Massachusetts Delegation Research Paper

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Massachusetts became the next hurdle to ratification. Afraid of the power of the central government and the absence of a Bill of Rights to temper that power, the Massachusetts delegation is divided. The Anti-Federalists, chiefly John Hancock and Samuel Adams, in the Massachusetts delegation are insisting on a reconvening of the national Constitutional Convention to address the addition of the Bill of Rights. Other states are agreeing that the document lacks the securities the states and the people need to protect themselves from a tyrannical central government.

In addition to what exists today, those pushing for the reconvening of the convention also wanted limitations on the ability of Congress to levy tax, restriction on Congressional ability to start a business, the consent of three-fourths of the Congress before a standing army could be convened, term limits to prevent a "kingly" president, restrictions on military service to four years, prohibition of titles of nobility for officeholders, and the right to rebel against an arbitrary and oppressive government.4

I chose as Madison did by promising the Massachusetts delegation that I would lead the crafting of a Bill of Rights, but only after the Constitution was ratified. As a result of the Massachusetts Compromise, the delegation voted to ratify on February 6,
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Both of these states held two of the largest populations and were centers of the new country's economy. The union was dependent on the resources of these two states to survive.6 Patrick Henery lead the resistance to ratification in Virginia. He was concerned with the possible powers that the "necessary and proper" and "supremacy" clauses gave the federal government. He believed the two clauses gave the central government unlimited and undefined power that would undermine the limitations of national power over the