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Full-Text Articles in History

Table Annexed To Article: Secrecy Broken: Reports Of The Delegates Following The Federal Convention, Peter J. Aschenbrenner Oct 2013

Table Annexed To Article: Secrecy Broken: Reports Of The Delegates Following The Federal Convention, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Despite the measures taken to ensure the secrecy of the proceedings during the federal convention, many delegates made reports to their states and explained the choices behind various clauses. However, no delegate had access to the official journal of the constitutional convention.


Table Annexed To Article: Deployment Of ‘Constitution’ Surveyed In Farrand’S Records Of The Federal Convention, Vols. 1 And 2, Peter J. Aschenbrenner Sep 2013

Table Annexed To Article: Deployment Of ‘Constitution’ Surveyed In Farrand’S Records Of The Federal Convention, Vols. 1 And 2, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Excluding Farrand’s apparatus, the convention’s speech events as recorded by any note-taking total 386,049 words. The word ‘constitution’ was deployed 147 times in Vol. 1 and 411 times in Vol. 2 for a grand total of 558 hits. Of these 558 hits, 74.91% were assigned the semantic value of ‘text,’ 17.03% value ‘government,’ 1.61% could have been taken by a reader to refer to either value, and 6.45% of these instances referred to a foreign constitution. OCL surveys and cumulates this data.


Delegate Arrivals At Philadelphia Compared To Voting Records At The Ratification Conventions By State, Peter J. Aschenbrenner, David Kimball Sep 2013

Delegate Arrivals At Philadelphia Compared To Voting Records At The Ratification Conventions By State, Peter J. Aschenbrenner, David Kimball

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Fifty-five delegates were appointed by twelve states to attend the federal convention in May, 1787. Eleven states ratified the Constitution between December 7, 1787 and July 26, 1788. When delegate arrival dates are compared with the order in which their respective state ratification conventions completed their business, a significant number of delegates supporting the constitution are missing in action.


Table Annexed To Article: The Mathematical Logic Of Blocking Power: From Thirteen To Forty-Four States, Peter J. Aschenbrenner Apr 2013

Table Annexed To Article: The Mathematical Logic Of Blocking Power: From Thirteen To Forty-Four States, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

OCL explores the mathematical logic of blocking power, that is, the power to block organic change. In Constitution I (the Articles of Confederation) the formula was absurdly simple. Any state, no matter how geographically small, economically insignificant and revoltingly irrelevant could block organic change desired by all the other constituents. Hence, secession orchestrated (via Constitution II) so that the first nine states (willing to do so) could secede from Rhode Island.


The Mathematical Logic Of Blocking Power: From Thirteen To Forty-Four States, Peter J. Aschenbrenner Apr 2013

The Mathematical Logic Of Blocking Power: From Thirteen To Forty-Four States, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

OCL explores the mathematical logic of blocking power, that is, the power to block organic change. In Constitution I (the Articles of Confederation) the formula was absurdly simple. Any state, no matter how geographically small, economically insignificant and revoltingly irrelevant could block organic change desired by all the other constituents. Hence, secession orchestrated (via Constitution II) so that the first nine states (willing to do so) could secede from Rhode Island.


A Survey Of Note-Takers In Farrand, Peter J. Aschenbrenner Mar 2013

A Survey Of Note-Takers In Farrand, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Twelve writers took notes of proceedings at the federal convention beginning in May, 1787 at Philadelphia. The best known are Major Wm. Jackson and James Madison, the convention’s official Secretary and its unofficial note-taker, respectively. The efforts of all twelve note-takers are surveyed by output.


Staying The Propanganda Machine: How The Logic Of Secrecy Exposes Possibilities And Probabilities In The Ratification Process, Peter J. Aschenbrenner Feb 2013

Staying The Propanganda Machine: How The Logic Of Secrecy Exposes Possibilities And Probabilities In The Ratification Process, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

The Standing Orders of the Philadelphia convention were modified on May 29, 1787 (what would have been their first day on the job) to drop the veil of secrecy over the work of the convention. Considered as a maneuver of preëemption against opponents of reform (outcome expected, given Congress’ resolution of February 21, 1787) the logic of secrecy exposes the possibility that it was a delaying device, staying the hand of reform supporters to launch their efforts until ‘signalled’ via publication of the final constitutional text.