Part of a series of articles titled The Constitutional Convention: A Day by Day Account for July 1 to 15, 1787.
Next: July 2, 1787: Deadlock
Article
July 1, 1787: Sunday Recess
Library of Congress
"Persuaded I am that the primary cause of all our disorders lies in the different State governments."
–George Washington to David Stuart, July 1, 1787
Sunday, July 1, 1787: The Convention Today
The delegates were in recess, enjoying a much-needed respite from a week of heated argument—the low point of the Convention. With eleven states participating in the Convention at this point in the summer, the six "large" states (MA, PA, and VA were the most populous and NC, SC, and GA anticipated massive population growth) formed a slim majority in their desire for states to be represented in Congress proportionally to their populations.
However, it was now obvious that the "small" states present (CT, NY, NJ, DE, and perhaps MD) were so inflexible in their desire for states to have equal representation that they might abandon the Convention. The delegates must have hoped that a brief recess would reduce the tension and help them find a path forward.
Synopsis
The Convention was in recess.
Delegates Today
The delegates were in recess, enjoying a much-needed respite from a week of heated argument—the low point of the Convention. With eleven states participating in the Convention at this point in the summer, the six "large" states (MA, PA, and VA were the most populous and NC, SC, and GA anticipated massive population growth) formed a slim majority in their desire for states to be represented in Congress proportionally to their populations.
However, it was now obvious that the "small" states present (CT, NY, NJ, DE, and perhaps MD) were so inflexible in their desire for states to have equal representation that they might abandon the Convention. The delegates must have hoped that a brief recess would reduce the tension and help them find a path forward.
Synopsis
The Convention was in recess.
Delegates Today
- Dr. Johnson (CT) attended an ordination service at St. Peter's Episcopal Church at Third and Pine Streets and then dined at Captain Barra's.
- General Washington (VA) dined and spent the evening "at home."
- Mason (VA), Strong (MA), Gorham (MA), Charles Pinckney (SC), Alexander Martin (NC), and Williamson (NC) invited Thomas McKean, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, to dine with them at the Indian Queen Tavern.
- Luther Martin (MD) wrote to Nicholas Low of New York, demanding 20 guineas as his fee in a legal matter.
- Oliver Ellsworth (CT) wrote a poignant letter to his wife, lamenting, "It is one of the most trying circumstances of my life that I can spend so little of it with a family whose happiness is dearer to me than my own. It is however some consolation to me that I am separated from it not in pursuit of pleasure but of duty; and that while I am absent the dear little ones are not without a parent who loves them perphaps with more tenderness than I am capable of, and is as anxious as I can be to form them to usefulness and virtue."
- The day was warm and overcast, with occasional light rain and a mean temperature of 74°.
Last updated: July 14, 2023