It has always been my belief the Constitutional Convention was a great debate ending in general agreement and conviction. It appears this may in fact have been a fiction specifically contrived by the founding fathers and that the new Constitution was anything but unanimously agreed upon. In fact, my contention is a major reason the Constitution was actually ratified was due to the Federalists having a much better public relations campaign.
I have included a lot of sources below as well as some others I scoped out but did not check out from the library. I do not imagine I will read them all. Ideally, I would like to put together a timeline of publications , dates and locations corresponding to the state by state ratification of the Constitution. From the various letters, notes and publications I am hoping to see what the general disbursement of opinion was, which states, if any, were considered more important or more problematic and from there show a pattern in the Federalists’ response, ie. a timing to where and when the Federalists published their papers and arguments as well as the possibility the Anti-Federalists papers were mostly in response to the Federalists, rather than a coordinated campaign of their own.
Primary Sources
“Primary Documents in American History.” Federalist Papers: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). Accessed November 05, 2016. https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/federalist.html.
This collection of documents at the Library of Congress contains the Federalist Papers, letters between various delegates and other dignitaries, as well as broadsides from various states. Many of these documents do not apply directly to Constitutional Convention, but may provide some additional context.
Secondary Sources
Alexander, John K.The Selling of the Constitutional Convention: A History of News Coverage. Madison: Madison House, 1990.
I grabbed this book primarily because it sounded exactly like the point I am hoping to make.
Cornell, Saul.The Other Founders: Anti-Federalism and the Dissenting Tradition in America, 1788-1828. Chapel Hill: Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
I am expecting this book to by one of the many to provide context and interpretation of the events, people and views of the time.
Doren, Carl Van.The Great Rehearsal: The Story of the Making and Ratifying of the Constitution of the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
This book specifically compares the opposing views. This is primarily for context, however, it does also seem to have a lot of very specific dates which should help to bound events and possibly various publications.
Dry, Murray, and Herbert J. Storing.The Anti-Federalist: An Abridgement, by Murray Dry, of the Complete Anti-Federalist, Edited, with Commentary and Notes, by Herbert J. Storing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Herbert Storing has created the definitive collection of the so called Anti-Federalist papers. By all appearances, not even the Library of Congress has collected these papers. The Murray Dry collection is a shortened version of the complete works. It is likely I will need to reference the complete collection as well to get the data I want.
Ford, Paul Leicester.Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States. New York: Da Capo Press, 1968.
Paul Ford gathers a collection of pamphlets published concerning discussion and ratification of the Constitution. My hope is to get some names, dates and locations for the various publications and see if the present any kind of usable timeline.
Frank, Jason A.Publius and Political Immagination. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.
This book appears to offer a comparison of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist opinions which should add additional context if needed.
Scott, James Brown.James Madison’s Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 and Their Relation to a More Perfect Society of Nations. New York: Oxford University Press, American Branch, 1918.
This book is an analysis of notes made by James Madison during the Constitutional Convention. I wanted this book because it might outline the major players and arguments. I am not sure if I will need this particular book or not.
Storing, Herbert J., and Joseph M. Bessette.Toward a More Perfect Union. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1995.
This collection, edited by Joseph Bessette includes additional writings by Herbert Storing who collected what seems to be considered the definitive collection of writings by those who opposed the Constitution proposed by the Constitutional Convention. I expect this to be a source of background on the events.