Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787

In a biography on Madison I read that every day of his life after the Consitutional Convention he was asked to reveal the notes he had taken of the debates, and not until well after he and every one else present at the convention died, in 1840, did Madison allow these notes to become public. Others had surrepticiuosly taken notes of the procedings, but none were substantial. Everyone knew Madison's notes would reveal the truth about what happened during the Constitutional debates.I actually didn't have that hard a time reading the text, as I was expecting the worst. Admittedly, I only read the first two hundred pages and scattered sections. The text is over 600 pages long, though it is nicely broken up by days during the four month long marathon.The text of the debates does have its entertaining moments. It was fascinating to hear the leading men of the day discuss the plusses and minuses of various rules for structuring their nation to be.My major criticism of this particular edition is that there is no background information given on each of the "combatants" at the debates or explanatory footnotes within the text. The more I read on the founding of the United States, the more I realize that there were many politicians besides Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, etc. These lesser-known men's lives are very relevent and interesting, too, and I felt that I would have gotten more out of the reading if I had known more about the characters and the local background of the issues at that time. I do plan on returning to the Notes of the Debates in the future.Othewise, the text can only be rated at 5 stars.add (2/12/06): I would highly suggest reading "Decision in Philadelphia" by Collier and Collier if you are unfamiliar with the participants and issues in the 1787 Consitutional Convention. It is an excellent book and an extremely easy read.

With all the he said, that she said, that they said, that the Founder's said this that or the other thing going on in this day and age (which is usually incorrect), I thought it would be good to find out for myself.There were no cameras or microphones at the first Constitutional Convention of 1787. So Madison's notes on the are perhaps the most complete and comprehesive record we will ever have. As an originalist, I prefer to go to the source and avoid all he said she said that they said.If you want to know what happened and what the Founder's THOUGHT NOT FELT during the Constitutional Convention, this book along with the Federalist Papers are some of the best sources you could have.

Forget what you know about history until you read it from the person that was there recording history.it’s completely changed on how this nation was founded and the great deliberation that came about on how our US Constitution came to be.they were way ahead of their time in their thinking.

A must-read for anyone claiming to be a citizen!

On June 28th of the convention, pages 209, 210, and 211 Benjamin Franklin asks for prayers to be spoken before the start of business and discussion and debate happens. The objection by Hamilton is not based on separation of church and state issues. Delicious reading for anyone concerned with preserving prayer before government functions and those who appose it.

Want to know about how our founding fathers developed the Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation? Then this is a must read. Very interesting, to boot!

Very nice to have this. And the original punctuation was kept.The only thing that would have helped a bit would have been to put dates on each page, so referencing it would be easier.

Excellent edition. Easy to read. Mine is now well worn in.