27501The Federalist No. 63, [1 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. A FIFTH desideratum illustrating the utility of a senate, is the want of a due sense of national character. Without a select and stable member of the government, the esteem of foreign powers will not only be forfeited by an unenlightened and variable policy, proceeding from the causes already mentioned; but the national councils will not possess that...
27502Report of a Committee of the Trustees of Columbia College, 2 March 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, March 2, 1788. As members of a committee of the trustees of Columbia College, Hamilton and Brockholst Livingston reported on a “letter of the Reverend Mr. Benjamin Moore of the 13th Decembr. Ulto: respecting a demand made on him by Mr. Leonard Lispenard for the rent of a house occupied by Mr. Moore during part of the late war.” Hamilton and Livingston reported “that there exists no...
27503The Federalist No. 65, [7 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE remaining powers, which the plan of the Convention allots to the Senate, in a distinct capacity, are comprised in their participation with the Executive in the appointment to offices, and in their judicial character as a court for the trial of impeachments. As in the business of appointments the Executive will be the principal agent, the provisions...
27504The Federalist No. 66, [8 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. A review of the principal objections that have appeared against the proposed court for the trial of impeachments, will not improbably eradicate the remains of any unfavourable impressions, which may still exist, in regard to this matter. The first of these objections is, that the provision in question confounds legislative and judiciary authorities in...
27505The Federalist No. 67, [11 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE Constitution of the executive department of the proposed government claims next our attention. There is hardly any part of the system which could have been attended with greater difficulty in the arrangement of it than this; and there is perhaps none, which has been inveighed against with less candor, or criticised with less judgment. Here the...
27506The Federalist No. 68, [12 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE mode of appointment of the chief magistrate of the United States is almost the only part of the system, of any consequence, which has escaped without severe censure, or which has received the slightest mark of approbation from its opponents. The most plausible of these, who has appeared in print, has even deigned to admit, that the election of the...
27507Report of a Committee of the Trustees of Columbia College, 13 March 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, March 13, 1788. On this date Hamilton and Morgan Lewis, members of a committee to whom was referred an “Application of Messrs. Van Zandt and Kettlelas,” reported that the two men had offered to pay in 1776 the full amount of principal and interest due on their bond to the college in continental currency and that the treasurer of the college had refused the payment. D , signed by H...
27508The Federalist No. 69, [14 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. I PROCEED now to trace the real characters of the proposed executive as they are marked out in the plan of the Convention. This will serve to place in a strong light the unfairness of the representations which have been made in regard to it. The first thing which strikes our attention is that the executive authority, with few exceptions, is to be vested...
27509The Federalist No. 70, [15 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THERE is an idea, which is not without its advocates, that a vigorous executive is inconsistent with the genius of republican government. The enlightened well wishers to this species of government must at least hope that the supposition is destitute of foundation; since they can never admit its truth, without at the same time admitting the condemnation...
27510The Federalist No. 71, [18 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. DURATION in office has been mentioned as the second requisite to the energy of the executive authority. This has relation to two objects: To the personal firmness of the Executive Magistrate in the employment of his constitutional powers; and to the stability of the system of administration which may have been adopted under his auspices. With regard to...
27511The Federalist No. 72, [19 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE Administration of government, in its largest sense, comprehends all the operations of the body politic, whether legislative, executive or judiciary, but in its most usual and perhaps in its most precise signification, it is limited to executive details, and falls peculiarly within the province of the executive department. The actual conduct of...
27512The Federalist No. 73, [21 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE third ingredient towards constituting the vigor of the executive authority is an adequate provision for its support. It is evident that without proper attention to this article, the separation of the executive from the legislative department would be merely nominal and nugatory. The Legislature, with a discretionary power over the salary and...
27513From Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Wadsworth, [23 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
I have reflected on the subject of our conversation respecting the property belonging to Mr. Church and yourself now in the City of Philadelphia and agree in opinion with you that it will be altogether adviseable to remove it from that place to this City or Connecticut or both, so as to have it more immediately under your eye. I would therefore by all means advise the step. I remain Yr....
27514The Federalist No. 74, [25 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE President of the United States is to be “Commander in Chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States.” The propriety of this provision is so evident in itself; and it is at the same time so consonant to the precedents of the State constitutions in...
27515The Federalist No. 75, [26 March 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE president is to have power “by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur.” Though this provision has been assailed on different grounds, with no small degree of vehemence, I scruple not to declare my firm persuasion, that it is one of the best digested and most unexceptionable...
27516The Federalist No. 76, [1 April 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE President is “to nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior...
27517The Federalist No. 77, [2 April 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. IT has been mentioned as one of the advantages to be expected from the co-operation of the senate, in the business of appointments, that it would contribute to the stability of the administration. The consent of that body would be necessary to displace as well as to appoint. A change of the chief magistrate therefore would not occasion so violent or so...
27518From Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, [3 April 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
I have been very delinquent My Dear Sir in not thanking you sooner for your letter from Philadelphia. The remarks you make on a certain subject are important and will be attended to. There is truly much embarrassment in the case. I think however the principles we have talked of, in respect to the legislative authorities, are not only just but will apply to the other departments. Nor will the...
27519Campaign Broadside, 12 April 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
From a sincere Attachment to yourselves, and a Regard to our mutual Interest, we are induced to apprize you of our Opinions on a Subject, which we view as of the most essential Consequence to both. YOUR Countrymen in New-York, in Union of Sentiment with the true Friends of America, have long lamented the want of a FIRM, NATIONAL GOVERNMENT; without which they consider Property as insecure, and...
27520Account with William Backhouse and Company, 18 April 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, April 18, 1788. Backhouse on this date made the last entry in an account which he had kept with Hamilton who was acting as agent and legal representative for John B. Church. The account deals with bills of exchange which Backhouse discounted for Church. The first entry is February 18, 1788, the last April 18, 1788. D , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. William Backhouse was a...
27521Appointment as Delegate to the General Meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, 3 May 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, May 3, 1788. Baron von Steuben, president of the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of New York, signed a certification that Hamilton and six other men had been appointed delegates to represent New York in the “General Meeting of the society of ye. Cincinnati to be holden in the City of Philadelphia on Monday the fifth day of May 1788.” DS , Papers of the Society of the...
27522From Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, [11 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
I believe I am in your debt a letter or two, which is owing to my occupations in relation to the elections &c. These are now over in this state, but the result is not known. All depends upon Albany where both sides claim the victory. Our doubts will not be removed till the latter end of the month. I hope your expectations of Virginia have not diminished. Respecting the first volume of Publius...
27523To Alexander Hamilton from John Jay, 15 May 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Richard Laurence of Staten Island has complained to Congress, and to the King of Great Britain, that Judgments have been obtained and executed against him in certain Actions of Trespass, which he says were commenced and prosecuted in Violation of the Treaty of Peace. In these Actions I understand you was concerned for him, and as it is important that the Facts which concern the Merits of...
27524From Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, [19 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
Some days since I wrote to you, My Dear Sir, inclosing a letter from a Mr. V Der Kemp &c. I then mentioned to you that the question of a majority for or against the constitution would depend upon the County of Albany. By the latter accounts from that quarter I fear much that the issue there has been against us. As Clinton is truly the leader of his party, and is inflexibly obstinate I count...
27525From Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, [19 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
I acknowlege my delinquency in not thanking you before for your obliging letter from Richmond. But the truth is that I have been so overwhelmed in avocations of one kind or another that I have scarcely had a moment to spare to a friend. You I trust will be the less disposed to be inexorable, as I hope you believe there is no one for whom I have more inclination than yourself—I mean of the male...
27526Account with New York State, [21 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, May 21, 1788. On this date Hamilton submitted a bill to New York State. Document not found ]. ADS , sold by Samuel Freeman, November 18, 1924, lot 167.
27527To Alexander Hamilton from Marquis de Lafayette, 24 May 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
It is a Hard thing for me to Be separated from the friends I love the Best, and to think that our daily Conversations are Reduced to a few letters, the Arrival of Which is ever lengthy and sometimes Uncertain. I Hope, However, My dear friend, you don’t question My Continual and Affectionate Remembrance of the Happy days I Have Past With You. I Hope You often think of me, and of the pleasure...
27528Continental Congress. Amendment to Supplement to Land Ordinance, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
That the persons intitled to lands by virtue of such warrants shall be at liberty to locate them on any part of the two tracts or districts of land reserved and set apart for the purpose of satisfying the military bounties due to the late army provided that each location be made either in contact with some point or part of the external boundary of the said tracts respectively or of some prior...
27529The Federalist No. 78, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. WE proceed now to an examination of the judiciary department of the proposed government. In unfolding the defects of the existing confederation, the utility and necessity of a federal judicature have been clearly pointed out. It is the less necessary to recapitulate the considerations there urged; as the propriety of the institution in the abstract is...
27530The Federalist No. 79, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. NEXT to permanency in office, nothing can contribute more to the independence of the judges than a fixed provision for their support. The remark made in relation to the president, is equally applicable here. In the general course of human nature, a power over a man’s subsistence amounts to a power over his will . And we can never hope to see realised in...
27531The Federalist No. 80, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. TO judge with accuracy of the proper extent of the federal judicature, it will be necessary to consider in the first place what are its proper objects. It seems scarcely to admit of controversy that the judiciary authority of the union ought to extend to these several descriptions of causes. 1st. To all those which arise out of the laws of the United...
27532The Federalist No. 81, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. LET us now return to the partition of the judiciary authority between different courts, and their relations to each other. “The judicial power of the United States is (by the plan of the convention) to be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Article 3. Sec. 1. That there...
27533The Federalist No. 82, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE erection of a new government, whatever care or wisdom may distinguish the work, cannot fail to originate questions of intricacy and nicety; and these may in a particular manner be expected to flow from the establishment of a constitution founded upon the total or partial incorporation of a number of distinct sovereignties. ’Tis time only that can...
27534The Federalist No. 83, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. THE objection to the plan of the convention, which has met with most success in this state, and perhaps in several of the other states, is that relative to the want of a constitutional provision for the trial by jury in civil cases. The disingenuous form in which this objection is usually stated, has been repeatedly adverted to and exposed; but continues...
27535The Federalist No. 84, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. IN the course of the foregoing review of the constitution I have taken notice of, and endeavoured to answer, most of the objections which have appeared against it. There however remain a few which either did not fall naturally under any particular head, or were forgotten in their proper places. These shall now be discussed; but as the subject has been...
27536The Federalist No. 85, [28 May 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
To the People of the State of New-York. ACCORDING to the formal division of the subject of these papers, announced in my first number, there would appear still to remain for discussion, two points, “the analogy of the proposed government to your own state constitution,” and “the additional security, which its adoption will afford to republican government, to liberty and to property.” But these...
27537Continental Congress. Report on the Admission of Kentucky into the Union, [2 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
That in their opinion it is expedient that the district of Kentucky be erected into an independent state and therefore submit the following resolution [a member from each state] That the address and resolutions from the district of Kentucke with the acts of the Legislature of Virginia therein specified be referred to a Committee of to prepare and report a proper act for acceding to the...
27538From Alexander Hamilton to John Sullivan, 6 June 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
You will no doubt have understood that the Antifederal party has prevailed in this State by a large majority. It is therefore of the utmost importance that all external circumstances should be made use of to influence their conduct. This will suggest to you the great advantage of a speedy decision in your State, if you can be sure of the question, and a prompt communication of the event to us....
27539From Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, [8 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
In my last I think I informed you that the elections had turned out, beyond expectation, favourable to the Antifœderal party. They have a majority of two thirds in the Convention and according to the best estimate I can form of about four sevenths in the community. The views of the leaders in this City are pretty well ascertained to be turned towards a long adjournment say till next spring or...
27540To Alexander Hamilton from James Madison, 9 June [1788] (Hamilton Papers)
The Heat of the weather &c. has laid me up with a bilious attack; I am not able therefore to say more than a few words. No material indications have taken place since my last. The chance at present seems to be in our favor. But it is possible things may take another turn. Oswald in Phila. came here on Saturday; and has closet interviews with the leaders of the opposition. Yours affcy. ALS ,...
27541To Alexander Hamilton from Rufus King, 12 June 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
I have made an arrangement to forward by express the result of the convention of New Hampshire to Springfield in this State, from which place Genl. Knox has engaged a conveyance to you at Poughkeepsie. Those who are best informed of the situation of the Question in New Hampshire are positive that the Decision will be such as we wish, and from the particular Facts which I have heard, I can...
27542Continental Congress. Report on a Letter from the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, [12 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
The Committee to whom was referred the report of the Secretary for foreign affairs on the note from The Minister Plenipotentiary of France with the papers accompanying it report— That it appears by the said note and the papers which accompany it, that the person mentioned therein, to wit Joseph Marie Anne Fermier commander of the Brig David is in substance charged with betraying his trust and...
27543To Alexander Hamilton from James Madison, 13 June 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Richmond, June 13, 1788. On June 25, 1788, Hamilton wrote to Madison: “I am very sorry to find by your letter of the 13th that your prospects are so critical.” Letter not found. ]
27544To Alexander Hamilton from Gouverneur Morris, 13 June 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
I am to acknowlege yours of the 19th. of May which reached me a few Days since. Matters are not going so well in this State as the Friends of America could wish. If indeed the Debates in Convention were alone attended to a contrary Inference would be drawn for altho Mr. Henry is most warm and powerful in Declamation being perfectly Master of Action Utterance and the Power of Speech to stir...
27545To Alexander Hamilton from James Madison, 16 June 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
Yours of the 8th. is just come to hand. I mentioned in my last that Oswald had been here in consultation with the Antifedl. leaders. The contents of your letter confirm the idea that a negotiation for delay is [on] foot between the opposition here & with you. We have conjectured for some days that the policy is to spin out the Session in order to receive overtures from your Convention; or if...
27546To Alexander Hamilton from Henry Lee, [16 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
God bless you & your efforts to save me from the manifold ⟨–⟩ misfortunes which have & continue to oppress me, whenever I attempt to aid human nature. You will do what you think best & whatever you do I will confirm. Hazard has acted the part of a decided rascal & if I fail in my right, I may not in personal revenge. Our Convention is in full debate on the great business of Federal...
27547From Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, [19 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
Yesterday, My Dear Sir, The Convention made a house. That day and this have been spent in preliminary arrangements. Tomorrow we go into a Committee of the whole on the Constitution. There is every appearance that a full discussion will take place, which will keep us together at least a fortnight. It is not easy to conjecture what will be the result. Our adversaries greatly outnumber us. The...
27548Introductory Note: New York Ratifying Convention, [17 June–26 July 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
On February 1, 1788, the New York legislature voted to call a convention to ratify or reject the proposed Constitution. Departing from the usual suffrage requirements, the legislature resolved that every free male citizen of twenty-one years or over was to have a vote. In the elections, held on the third Tuesday in April, Hamilton was elected one of the delegates to the New York Ratifying...
27549New York Ratifying Convention. Resolution by Robert R. Livingston, [19 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
Resolved That no question general or particular shall be [put] in this [Committee] upon the proposed constitution of Government for the United States or upon any clause or article thereof nor upon any amendment which may be proposed thereto until after the said constitution [& Amendments] shall have been [considered Clause by Clause]. D , in the writings of Robert R. Livingston and H, John...
27550To Alexander Hamilton from James Madison, 20 June 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
Our debates have advanced as far as the Judiciary Department against which a great effort is making. The appellate congnizance of fact, and an extension of the power to causes between Citizens of different States, with some lesser objections are the topics chiefly dwelt on. The retrospection to cases antecedent to the Constitution, such as British debts, and an apprehended revival of the...