may be necessary, 255;
opposes removability of judges on application of legislature, 257;
explains appellate power of judiciary, 260;
doubts if suspension of right of habeas corpus is ever necessary,
262;
moves legislature be prohibited from paying debts in anything but
coin, 262;
thinks states should not interfere with contracts, 263;
objects to treating fugitive slaves as criminals, 267;
favors interstate validity of state acts, 267;
on committee to consider subject, 268;
favors commercial regulations by majority vote, 271;
thinks majority may regulate formation of new states, 277;
thinks new states may be formed without consent of old, 278;
opposes motion to guarantee public lands, 281;
proposes ratification by seven states, 284;
prefers ratification by eight states to nine, 285;
thinks constitution binding only on ratifying states, 285;
moves that ratification be by majority of people and states, 287;
thinks state power over other states' acts not unusual, 293;
opposes ineligibility of members of legislature to other
offices, 296;
approves plan of electing executive, 302;
thinks it unnecessary to give each House power over privileges
of its members, 304;
moves eventual election of President by whole legislature, 309;
thinks eventual election of President by Senate dangerous, 313;
moves to include House of Representatives in treaty-making
power, 327;
objects to Senate's participation in appointments, 328;
objects to participation of two-thirds Senate on treaties, 329,
334;
favors executive council, 332;
favors ratification of treaties with majority of Senate, 333;
thinks less than two-thirds Senate may ratify treaties of peace,
333;
opposed to President convening either house of legislature, 338;
moves amendments be with consent of two-thirds of states, 341;
substitutes three-fourths, 341;
opposes reconsideration of ratification clause, 343;
thinks old Congress need not sanction constitution, 345;
moves to strike out "direct taxes," 367;
thinks legislature should not define offences against law of
nations, 372;
seconds motion in favor of canals, 372, 373;
favors national university, 374;
thinks accounts should be published from time to time, 376;
thinks executive may pardon for treason, 382;
favors depositing convention journal with president, 397.

Wythe, George, Va., attends convention, i., 2;
appointed on committee on rules, 4;
submits report of committee on rules, 5;
Pierce's sketch of, 5, n.;
offers additional rules, 12.

Y

Yates, Robert, N. Y., attends convention, i., 1;
Pierce's sketch of, 1, n.;
on committee on compromise on representation, 292;
leaves convention, 298, n.

Yeas and nays.
_See_ Legislature, national.

Transcriber Notes:

Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.

Passages in bold were indicated by =equal signs=.

Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.

Throughout the document, the oe ligature was replaced with "oe".

Throughout the document, a tilded m is represented by [~m].

This document was filled with errors and inconsistencies in spelling, punctuations, and hyphenation. For example, usually the word re-eligible is hyphenated, but sometimes it is not; sometimes; reinstated is hyphenated but sometimes it is not; and usually the comma is used as a thousand mark, but sometimes a period is used for that purpose. Sometimes vice President was used and sometimes vice-President was used. Also, the abbreviations were not uniform (e.g., Mas. v. Mass.), which were only corrected when it is was clear which abbreviation was considered correct at the time printed. Another example is the abbreviation for Resolution, which was sometimes Resol:^n, sometimes Resol^n, and sometimes Resol.^n. Sometimes "nem: con." was used, and sometimes "nem. con." was used. The only time errors were corrected was when it was very clear that an error was made, and it was clear how the error should be corrected, and those corrections are listed below.

Throughout the document there are instances where a comma is used where one expects a period, a period is used where one expects a comma, a colon is used where one expects a comma or period, neither is used when one is expected. This instances are left as-is, except for two exceptions: where a period is missing at the end of a sentence or missing at the end of an abbreviation, both of which happened so often that those corrections were made but were not listed below.

Throughout the document, there was no consistence in the formatting of the titles for each date, (e.g., FRIDAY AUG^{ST} 10. IN CONVENTION). No attempt was made to correct such inconsistencies.

Capitalization was corrected throughout the document without comment.

Throughout the document, a single superscripted letter is represented by that single letter preceded by a caret, and more than one superscripted letters are represented by the letters enclosed by curly brackets. Thus, the word "y^e" represents a word where the "y" is normal and the "e" is superscripted; and the word "2^{dnd}" represents a word where the "2" is normal and the "dnd" is superscripted. In both conventions, it is assumed that a dot appeared below the superscripted letters, since in the original text a dot was often (but not always) present under the superscripted letters. Thus, "2^{dnd}" in the present text would represent a normal digit "2" followed directly by the superscripted letters "dnd" with a single dot below the set of three letters.

On page 7, "difficulty an seemed" was replaced with "difficulty and seemed".

On page 7, "Hamshire" was replaced with "Hampshire".

On page 8, a period was added after "div^d.".

On page 9, removed period between "6" and "years".

On page 16, "forign" was replaced with "foreign".

On page 17, in footnote 4, "McLurg" was replaced with "McClurg".

On page 26, a period was added after "2".

On page 38, "[blank]" was inserted to mark a large blank space that appeared in the footnote.

On page 46, there is a missing opening quotation mark in the last paragraph, but it is unclear where that mark should go.

On page 47, the word "this" was capitalized in the sentence starting "This is committing too much".

On page 50, "forign" was replaced with "foreign".

On page 53, a period was added after "change of measures".

On page 76, a comma was added after the word "Virginia".

On page 81, the comma after "weights and measures" was replaced with a semicolon.

On page 112, a quotation mark was added after "40.000.".

On page 135, "M^r Kings" was replaced with "M^r King's".

On page 137, "M^r Carrols" was replaced with "M^r Carrol's".

On page 140, "in the shape it which" was replaced with "in the shape in which".

On page 143, "It" was capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

On page 145, "Hamiltons" was replaced with "Hamilton's"

On page 146, "Will" was capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

On page 147, the period after "the violaters" was changed to a question mark.

On page 166, "Pinkneys" was replaced with "Pinkney's".

On page 167, "[blank]" was inserted to mark a large blank space within parenthesizes.

On page 184, "Reads" was replaced with "Read's".

On page 189, a colon was added after "the General Legislature".

On page 189, a quotation mark was added after "limits of the U. States."

On page 207, "misdemesnors" was replaced with "misdemeanors".

On page 211, "there" was replaced with "There".

On page 212, "it" was replaced with "It".

On page 217, a quotation mark was added after "exports".

On page 218, a period was added after "2".

On page 228, "reflextions" was replaced with "reflections".

On page 228, "The" was replaced with "the".

On page 230, a quotation mark was added after "training".

On page 235, a quotation mark and a comma was added after "foreign State".

On page 236, a period was added after "nem: contrad".

On page 237, the quotation mark was deleted after "&c &c."

On page 242, a quotation mark was added after "a second time."

On page 248, "these" was replaced with "These".

On page 301, "2 the" was replaced with "2. The", and "6. the" was replaced with "6. The".

On page 305, "U. S" was replaced with "U. S.".

On page 305, "biennally" was replaced with "biennially".

On page 306, a quotation mark was added after "purchased for forts".

On page 314, a comma was removed after "The Senate".

On page 319, a quotation mark was removed after "the States,".

On page 324, in Footnote 58, a period was added after "united States of america".

On page 332, a quotation mark was added after "the States present". On page 399, the word "the" was shown by the printer to be inserted in the sentence. This insertion was made.

On page 414, added period were removed after some names in the signatures.

On page 440, in the index entry for Mason, which begins "doubts propriety of mutual negative", "legiture" was replaced with "legislature".

On page 457, in the index entry "Knox's letter to, 158 ;" for "Washington, George, Va.", "n. was entered in the missing blank.

Throughout the document, "Sharman" was replaced with "Sherman".

Throughout the document, one delegate is sometimes named "Dickinson" and is sometimes named "Dickenson"; and another delegate is sometimes named "Carroll" and is sometimes named "Carrol".

In the index, entries divided by page markers were joined into single entries where possible, and the formatting of the index was regularized (e.g., periods replaced with commas for uniformity of formatting).