Original Discontents
Commentaries on the Creation of Connecticut’s Constitution of 1818
Edited Richard Buel Jr., George J. Willauer
Sales Date: 2007-06-30
204 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in
Primary documents illuminate the second Hartford Convention
The Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut, was the site of two key political conventions in the early nineteenth century. The legislatures of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island sent official delegations to the first "Hartford Convention" at the end of 1814, when the War of 1812 was going badly. This convention threatened to make a separate peace with Britain if certain amendments to the United States Constitution were not accepted, and fell into disgrace when the war came to an unexpectedly favorable conclusion. The second convention, in 1818, drafted a constitution that reformed the structure of government established in the Charter of 1662 and submitted its handiwork to the people for approval. Parts of the Constitution of 1818 survive in Connecticut's present form of government.
Original Discontents contains twenty-five selections of newspaper and pamphlet commentary about this constitutional revision, introduced and annotated by the editors, along with text of the Fundamental Orders of 1639, the Charter of Connecticut (1662), and the Constitution of 1818. This anthology is useful to all students of Connecticut history and relevant to enduring constitutional debates.
Acknowledgements
Historical Background
Introduction to the Commentaries
BACKGROUND COMMENTARIES
Michael Sevetus, "The Age of Improvements," First ser. Hartford Times, February 25-April 1, 1817
George H. Richards, The Politics of Connecticut, Hartford, Winter/Spring 1817
"One of the People," Connecticut Courant, April 1 1817
Editorial, Connecticut Journal, August 12, 1817
"To the Freemen of Connecticut," Connecticut Courant, August 26 & September 2, 1817
"Sober Sense," Connecticut Courant, August 26, 1817
"State Constitution Again," Hartford Times, February 3, 1818
"Constitution" I-IV, Columbian Register, February 28-March 21, 1818
PRE – CONVENTION COMMENTARIES
"A Freeman," Connecticut Journal, June 16, 1818
"Hamilton," Connecticut Courant, June 30, 1818
"Judd" I-IV, Hartford Times, July 21-August 26, 1818
"Davenport," Connecticut Courant, July 28 1818
"A Freeman," I-II, Connecticut Courant, August 4 1818
"A Republican," Columbian Register, August 8, 1818
"Sidney," Connecticut Courant, August 11, 1818
"Another Freeman," Connecticut Courant, August 18, 1818
"B.X.," Connecticut Journal, August 18, 1818
POST-CONVENTION COMMENTARIES
"The Constitution," Hartford Times, September 22 & 29, 1818
"A Freeman," Connecticut Courant, September 22, 1818
"A Freeman," Connecticut Courant, September 29, 1818
"Z," Connecticut Courant, September 29, 1818
"An Episcopalian," Connecticut Journal, September 29, 1818
Two Federalist Comments on the Ratification Process
"Alfred," Connecticut Courant, October 20, 1818
APPENDIX
Fundamental Orders of 1639
Charter of Connecticut (1662)
Text of the Constitution of 1818
RICHARD BUEL JR. is emeritus professor of history at Wesleyan University. He is the author of America on the Brink (2005) and lives in Essex, Connecticut. GEORGE J. WILLAUER is professor emeritus of English and American studies at Connecticut College. He is the editor of A Lyme Miscellany, 1776–1976 (1977) and lives in Lyme, Connecticut.
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