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IV
THE GEORGIA CONVENTION
25 December 1787-5 January 1788
Only eight of the thirty-three delegates elected to the Georgia
Convention assembled in Augusta on Tuesday, 25 December, the
day appointed for convening. A quorum was not obtained until
Friday the 28th, when the Convention examined the delegates' cre-
dentials and then elected John Wereat, President; Isaac Briggs, sec-
retary; and Peter Farr, doorkeeper. The delegates appointed com-
mittees to prepare rules and to request the Governor to send to the
Convention: (1) the report of the Constitutional Convention; (2)
the congressional resolution of 28 September; and (3) the Assembly
resolutions of 26 October. On Saturday, 29 December, the rules
were reported, amended, and adopted, and the documents requested
from the Governor were received and read. The Convention then,
according to Joseph Habersham, considered the Constitution "para-
graph by paragraph with a great deal of temper."
On Monday, 31 December, the Convention adopted the Constitu-
tion unanimously. A Deed of Ratification was drafted, reported,
adopted, and ordered engrossed. The next day, the engrossed Deed
was recommitted. A second and longer Deed was then prepared. On
2 January both deeds of ratification were approved. The Conven-
tion directed that the short Deed (which has not been located) and
the Constitution be deposited in the office of the secretary of the
state, and that the long Deed, which included the Constitution, the
congressional resolution of 28 September, and a portion of the As-
sembly resolutions of 26 October, should be sent to the Confederation
Congress.
The Convention met again on 5 January. It approved a letter
addressed to the President of Congress, ordered that the Journal and
papers of the Convention be deposited with the Executive, resolved
that a report of the Convention's expenses be submitted to the As-
sembly, ordered that 200 copies of its Journal be printed, and thanked
President Wereat for his service. The Convention then dissolved.
The Convention Journal consists of little more than the bare
proceedings for each day and a list of the delegates in attendance
each day. To eliminate the duplication of names, the attendance
records have been deleted from each day's proceedings. The Conven-
tion Roster and Attendance Record that immediately follows has
been compiled from the Convention Journal, newspaper reports of
election returns and manuscript election certificates.