Democracy, Liberty, and Property: The State Constitutional Conventions of the 1820s

by Merrill D. Peterson (Editor)

Overview

In one volume, Democracy, Liberty, and Property provides an overview of the state constitutional conventions held in the 1820s. With topics as relevant today as they were then, this collection of essential primary sources sheds light on many of the enduring issues of liberty. Emphasizing the connection between federalism and liberty, the debates that took place at these conventions show how questions of liberty were central to the formation of state government, allowing students and scholars to discover important insights into liberty and to develop a better understanding of U.S. history.

The debates excerpted in Democracy, Liberty, and Property focus on the conventions of Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, and they include contributions from the principal statesmen of the founding era, including John Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Marshall.

Merrill D. Peterson (1921–2009) was Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Virginia and a noted Jeffersonian scholar.

G. Alan Tarr is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University–Camden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865977884
Publisher:	Liberty Fund, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/20/2010
Pages:	444
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Liberty Fund Edition, with Suggested Further Reading G. Alan Tarr ix

General Introduction xxi

Selected Bibliography xxv

Editor's Note xxix

I The Massachusetts Convention of 1820-1821

Introduction 3

Chronology 17

1 The Test Oath 19

2 The Third Article 30

3 The "Poll Parish" 45

4 Tax Exemption 49

5 The Suffrage 55

6 The Basis of Representation 62

7 Joseph Story on Representation 71

8 Daniel Webster on Representation 83

9 "Address to the People" 97

Tables

1.1 Massachusetts Counties in Relation to Legislative Representation 107

1.2 The Division of the Vote by Counties on Two Questions in the Massachusetts Convention 108

10 Statement of the Votes for and against the Articles of Amendment, in the Several Counties 110

II The New York Convention of 1821

Introduction 115

Chronology 131

11 The Council of Revision and the Veto Power 133

12 The Term of the Governor 149

13 The Appointive Power 157

14 The Senate and the Suffrage 169

15 The Negro and the Suffrage 192

16 Blasphemy and Libel 208

17 Reform of the Judiciary 222

Tables

2.1 The Vote by Districts on the Convention Bill, Suffrage, and Judicial Reform, and the Revised Constitution, in the New York Convention 238

2.2 The Vote of Radicals and Conservatives on Selected Questions in the New York Convention 239

III The Virginia Convention of 1829-1830

Introduction 243

Chronology 257

Representation

18 Cooke on Democratic Representation 259

19 Upshur on Majorities and Minorities 275

20 Doddridge in Rebuttal 295

21 Leigh on Power and Property 300

22 Randolph on the Federal Issue 312

23 Marshall on Compromise 320

24 Summers on the Gordon Plan 324

25 Gordon on the Gordon Plan 330

The Suffrage

26 The Non-Freeholders'Memorial 336

27 The Freehold Suffrage Defended 344

28 The Reformers' Rebuttal 351

Structure and Change

29 The Executive 363

30 The County Courts 373

31 The Amendment Article 383

32 The Question of Ratification 388

Tables

3.1 Population and Representation in Virginia by Districts, 1820-1830, and the Vote on Ratification of the Constitution of 1830 393

3.2 The Sectional Division on Selected Questions in the Virginia Convention 394

Index 397