The Constitution That Never Was (Early Drafts & Things You May Not Know)

[NYC Liberal]

A few things that were in the early drafts of the Constitution and were later taken out before the final draft was ratified:

..."no act of the legislature for the purpose of regulating the commerce of the United States with foreign powers, or among the several states, shall be passed without the assent of two thirds of the members of each house;"

..."The Executive Power of the United States shall be vested in a single person. His stile shall be “The President of the United States of America;” and his title shall be, “His Excellency”. He shall be elected by ballot by the Legislature. He shall hold his office during the term of seven years; but shall not be elected a second time."

..."He shall be removed from his office on impeachment by the House of Representatives, and conviction in the supreme Court, of treason, bribery, or corruption."

..."The Senate of the United States shall have Power to <...> appoint the Judges of the Supreme Court."

..."In Case of his Impeachment, Removal, Death, Resignation or Disability to discharge the Powers and Duties of his Office; the President of the Senate shall exercise those Powers and Duties, until another President of the United States be chosen, or until the President impeached or disabled be acquitted, or his Disability be removed." (The Vice President would take over not just upon the President's death, but also when he was impeached and awaiting trial in the Senate.)

..."The military shall always be subordinate to the civil power, and no grants of money shall be made by the Legislature for supporting military land forces for more than one year at a time ."

..."No troops shall be kept up in time of peace, but by consent of the Legislature."

[NinetySix]

1. This is of particular interest to me...

Could you provide a link to this material, please? Thanks!

[NYC Liberal]

2. It's actually from the records of the Constitutional Convention

http://oll.libertyfund.org/EBooks/Various%20Authors_0544.02.pdf (PDF file)

[NinetySix]

3. Thanks again, NYC Liberal!

I'm teaching a civics class, and I think this is going to be of great interest to my students; we're doing the Federalist/Antifederalist Papers at the moment to get a sense of the motivations involved in the Constitutional debates, and this stuff is pertinent and interesting.

[H2O Man]

4. Of related interest

is Franklin's 1754 "Albany Plan of Union." It's easy to find a copy by googling. It shows the extent of the influence of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) on Ben Franklin's thinking.

My daughter's 7th grade social studies class is studying the US Constitution. I'm pleased that she has really talented, dedicated teachers at her rural, upstate school. When we were discussing the Constitutional Convention during a recent evening meal, I told her about the Albany Plan. Chief Paul Waterman's "grandfather's grandfathers" were among those who interacted with Franklin near Albany, and with Franklin and Jefferson at Philadelphia. My daughter was eager to bring a copy of the Albany Plan to school the next day.