July 29, 1787: Still in Recess

A group portrait of George and Martha Washington, Martha's grandchildren, and an unnamed enslaved man, by Edward Savage, 1789-1796

National Gallery of Art, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.561.html

"I can hardly believe that a raw Irishman can be well qualified to manage Negros."

--George Washington to his nephew George Augustine Washington, regarding using an indentured servant to oversee enslaved Black Americans.

Sunday, July 29, 1787: The Convention Today
The Convention was adjourned while the five-member Committee of Detail drafted the Constitution of the United States. Since it was a Sunday, the committee members may have been resting from their labors.

Synopsis

• The Convention was in recess.

Delegates Today

• Johnson was at home in Stratford, Connecticut, for one of eight times he would be there this year. The longest of these stays at home had been 13 days and altogether they totaled 62 days, or 17% of the year.
• Washington (VA) dined and spent the entire day at Robert Morris’s (PA), mostly in writing letters. His letter to George Augustine Washington with instructions on what to do during the ensuing week typified the General's detailed knowledge of his farms.

Philadelphia Today

• The day was cool and cloudy after an early morning rain.