Draft of the Federal Constitution: Report of Committee of Detail, 6 August 1787

Draft of the Federal Constitution: Report of Committee of Detail

6 August 1787. On 6 Aug. John Rutledge delivered the report of the “Committee of detail” in the form of a printed draft of the proposed federal constitution and provided copies for the members. GW and the secretary of the Convention, William Jackson, entered on one printed copy those deletions and additions that were adopted by the Convention between 6 Aug. and 3 Sept. and were included in the draft referred to the committee of five elected on 8 Sept. “to revise the stile of and arrange the articles which had been agreed to by the House” (Madison’s Notes in Farrand, Records of the Federal Convention, description begins Max Farrand, ed. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Rev. ed. 4 vols. New Haven, 1966. description ends 2:177, 553).

D, DNA: RG 360, Records of the Federal Convention.

On 23 July the Convention voted that “the proceedings of the Convention for the establishing of a Natl. Govt, (except the part relating to the Executive), be referred to a Committee to prepare & report a Constitution conformable thereto” (Madison’s Notes in Farrand, Records of the Federal Convention, description begins Max Farrand, ed. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Rev. ed. 4 vols. New Haven, 1966. description ends 2:95). Not only did the part of the Constitution “relating to the Executive” not appear in the committee draft of the Constitution of 6 Aug., it and most of the provisions regarding the Senate as well as several other important sections of the Constitution did not receive final approval of the Convention until after GW and Jackson had discontinued entering the changes that were being made in the draft. See the note in Draft of the Federal Constitution: Report of Committee of Style, 12 September.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: Draft of the Federal Constitution: Report of Committee of Detail, 6 August 1787
Author: Committee of Detail
Date: 6 August 1787

Reference

Cite as: “Draft of the Federal Constitution: Report of Committee of Detail, 6 August 1787,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-05-02-0261. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, vol. 5, 1 February 1787 – 31 December 1787, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1997, p. 282.]