Madison James - The Constitutional Convention: a narrative history: from the notes of James Madison

Copyright 2005 by Edward J. Larson and Michael P. Winship
Compilation copyright 2005 by Random House, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Modern Library,
an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

M ODERN L IBRARY and the T ORCHBEARER Design are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Madison, James, 17511836.
The Constitutional Convention: a narrative history from the notes of
James Madison / Edward J. Larson and Michael P. Winship.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-78920-4
1. United States. Constitutional Convention (1787). 2. United States.
Constitution. 3. Constitutional historyUnited States. I. Larson, Edward J.
(Edward John) II. Winship, Michael. III. Title.

KF4510.M33 2005
342.730292dc22 2005041649

www.modernlibrary.com

v3.1

The curiosity I had felt during my researches into the history of the most distinguished confederacies, particularly those of antiquity, and the deficiency I found in the means of satisfying it determined me to preserve, as far as I could, an exact account of what might pass in the Convention. Nor was I unaware of the value of such a contribution to the fund of materials for the history of a Constitution on which would be staked the happiness of a people great even in its infancy, and possibly the cause of liberty throughout the world.

J AMES M ADISON

The more we used the notes that James Madison took at the Constitutional Convention in our own work, the more we came to agree with Madisons high regard for their historical worth. They have great value for anyone studying American history, government, and law. The Convention was also a wonderfully human event, full of intrigue and insight. Simply put, the history of the Constitutional Convention is both an important and a vivid story that bears retelling to every American generation.

Despite the ready availability of Madisons extensive record of the deliberations at the Constitutional Convention, and of other delegates far less complete notes as well, the insiders stories of that landmark episode in American history are not widely read. Those firsthand accounts are not very accessible for modern readers. They contain too much detail for readers to follow the underlying narrative easily, and anyone unfamiliar with eighteenth-century rules of parliamentary procedure might quickly become lost in the tangle of motions, votes, and maneuvers. Yet here were able debaters and crafty legislators forging one of the most significant political documents of all time. Their words, especially Madisons, tell the story better than secondary texts or commentaries.

Our goal with this book is to make the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention accessible to modern readers. To do so, we have edited out substantial amounts of material from Madisons notes that we view as extraneous to the main debates, occasionally substituted the notes of other delegates when these were clearer than Madisons, and added in extensive bridging material. In exercising our editorial judgment, we sought to preserve the Conventions fundamental complexity. Many people at the time, and since, have roundly criticized the compromises and other decisions made behind closed doors in Philadelphia. As much as possible, we let the delegates arguments speak for themselves on these and other matters. To preserve the integrity of the historical record while still striving to make it readable, we have marked all of our deletions with ellipses or italicized commentary. (Our additions are in brackets when inserted within the body of Madisons notes.) Beyond this, we have freely used modern spelling and punctuation throughout, regularized Madisons erratic use of capital letters, standardized the records of votes, broken long passages into paragraphs, and written out abbreviations in full. Our goal in all our changes is to render the original text understandable today. As history, Madisons notes remain as relevant now as ever; as narrative, we hope they improve in our setting.

In closing, we wish to acknowledge the assistance that we received in preparing this book. Of course, our first thanks go to our students and colleagues at the University of Georgia, particularly legal historian Peter Hoffer. We also benefited from the suggestions of Susan McMichaels and two anonymous press readers. Ed Larson also wishes to acknowledge the inspiration that he received from the organizers and participants of a 2001 Liberty Fund conference on Max Farrands The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, particularly Barry Shain, Pauline Maier, Jack Greene, Kermit Hall, Judge Danny Boggs, and Judge Michael McConnell. Most of all, we thank our supportive and trusted editor at the Modern Library, Will Murphy; our production editor, Evan Camfield; and our copy editor, Steven Meyers. All these good people helped us greatly.

E.L. & M.W.
Athens, Georgia
September 2005

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