The Debates in the State Ratifying Conventions, 1787-88
The states argue over the Constitution, day by day, 1787–1788
Jonathan Elliot's compilation of state ratification debates, held here as indexed catalog slices. Ask about the held text; answers cite the records they draw on. A slice is not necessarily a whole debate or convention.
About this collection
For questions it can compute, the answer is calculated from this shelf's records rather than inferred from a sample of passages. Other questions are answered from the passages themselves, quoted and cited.
- Records organized: ready
- Names and dates reviewed: ready
- Counts and comparisons: ready
- Checked against the records: not yet available
What these marks mean
A check means ready on this shelf; a cross means not available yet.
Records organized. Every catalog entry has been separated out with its date and the people in it, so the collection can be counted and filtered rather than only searched.
Names and dates reviewed. A scholar has checked the names, places and dates the computed answers use, and those decisions are on the record.
Counts and comparisons. The desk counts, ranks and combines, and says so when a question asks for more than these records can support.
Checked against the records. Every computation is checked automatically against results taken straight from the collection.
Help improve this shelf. Ask the questions you actually want answered. If an answer is wrong, incomplete, confusing, or unexpectedly useful, say so. What readers ask is what decides which capabilities are built and tested next.
For researchers
“The Debates in the State Ratifying Conventions, 1787-88”, from the Online Library of Liberty. Ask the Records (Kevin Hegg, publisher), corpus version 16bbb8c61298, build 945, accessed 2026-10-21, https://asktherecords.fly.dev/shelves/elliots-debates/versions/16bbb8c61298. Reviewers’ flags are welcome — “Something look wrong?” under any answer — and each travels with the exact answer it concerns.
Research data: this shelf’s structured register (the records, the reviewed list, coverage notes) is available to researchers on request — contact the site.