Teaching with Documents
Social Education 76(4), pp 164–167
©2012 National Council for the Social Studies
The First Page of the Official
Journal of the Constitutional
Convention—Just the Tip of a
Records Iceberg!
Lee Ann Potter
On Monday, September 17, 1787, 39 delegates to the Federal Convention in
Philadelphia signed the Constitution of the United States, along with Major William
Jackson, who had served as the secretary of the Convention. That same day, Jackson
received instructions to leave for New York City on Tuesday and carry the document
to Congress. That night, after delegates dined together at the City Tavern and bid
farewell to one another, Jackson met with and delivered the official records of the
Convention to George Washington, who had served as its president.
The official records that Jackson gave
to Washington included the journal of
the Convention, written in Jackson’s
hand with some annotations by
Washington. On its first page (featured
in this article), Jackson addressed the
“who,” “what,” “where,” and “when” of
the convention. He began, “On Monday,
the 14th of May, A.D. 1787, and in the
eleventh year of the independence of
the United States of America, at the
State House in the city of Philadelphia,”
and continued to describe the arrival
of delegates, stating that by the 25th of
May a quorum had appeared, and the
name of each delegate was listed. The
“how” and “why” of the Convention fill
the rest of the four-volume, 198-page
journal and the other official records of
the Convention that were entrusted to
Washington.
The other records included
• The Voting Record of the
Convention
• Two endorsed copies of the 8-page
Virginia Plan that was drafted by
James Madison and presented
by Edmund Randolph to the
Convention on May 29, 1787
• The 7-page first printed draft of the
Constitution that was reported to
the Convention by the Committee
of Detail on August 6, 1787
• The draft of a letter from the
Convention to Congress (to
accompany the Constitution), dated
September 12, 1787
• A letter from a committee of
citizens of Rhode Island concerning
representation at the Convention
• Miscellaneous letters from
James McHenry (delegate from
Maryland), William Rawle,
S o c i a l E d u c at i o n
164
and Jonas Phillips to George
Washington; and a resolve from the
Library Company of Philadelphia.
All of these materials were in
Washington’s possession until March 19,
1796, when he gave them to Secretary
of State Timothy Pickering. Today, they
are in the holdings of the National
Archives of the United States.
In 1971, the National Archives
microfilmed each page, and recently,
through a partnership with Fold3.
com, digital images of all microfilmed
pages are available online. The online
collection includes all of the materials
Jackson had given Washington, as
well as the Papers of David Brearley
(a delegate from New Jersey), the
credentials of the delegates, an original
motion in the hand of Elbridge Gerry,
and an extensive introduction to the
collection.
Lee Ann Potter is the director of Education and
Volunteer Programs at the National Archives and
Records Administration in Washington, D.C. Potter
serves as the “Teaching with Documents” feature editor. The document featured in this article is in the
public domain and can be reproduced in any quantity. For additional information about the education
programs of the National Archives, please visit www.
archives.gov/nae, and www.archives.gov/education.
September
165
2 0 12
S o c i a l E d u c at i o n
166
The Constitution, by Barry Faulkner, is one of two 1936 large-scale murals that depicts fictional scenes (the other is of the Declaration of Independence) in the Rotunda of the Charters of Freedom at the
National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. The murals were recently restored and are also interactive at www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_murals.html.
Teaching Activities
1. Read aloud to your students the following quote from the
featured document, “On Monday, the 14th of May, A.D.
1787, and in the eleventh year of the independence of the
United States of America, at the State House in the city
of Philadelphia,” and ask them (a) where they think the
statement comes from, and (b) what information they think
came next. Encourage them to explain their answers. Then,
distribute to students a copy of the document and lead a
class discussion, building on their earlier suggestions and
answering the following questions: What kind of a document
is this? When was it written? Who wrote it, and for what
purpose? Is this a complete document?
2. Explain to students that the document they analyzed in
activity #1 is incomplete, that it is the first page of the 198page journal of the Constitutional Convention. Write the
questions “Who, What, Where, and When,” on the board and
ask students which questions can be answered about the
Constitutional Convention simply by reading the first page
of the journal. (You may wish to share with them the second
page of the journal, as well. It is available online at www.fold3.
com/image/#1|3777997.) Next, ask them to brainstorm
what additional information they think is contained in the
rest of the journal (perhaps “how” and “why”). Write their list
of suggestions on the board. Then, direct students to www.
fold3.com/title_61/constitutional_convention_records/,
and encourage them to explore its contents. Compare their
findings with the items on the board and share with them
the items listed in this article.
why multiple and varied sources often lead to clearer
understanding. [One source they might be particularly
interested in is Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of
1787, James Madison’s record of the daily debates held by
delegates at the Philadelphia Convention—available online
from James Madison’s Montpelier at context.montpelier.
org/.]
4. Invite students to conduct research on Maj. William Jackson
or any of the men listed on the initial pages of the Convention
journal. Encourage students to present their findings to the
class. You might also suggest that they create annotations
about the delegates to appear on the Fold3 site.
5. Remind students that the Constitutional Convention was
separate from Congress. Inform them that the records of
Congress include mention of the work of the Convention.
The rough journals of the Continental Congresses and the
Confederation Congress are in the holdings of the National
Archives and are available online from Fold3 at www.
fold3.com/title_63/continental_congress_papers/.
The
published journals are available online from the Library of
Congress at memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html.
Direct student attention to pages 487–503 of Volume 33 and
ask them to describe how the work of the Convention was
recorded in the Journal of the Continental Congress.
Note about the Document
The first page of the journal of the Constitutional Convention
3. Ask students to what extent they think the information
contained in the journals, and in the rest of the official
records of the Convention (that Jackson gave to Washington),
is complete. Divide the class into small groups and instruct
them to locate as many additional primary sources as they
can that provide information about what happened during
the Convention. You might encourage students to look at
bibliographies of secondary sources as a starting point (one
recommendation is Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine
Drinker Bowen). Compile their lists and remind students that
2012 is the 225th anniversary of the Constitution. Ask them
to imagine that they have been asked by a major publication
to write an article about the Convention. Direct them to write
five questions they think readers would like answered by
their article. Next, ask them to refer to the list of sources they
generated and speculate about which sources might provide
answers to their questions. If time allows, assign them to
investigate the sources and write an article; if not, lead a
class discussion about sources for information, emphasizing
September
167
comes from the Official Records of the Constitutional Convention
of 1787, within the Records of the Continental and Confederation
Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, 1765–1821, Record
Group 360, at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It is
available online from the National Archives and Fold3 at www.fold3.
com/image/#1|3777996. The complete records of the Convention
are available at www.fold3.com/title_61/constitutional_convention_
records/.
Since January 2007, the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) has worked with entities in the private sector to establish
digitization partnerships to make major portions of our holdings available
to researchers anywhere, anytime. Through these partnerships, the public
may access millions of pages of NARA holdings online that until now
have only been available either in one of our research rooms or through
microfilm publications.
To learn more about these partnerships, go to www.archives.gov/
digitization/. There you may review the current digitization partnership
agreements, the National Archives’s Strategy for Digitizing Archival Materials
for Public Access, and a hyperlinked list of NARA records currently on partner
websites—including the Records of the Constitutional Convention.
2 0 12