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III.
THE DEBATE OVER THE
CONSTITUTION IN MARYLAND
4 December 1787-29 April 1788
Introduction
After 1 December 1787, when the Maryland legislature called a state
convention for April 1788, the intensity and quality of the public debate
over the Constitution increased significantly in both the major original
items printed in Maryland newspapers and the major articles and
squibs reprinted from out-of-state newspapers. Both Federalist and Anti-
federalist points of view were well represented.
Part III contains about seventy-five pseudonymous pieces that origi-
nated in Maryland newspapers. Around forty of these items are Anti-
federalist, while slightly over thirty are Federalist. With the exception
of an essay from the Annapolis Maryland Gazette, these items were
printed in Baltimore either in the Maryland Gazette or the Maryland
Journal.
The overwhelming majority of the Antifederalist items were written
by two men, the foremost being Luther Martin, one of Maryland's del-
egates to the Constitutional Convention. From 28 December 1787 to 8
February 1788, Martin published in the Baltimore Maryland Gazette
twelve numbers of his Genuine Information about what had occurred in
the Constitutional Convention, expanding greatly on his 29 November
1787 report to the Maryland House of Delegates (RCS:Md., 87-96n).
On 12 April a pamphlet edition of Genuine Information went on sale in
Philadelphia. It was printed by Eleazar Oswald of the Antifederalist
Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer. The pamphlet included Martin's origi-
nal address to the citizens of the United States. This pamphlet appeared
nine days before the meeting of the Maryland Convention. Martin also
published several pieces in the Maryland Journal: (1) a letter to the
printer defending Massachusetts Antifederalist Elbridge Gerry against
attacks from the Connecticut "Landholder," 18 January; (2) a reply to
the Maryland "Landholder No. X," 7 March; and (3) four addresses
to the citizens of Maryland, 18, 21, and 28 March, and 4 April.
The seven numbers of "A Farmer," perhaps written by John Francis
Mercer, another of Maryland's delegates to the Constitutional Conven-
tion, appeared in fourteen parts in the Baltimore Maryland Gazette from
15 February to 25 April. Numbers III and V had two parts each and
VII had six parts. The last two parts of VII appeared while the Maryland
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