Last Best Hope of Earth

Tag: Term Limits

  • Constitution Sunday: “Americanus” [John Stevens, Jr.] VII

    Daily Advertiser (New York)

    January 21, 1788

    With the draft Constitution being circulated and reviewed by throughout the country, Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates detailing his objections—of which there were many—to adopting the Constitution as written. Given his stature as a governor, his objections would inevitably bring people to adopt his way of thinking, foster debate, and awaken proponents of the Constitution to defend the document, explaining its merits and why adopting the Constitution was warranted despite Governor Randolph’s objections. One such defender was John Stevens, Jr., and he took on the governor’s objections in an article published in New York’s Daily Advertiser.

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  • Constitution Sunday: Major Martin Kingsley on the Excessive Powers of Congress

    Massachusetts Ratifying Convention

    January 21, 1788

    A representative democracy requires that elected officials are servants to the people. There must be accountability, and with two-year terms for members of the House of Representatives, four-year terms for Presidents, and six-year terms for Senators, the Constitution has provided voters with the option to rotate their servants every two years. For Major Martin Kingsley, at the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, the Constitution was inferior to the Articles of Confederation because there was insufficient checks on public servants.

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  • Constitution Sunday: Fisher Ames on Biennial Elections and on the Volcano of Democracy

    Massachusetts Ratifying Convention.

    January 15, 1788

    The duration of a term for a member of the House of Representatives was a contentious issue: while some favored one-year terms, others—such as Fisher Ames—advocated for two-year terms. To Ames, a member of the House would be unlikely to learn enough about the country in a year to cast informed votes and to represent the interests of the people. Adding to that was the fact that the country was set to grow: Ames expressed his hope that the country would be home to “fifty millions of happy people” and that a member of the House would require at “least two years in office” to enable that member “to judge of the trade and interests of states which he never saw.” But, also at issue was the expression and suppression of the will of the people through their representatives.

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  • Constitution Sunday: Answers to Mason’s “Objections”: “Marcus” [James Iredell] I

    Answers to Mason’s “Objections”: “Marcus” [James Iredell] I

    Norfolk and Portsmouth Journal (Virginia), February 20, 1788

    Following are excerpts from James Iredell’s responses to George Mason’s “Objections” to the Constitution:

    “IIId. [George Mason’s] Objection. ‘The Senate have the power of altering all money bills, and of originating appropriations of money, and the salaries of the officers of their own appointment, in conjunction with the President of the United States (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: Reply to Wilson’s Speech: “An Officer of the Late Continental Army”

    Reply to Wilson’s Speech: “An Officer of the Late Continental Army”

    Independent Gazetteer (Philadelphia), November 6, 1787

    Following are excerpts from an article with an unknown author, published in response to James Wilson’s speech:

    “That of the senate is so small that it renders its extensive powers extremely dangerous: it is to consist only of 26 members, (more…)