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New York's Application for a Convention of States (6 May 1789)
by Nick Williford (NAWilliford)
Cite as: NAWilliford, ‘New York's Application for a Convention of States (6 May 1789)’ in Bill of Rights 2018 Editors' Commentary, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2019), item 242.
Bill of Rights 2018 Editors' Commentary
(To read a specific commentary item, please click on its link.)
- Madison Notices the House of his Intent to Propose Amendments (4 May 1789)
- Virginia's Application for a Convention of States (5 May 1789)
- New York's Application for a Convention of States (6 May 1789)
- Smith of South Carolina Opposes Submitting Madison's Proposed Amendments to the Committee of the Whole House (8 June 1789)
- Jackson of Georgia Opposes Consideration of Amendments (8 June 1789)
- Madison Presents His Proposed Amendments to the House (8 June 1789)
- Proceedings of the Debate in the House on Madison's Motion to Go into a Committee of the Whole for Consideration of Certain Proposed Amendments to the Constitution (8 June 1789)
- Amendment by Supplement: Opposition to Incorporating the Amendments into the Text of the Constitution (13 August 1789).
- Ames's Motion to Reduce the Ratio of Representation is Strongly Opposed (14 August 1789)
- 'Seizures and Searches'?: The Obscure Path to the Text of the Fourth Amendment (20 August 1789)
- Disparate Terminology used by the Sources to Refer to the Proposed Amendments in Reports of the House Discussions (20 & 21 August 1789)
- The Mysterious Appearance, Disappearance, and Reappearance of 'Necessary to' in the Senate’s ‘Right to Bear Arms’ Amendment (9 September 1789)
Commentary
On 5 May 1789, Richard Bland Lee submitted Virginia's application for a Convention of States to amend the Constitution. That application initiated a debate among members as to the correct procedure to follow upon the submission of such applications and the efficacy of proposing amendments at all at that stage. Ultimately, the House arrived at a compromise of entering Virginia's resolution in the Journal of the House and tabling the application (U.S. House Journal. 1789. 1st Congress, 1st sess., 5 May 1789; Annals of Congress, 1st Cong., 1st sess., 258-61). The following day, John Laurance of New York submitted a strongly-worded resolution from that state's assembly similarly requesting a convention to take up amendments. With the procedure adopted the previous day in place, this application did not elicit a similar debate. Rather, the application simply was read, entered in the journal, and ordered to be filed (Gazette of the United States, edition of 9 May 1789, 31; U.S. House Journal. 1789. 1st Cong., 1st sess., 6 May 1789; Annals of Congress, 1st Cong., 1st sess., 282).
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