Lorianne Updike Toler, lawyer and head of the Constitutional Sources Project in Pennsylvania, has found a rare early draft of the United States Constitution in the hand of James Wilson. It is a major historical and legal find at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
It appears the draft was written by Wilson in the summer of 1787. The handwriting appeared incomplete until the rest of the document was found among Wilson’s other papers. The document was entitled “The Continuation of the Scheme.”
This only the third such draft in Wilson’s hand. Wilson served with John Rutledge, Edmund Randolph, Nathaniel Gorham, and Oliver Ellsworth as a member of the important Committee of Detail, which refined the words of the Constitution.
For the full story, click here.
Gyges:
to an extent I agree but science needs the mind free. Although Hitlers Germany is a good example of science in a repressive state. They did quite well and almost got the atom bomb before us. So is Soviet Russia and Communist China.
I wonder why scientists would work for a repressive regime?
Corrected version and response:
UberMitch,
Christmas, Nah, they did not do much with respect to Christmas in those days. As a matter of fact it was still considered a Pagan Ritual and it was banned here in the loose confederation of states that came to be the US
It was not until after the Civil War did become celebrated in the US. Thomas Nast helped commercial it.
Anonymously Yours:
The founders not concerned with Christmas? But but but… what about all the wailing about America being founded as “Christian Nation”? What about Bill O’Reilly’s “War on Christmas Campaign?” Why, its almost as if all of that is bullshit!
It was founded by those Quakers folks and Puritans people. They took umbrage at people talking off on the 25th and a number of states passed laws against closing on those dates. I remember reading that some state was actually in session on Xmas day.
So to answer your question. Yes, Bill O is full of it….
Anonymously Yours:
The founders not concerned with Christmas? But but but… what about all the wailing about America being founded as “Christian Nation”? What about Bill O’Reilly’s “War on Christmas Campaign?” Why, its almost as if all of that is bullshit!
UberMitch,
Christmas, Nah, they did not do much with respect to Christmas in those days. As a matter of fact it was still considered a Pagan Ritual and it was banned her in the loose confederation of states that came to be.
It was not until after Christmas did the US begin to celebrate it. Thomas Nast helped commercial it.
i was going to make a nicholas cage joke, but it seems a few of you beat me to the punch.
THAT was ratified. That.
You know, the Inquirer article would be a whole lot more informative if it said how the draft was different from the constitution was ratified. I’m not looking for a scholarly treatment, just maybe even one example.
I bet its different in some cool way, too. Like it declares every Thursday ice cream day, or makes Christmas every month.
Byron,
Off the top of my head: Pasture did a bit of work under the Second and third French Republics, and the Second French Empire, The Curie institute was in mid 1900’s France, Watson and Crick (and more importantly and less famously Rosalind Franklin) were in Cambridge.
I’d say that science and democracy (of some sort) tend to go hand in hand, but that one doesn’t require the other. The Constitution had very little to do with the discovery of pasteurization.
Gyges:
which ones? Where were they developed? What type of government were they developed under?
Byron,
On the other hand, the Declaration by itself did absolutely nothing to ensure that the country that was to follow held itself to the ideals the document espoused.
By the way, I’d put a few scientific treatises and papers ahead of either of them, working on the assumption that important in this contexts in large part means influencing the lives of people. I’d say the effects of select pieces medical literature has a greater impact on the general populace of the world than the U.S. Constitution or the DOI.
This is very cool. We’ve been finding a lot of revolution era documents lately. Recently a few letters written by Thomas Jefferson was found, one in Virginia.
It always gives me goosebumps thinking about the history around these finds. Cool stuff.
ECookie,
You can tell people that they are Free. You can even leave the door open. There are some people that still will not believe you.
Byron,
Did you know the first declaration of independence was issued on May 20, 1775 by the citizens of Mecklenburg County, NC?
“We the citizens of Mecklenburg County do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country. … We do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people … to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/the_first_declaration_of_indepe.html
A friend/colleague of mine was in London last spring and went to the British Library, where they have a fantastic collection of historic documents.
He was in the room where they keep the original Magna Carta. There is an electronic translation and he and his daughter were looking at the page describing the clause requiring that no one shall be imprisoned except by due process of law. An older British couple were standing beside them, reading the same thing and the woman said: “That’s why the country is in such a mess – that bit there”
LOL
The woman in the main article says:
“The Constitution may be the most important document written in modern history,” said Toler. “It is the longest-standing written constitution and the basis for most of the constitutions in the world.”
she is incorrect it is the DOI. It [DOI] lays out the reason for an objective system of law. A constitution on it’s own is nothing, the DOI gives a philosophical underpinning to the Constitution. The Constitution is not our primary legal document it is the Declaration.
A constitution alone presumes man’s rights to extend from the state. Whereas the Declaration declares man has inherent rights that extend from the very nature of man. They are not a grant from the state. The Constitution was written to protect those inherent rights and it has been corrupted over the last 200 years.
I am not surprised that the thread jackers ore not here. It would debase the thing that they claim to hold dear and probably could not even name one signor of the DOI.
From the Simpsons…
(Smithers trying to console Mr. Burns after his loss of his favorite stuffed bear Mr. Bobo)
Smithers: “Look at all the wonderful things you have, sir: King Arthur’s “Excalibur”. The only existing nude photo of Mark Twain. And that rare first draft of the constitution with the word “suckers” in it.
WOW, is all I can say.
Cool.
Nice find! And don’t be to worried about not being or seeing Nic Cage. I’m thinking finding another draft is far better than having Cage’s money problems of the moment.