27371Credentials as Delegate to the General Society of the Cincinnati, 18 May 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 18, 1787. On this date Hamilton filed his credentials and instructions as a delegate from New York to the general meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati held in Philadelphia. Proceedings of the General Society of the Cincinnati, 1784–1884 (Philadelphia, 1887), 31.
27372Constitutional Convention. Nomination of William Jackson as Secretary of the Constitutional Convention, 25 May 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 25, 1787. On this date Hamilton nominated Major William Jackson as secretary of the Constitutional Convention. Gaillard Hunt and James Brown Scott, eds., The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America. Reported by James Madison (New York, 1920), 18. Of the many editions of Madison’s notes of debates in the...
27373Constitutional Convention. Appointment to Committee for Establishing Rules for the Constitutional Convention, 25 May … (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 25, 1787. On this date, Hamilton, George Wythe of Virginia, and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina were appointed a committee to prepare “standing rules & orders” for the Constitutional Convention. Hunt and Scott, Debates Gaillard Hunt and James Brown Scott, eds., The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America....
27374To Alexander Hamilton from Jacob Sarly, 26 May 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Delaware Mills near Trenton, May 26, 1787. “On my arrival at Newyork your Letter was handed me.… I will endeavour to fulfill the proposition I made of paying the Remainder due on the Bond I gave, previous to my leaving Newyork for England which will be in the Course of the next Month; for the Ballance which will satisfy one half of the Debt, I will put such Security in your hands as I trust...
27375Constitutional Convention. Motion that Representation in the National Legislature Ought to be Proportioned to the Number … (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 30, 1787. The Convention having before it a proposition by Edmund Randolph that “the rights of suffrage in the National Legislature ought to be proportioned to the quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants, as the one or the other rule may seem best in different cases,” Hamilton “moved to alter the resolution so as to read ‘that the rights of suffrage in...
27376Constitutional Convention. Notes Taken in the Federal Convention, [1–26 June 1787] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Notes for June 1, 1787] [Madison] 1— The way to prevent a majority from having an interest to oppress the minority is to enlarge the sphere. Madison 2— Elective Monarchies turbulent and unhappy— Men unwilling to admit so decided a superiority of merit in an individual as to accede to his appointment to so preeminent a station. If several are admitted as there will be many competitors of...
27377Constitutional Convention. Second of Benjamin Franklin’s Motion that Proposed Executive Serve Without Pay, 2 June 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, June 2, 1787. On this date Benjamin Franklin moved that the expenses of the proposed Executive should be paid but that he should receive “no salary, stipend fee or reward whatsoever” for his service. “The motion was seconded by Col. HAMILTON with the view he said merely of bringing so respectable a proposition before the Committee, and which was besides enforced by arguments that...
27378Constitutional Convention. Second of a Motion by James Wilson and Remarks Thereon, 4 June 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, June 4, 1787. James Wilson on this date made a motion, which Hamilton seconded, that a motion by Elbridge Gerry stating “that the National Executive shall have a right to negative any Legislative act which shall not be afterwards passed by parts of each branch of the national Legislature” be replaced by a provision “so as to give the Executive an absolute negative on the laws....
27379Constitutional Convention. Objection of Order, 4 June 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, June 4, 1787. To a motion by James Wilson, seconded by James Madison, that “a convenient number of the National Judiciary” act with the executive in vetoing acts of the national legislature, Hamilton made “an objection of order … to the introduction of the last amendment at this time.” Hunt and Scott, Debates Gaillard Hunt and James Brown Scott, eds., The Debates in the Federal...
27380Constitutional Convention. Remarks on the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, [15 June 1787] (Hamilton Papers)
Col. Hamilton cannot say he is in sentiment with either plan— supposes both might again be considered as federal plans, and by this means they will be fairly in committee, and be contrasted so as to make a comparative estimate of the two. Yates, Secret Proceedings and Debates Robert Yates, Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Convention Assembled at Philadelphia, in the Year 1787, For the...