August 13, 1787: Immigrants as Representatives

Silhouette of Thomas Jefferson by John Marshal,

Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2004662010/

"We should be made one nation in every case concerning foreign affairs, and separate ones in whatever is merely domestic."

--Thomas Jefferson to John Blair

Monday, August 13, 1787: The Convention Today

The session began by reconsidering the requirement that House members be seven years a citizen. Wilson (PA) and Randolph (VA) moved for 4 years, Williamson (NC) moved to require nine, and Hamilton (NY) and Madison (VA) moved to require only residency and citizenship, letting Congress determine the length. Wilson found Hamilton’s motion persuasive and removed his own motion. Madison wrote, “Mr. WILSON cited Pennsylvania as a proof of the advantage of encouraging emigrations. It was perhaps the youngest settlement (except Georgia) on the Atlantic; yet it was at least among the foremost in population and prosperity. He remarked, that almost all the general officers of the Pennsylvania line of the late army were foreigners; and no complaint had ever been made against their fidelity or merit. Three of her Deputies to the Convention (Mr. R. MORRIS, Mr. FITZSIMONS, and himself) were also not natives.” Against this, Gerry (MA) and Butler (SC) (himself an immigrant) opposed admitting foreigners to Congress in any case.

Hamilton’s motion lost, 4–7, with Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia being the only states to support eliminating a lengthy time of citizenship as a requirement for serving in the House of Representatives.

Williamson’s motion requiring a longer period of citizenship failed, 3–8, with New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Georgia in support.

Wilson now renewed his motion to require four years of citizenship—it failed 3–8, with Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia in support.

Randolph then moved to reinstate the requirement that money bills originate in the House. Mason and Gerry supported him, and Dickinson (DE), Wilson, G. Morris, and Rutledge opposed. Carroll and McHenry (MD) pointed out the difficulty of defining money bills and the violent disputes this had caused between Maryland’s Senate and House. The provision lost.

Synopsis

• The delegates reconsidered length of citizenship requirements for Senators and Representatives, with some wanting to lengthen the requirements and others wanting to get rid of them entirely.
• All motions to change the requirements previously agreed to (seven years of citizenship for Representatives and nine for Senators) failed.
• After some debate, the Convention agreed to retain the requirement that money bills originate in the House of Representatives.

Delegates Today

• Washington (VA) dined at Robert Morris’s (PA) and drank tea at Franklin’s (PA) home with Sarah Bache, Franklin’s daughter.
• Washington’s good friend, Colonel David Humphries, wrote that he and like-minded others had been trying “to prepare the minds of the Citizens for adopting whatever may be the Result of your Proceedings.” Humphries had been encouraged by good reports coming from the Convention which defied his prediction in the spring that nothing good would come from it. He had previously told Washington not to bother attending. He now admitted that he was happy if the result of the Convention proved him wrong.
• Gerry (MA) wrote his old friend James Warren, “I sincerely hope [the Constitution] will be such as you and I can approve, and... will not be engrafted with principles of mutability, corruption or despotism, principles which some, you and I know, would not dislike to find in our national constitution.”

Philadelphia Today

• Today was clear and warm.
• The Pennsylvania Herald for August 15, reported that today’s session of the Constitutional Convention lasted until 5:00 P.M., “when, it is said, a decision took place upon the most important question that has been agitated since the meeting of this assembly.” This claim is not borne out by any other source, including Madison’s (VA) notes.