Roger Sherman. Draft Report of a Special Committee of Congress, ca. July 21, 1789. Manuscript. James Madison Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (81)
[Digital ID# us0081 — us0081_1]
Amending the Constitution
Roger Sherman (1721—1793), a congressman from Connecticut, argued in a special congressional committee appointed on July 21, 1789, that any amendments should be appended to the Constitution. On August 19, 1789, the House of Representatives finally adopted Sherman’s argument that to insert them into the text would be too confusing and voted instead to add the amendments “by way of a supplement.”
This list of proposed amendments in Sherman’s writing is probably a draft of a report by a committee on which he served. It differs markedly from the amendments finally proposed and sent to the states. As such, it provides valuable insights into the creation of the Bill of Rights.