Month: April 2022

Newspapers and the Debate over the Ratification of the Constitution

Newspapers played a critical—perhaps a determinative—role in ratifying the Constitution. Between 1787 and 1790 ninety-five newspapers were printed throughout the United States—sixty-nine in Northern states and twenty-six in Southern states. Additionally four monthly magazines were also published in the North—the American Museum and the Columbian Magazine in Philadelphia, the American Magazine in New York City, …

Method of Electing the First U.S. Senators

  In Article I, section 3, the Constitution provides that U.S. Senators were to be chosen by their state legislature. The legislatures had to decide exactly how they would elect their Senators. Under the Articles of Confederation, delegates to Congress were to “be annually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each state shall …