Andrew, which was signed by all the members of the delegation. Governor Andrew submitted the report, with his approval, to the Legislature the 25th day of March.
The character of the convention, and something of the condition of the country may be gathered from the following extracts from the report:
“The resolutions of the State of Virginia were passed on
the 19th of January; and it was expected that within sixteen
days thereafter the representatives of this vast country would
assemble for the purpose of devising, maturing, and
recommending alterations in the Constitution of the Republic. As
a necessary consequence, the people were not consulted in any
of the States. In several, the commissioners were appointed
by the executive of each without even an opportunity to confer
with the Legislature; in others, the consent of the
representative body was secured, but in no instance were the people
themselves consulted. The measures proposed were comparatively
new; the important ones were innovations upon the
established principles of the Government, and none of them had
ever been submitted to public scrutiny. They related to the
institution of slavery; and the experience of the country
justifies the assertion that any proposition for additional securities
to slavery under the flag of the nation, must be fully discussed
and well understood before its adoption, or it will yield a fearful
harvest of woe in dissensions and controversies among the
people. Nor could the undersigned have justified the act to
themselves, if they had concurred in asking Congress to
propose amendments to the Constitution unless they were
prepared also to advocate the adoption of the amendments by the
people.
“It is due to truth to say that the Convention did not possess all the desirable characteristics of a deliberative assembly. It was in some degree disqualified for the performance of the important task assigned to it, by the circumstances of its consti-
