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Bill of Rights. Gazette of the United States. New York: John Fenno, August 29, 1789. 4 pp. Inventory # 21820 $27,500 Remarkable full printing of the seventeen amendments to the Constitution approved by the House of Representatives five days earlier. Ultimately, ten of these amendments would be ratified by the states as the Bill of Rights. Also included in this issue are printings of two Acts of Congress, one to provide for the Government of the Northwest Territory, and the other to provide funding for treaties with Indian tribes, each signed in block type by George Washington and John Adams; Congressional deliberations on a national capitol, the safeguarding of official records and the great seal, and the establishment of the treasury department; an essay on processing sugar from maple trees, by “A Sugar Boiler”; and essays on political theory and political economy. “Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, nor shall the rights of conscience be infringed.” “A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed…” “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” Historical Background:
The Gazette of the United States was first issued on April 15, 1789, in New York, by editor John Fenno. It functioned as a quasi-official journal of the Washington administration and the Federalist Party throughout its existence, and moved to Philadelphia in 1793, when the seat of government changed. Though earlier versions of proposed Constitutional amendments had circulated in the press, those of the week of August 24, 1789 represent the “first draft” of what became the Bill of Rights, as approved by the House. Only eight other copies of this issue are known to survive ( ). The Senate took up the amendments in early September, approving some articles and rejecting or altering others, before passing its own version on September 9. The two houses then negotiated their differences between September 19 and 26. Congress submitted the amendments, now twelve in number, to the states on September 28, 1789. From there, the process slowed. Eventually, two proposals, one regarding apportionment of the House and the other, congressional salaries, were rejected by the states. Finally, on December 15, 1791, Virginia ratified the ten remaining amendments. With three-quarters of the states having ratified, the Bill of Rights was born. Printing Priority: Following is the printing priority of the seventeen amendments in newspapers printed in New York City, the seat of Congress at that time. Nearly all listed are in institutional collections. August 26, 1789: The Daily Advertiser (nine copies known) August 27, 1789: The Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser (one copy known)
New-York Daily Gazette (eight copies known)
The New-York Packet (eight copies known)
The New-York Journal and Weekly Register (six copies known) August 29, 1789: Gazette of the United States (nine or ten copies known) Did not publish: The New-York Weekly Museum The only other printing of the proposed amendments on the 24th was a pamphlet, 100 copies of which were ordered for the use of the Senate and printed by Thomas Greenleaf. Only six copies are known to have survived. They are in the Library of Congress, the National Archives (the Senate’s copy), Dartmouth College (Paine Wingate’s copy), the Huntington Library, Williams College, and a private collection (sold at Swann on October 10, 2002, for $288,500, bought by a dealer who priced it at $650,000, and bought from the dealer by the collector in early 2003). Complete Transcript:
[Notes: The old style printing of the letter “s” as an “f” is transcribed in the modern style, to make it easier to read. Notes in bold refer to the text of the Amendments as approved by both houses in October, and then the final Bill of Rights as ratified by the states.] Congress of the United States,
In The House of Representatives.
Monday the 24th of August 1789
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, two thirds of both houses deeming it necessary, that the following articles be proposed to the legislatures of the several states, as amendments to the constitution of the United States, all, or any of which articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said constitution. ARTICLES in addition to and amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures
of the several States, pursuant to the 5th article of the original Constitution. Article I.
After the first enumeration required by the first article of the constitution, there shall be one representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount
to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred representatives, nor less than one representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of representatives shall amount to two hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress that there shall not be less than two hundred representatives, nor more than one representative for every fifty thousand persons.
[First Amendment in the second draft: not ratified.] Article II.
No law varying the compensation to the members of Congress shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
[Second Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified May 7, 1992 as the Twenty-Seventh Amendment.] Article III.
Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, nor shall the rights of conscience be infringed.
[Part of Third Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as part of the First Amendment] Article IV.
The freedom of speech, and of the press, and the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and consult for their common good, and to apply to the government for a redress of grievances, shall not be infringed.
[Part of Third Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as part of the First Amendment] Article V.
A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person.
[Modified version is Fourth Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as the Second Amendment] Article VI.
No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
[Fifth Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as the Third Amendment] Article VII.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
[Sixth Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as the Fourth Amendment] Article VIII.
No person shall be subject, except in a case of impeachment, to more than one trial or one punishment for the same offence, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life or liberty or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
[Part of Seventh Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as part of the Fifth Amendment] Article IX.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and the cause of the accusation, to be confronted by witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.
[Modified version is Eighth Amendment in the second draft: modified version ratified as part of the Sixth Amendment] Article X.
The trial of all crimes (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger) shall be an impartial jury of the vicinage, with the requisite of unanimity for conviction; the right of challenging and other accustomed requisites; and no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment by a grand jury; but if a crime by committed in a place in the possession of an enemy, or in which an insurection may prevail, the indictment and trial may by law be authorised in some other place within the same state.
[Modified version part of Seventh and Eighth Amendments in the second draft: modified version ratified as parts of the Fifth and Sixth Amendment] Article XII.
In suits of common law, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.
[Modified version part of Ninth Amendment in the second draft; ratified as the Seventh Amendment] Article XIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
[Tenth Amendment in the second draft: ratified as the Eighth Amendment] Article XV.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
[Eleventh Amendment in the second draft: ratified as the Ninth Amendment] Article XIV.
No state shall infringe the right of trial by jury in criminal cases, nor the rights of conscience, nor the freedom of speech, or of the press.
[Dropped in the second draft. Modified version passed by Congress on June 13, 1866; ratified July 9, 1868 as part of the fourteenth Amendment] Article XI.
No appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States shall be allowed, where the value in controversy shall not amount to one thousand dollars; nor shall any fact triable by a jury according to the course of common law be otherwise re-examinable, than according to the rules of common law.
[Modified version is Ninth Amendment in the second draft; modified version ratified as part of the Seventh Amendment.] Article XVI.
The powers delegated by the constitution to the government of the United States shall be exercised as therein appropriated, so that the legislative shall never exercise the powers vested in the executive or judicial; nor the executive the powers vested in the legislative or judicial; nor the judicial the powers vested in the legislative or executive.
[Dropped in the second draft.] Article XVII.
The powers not delegated by the constitution nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively.
[Modified version is Twelfth Amendment in second draft: ratified as the Tenth Amendment]
Ordered, that the Clerk of this House do carry to the Senate a fair and engrossed copy of the said proposed Articles of Amendment, and desire their concurrence.
Extract from the journals;
JOHN BECKLEY, Clerk.
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