To George Washington from Thomas Mifflin, 21 September 1791
From Thomas Mifflin
Philadelphia, 21 September 1791. Transmits an exemplified copy of an act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania entitled “An Act ratifying, on behalf of the State of Pennsylvania, the first amendment proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States.”1
Copy, DNA: RG 46, Second Congress, 1791–1793, Records of Legislative Proceedings, President’s Messages.
1. On 2 Oct. 1789 GW submitted to the governors of the states the amendments to the Constitution proposed by Congress. Gov. Thomas Mifflin enclosed the act of the Pennsylvania legislature ratifying the first of these twelve proposed amendments, which limited the size of the U.S. House of Representatives. For the background to this proposed amendment, see GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 8 March 1790, n.2. The Pennsylvania act of ratification was signed by William Bingham, speaker of the Pennsylvania house of representatives, and Richard Peters, speaker of the Pennsylvania senate (DNA: RG 46, Second Congress, 1791–1793, Records of Legislative Proceedings, President’s Messages). GW presented it to Congress with its cover letter on 26 October.