September 3, 1787 (Click to read Madison’s notes on the day)
Summary
Delegates approved the full faith and credit clause, bankruptcy provisions, and rules concerning ineligibility to hold office while in the legislature.
Influences on the Delegates
In the session, one delegate referred to England and another to a Rome.
The clause in the Report, “To establish uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies,” being taken up, —
Mr. SHERMAN observed, that bankruptcies were in some cases punishable with death, by the laws of England; and he did not choose to grant a power by which that might be done here.
Mr. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS said, this was an extensive and delicate subject. He would agree to it, because he saw no danger of abuse of the power by the Legislature of the United States.
On the question to agree to the clause, Connecticut alone was in the negative.
Mr. PINCKNEY moved to postpone the Report of the Committee of eleven (see the first of September) in order to take up the following:
“The members of each House shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States for which they, or any other for their benefit, receive any salary, fees, or emoluments of any kind; and the acceptance of such office shall vacate their seats respectively.”
He was strenuously opposed to an ineligibility of members to office, and therefore wished to restrain the proposition to a mere incompatibility. He considered the eligibility of members of the Legislature to the honorable offices of Government, as resembling the policy of the Romans, in making the temple of Virtue the road to the temple of Fame.
1787 Constitutional Convention Series
To read my series examining the proceedings of the Constitution Convention, click here. In this series, I am writing about any obvious influences on the development of the Constitution which were mentioned by the delegates to the Convention. Specifically, I am testing David Barton’s claim that “every clause” of the Constitution is based on biblical principles. Thus far, I have found nothing supporting the claim. However, stay tuned, the series will run until mid-September.
Constitutional Convention Series (click the link)
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