August 22, 1787
From James Madison's Motes
James Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention of 1787 are the most complete source of information remaining from that remarkable gathering. Because the convention was conducted in secrecy, the taking of notes was permitted only with the greatest circumspection. On one occasion one member apparently dropped his notes on the floor at the end of the day session, and they were discovered by presiding officer Washington. The next morning Washington sternly announced that someone had lost the notes in question and might come and claim them. No one did.
(A complete set of all surviving notes from the convention, edited by Max Farrand, is published by Yale University Press.)
Madison was present at every session of the convention and not only took copious notes; he often consulted with members following the day's discussion to be sure that he had correctly transcribed their words. Because of the secrecy surrounding the convention, and because Madison did not wish to embarrass any of the members nor influence the ratification process, he did not publish his notes immediately. In fact, he decided not to publish them until every member of the convention was deceased. As fate would have it, Madison was the last survivor of the Constitutional Convention. He lived until 1836. Although textual analysis reveals that Madison may have altered his notes in his later years, the substance of his notes is accepted as generally correct.
Madison's notes can be a bit confusing, as he alternated first person (the voice of the speaker) with third person (his own elaboration on the speaker's meaning.)
Col. MASON. This infernal traffic [in slaves] originated in the avarice of British Merchants. The British Govt. constantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. The present question concerns not the importing States alone but the whole Union. The evil of having slaves was experienced during the late war. Had slaves been treated as they might have been by the Enemy, they would have proved dangerous instruments in their hands. But their folly dealt by the slaves, as it did by the Tories. He mentioned the dangerous insurrections of the slaves in Greece and Sicily; and the instructions given by Cromwell to the Commissioners sent to Virginia, to arm the servants & slaves, in case other means of obtaining its submission should fail. Maryland & Virginia he said had already prohibited the importation of slaves expressly. N. Carolina had done the same in substance. All this would be in vain if S. Carolina & Georgia be at liberty to import. The Western people are already calling out for slaves for their new lands, and will fill that Country with slaves if they can be got thro' S. Carolina & Georgia. Slavery discourages arts & manufactures. The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the immigration of Whites, who really enrich & strengthen a Country. They produce the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of heaven on a Country. As nations can not be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes & effects providence punishes national sins, by national calamities. He lamented that some of our Eastern brethren had from a lust of gain embarked in this nefarious traffic. As to the States being in possession of the Right to import, this was the case with many other rights, now to be properly given up. He held it essential in every point of view that the Genl. Govt. should have power to prevent the increase of slavery.
Benjamin Franklin's Final Speech in the Constitutional Convention Concluding Remarks by George Washington and James Madison
From James Madison's Notes
The engrossed Constitution being read,
Docr. FRANKLIN rose with a speech in his hand, which he had reduced to writing for his own conveniency, and which Mr. Wilson read in the words following.
World History
