Instead of moving on to the debates on ratification, I am taking a deep dive into Madison’s summaries of the Federal Convention debates. I have never read these notes before and find them interesting. I am currently on week 4 of the debates and have highlighted a few quotes pertaining to the evolution of the government the delegates were creating. The dead v. living debate is definitely more associated with judicial interpretation, but I wanted to try and get a glimpse of the views of the convention delegates…at least from Madison’s pen.
On May 29, 1787, Edmund Randolph introduced the Virginia Plan to the assembled delegation. The Virginia Plan was the first proposal and the basis for debate on the reformation of government. The 13th resolution of the plan provided for amendment:
Resd. that provision ought to be made for the amendment of the Articles of Union whensoever it shall seem necessary, and that the assent of the National Legislature ought not to be required thereto.
The final sentence of this resolution is intriguing, the government may be amended, but not require National Legislative approval? Does this mean the states instead of the national government would have the responsibility to approve amendments? There was no debate until June 5th and even then the discussion was minimal. Charles Pinckey did not believe the resolution was required, even though he included a similar line in his proposal (see below) and Elbridge Gerry favored inclusion of the resolution:
The novelty & difficulty of the experiment requires periodical revision. The prospect of such a revision would also give intermediate stability to the Govt. Nothing had yet happened in the States where this provision existed to prove its impropriety.
Gerry iterates this is an experimental government and will require changes in order to maintain the functioning of government and the amendment process seems to work. I am looking forward to continued debate on this resolution.
Charles Pinckey of South Carolina also submitted his proposal on the same day. Similar to the Virginia Plan, Pinckey’s proposal provided guidance for an amendment process, however this plan required legislative assent:
The assent of the Legislature of States shall be sufficient to invest future additional Powers in U. S. in C. ass. and shall bind the whole Confederacy.
Pinckey’s proposal was not debated or used in the Convention, however there is debate on whether the proposal was utilized by the Committee of Detail.
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