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VII. AFTERMATH OF NEW YoRK RATIFICATION
Wilmington, N.C.
Wilmington Centinel, 20 August 17881
On the 25th ult. the honourable the convention of the state of New-
York, ratified the constitution proposed by that band of patriots and sav-
iours of their country-the late Fwderal Convention.
When the intelligence of the ratification of the new constitution by
the convention of the state of New-York, was received in this town, the
citizens, to testify their joy on the happy acquisition of the eleventh pillar
to the Fabric of Liberty, assembled, and with three Huzzas hailed the
"NEW ERA OR1EPOCHA OF LIBERTY."
1. The second paragraph alone was reprinted in the Charleston City Gazette, 30 August,
and the State Gazette of South Carolina, 1 September.
VII-B. Public and Private Commentaries on the
Constitution, 25 July 1788-23 February 1789
The documents in this section consist largely of private letters.
Most are written by New Yorkers; others are written by delegates to
the Confederation Congress, officers of the Confederation govern-
ment, and foreign diplomats residing in New York City. About one-
fourth of the letters are from outside of New York. Few newspaper
items appear.
A wide variety of topics are considered. These include (1) commen-
taries on the Constitution, especially on the need for amendments, (2)
commentaries on the circular letter of the New York Convention and
the efforts to call to a second constitutional convention, (3) the reasons
why the New York Convention ratified the Constitution, (4) the cele-
brations of its ratification in New York and elsewhere, (5) the Confed-
eration Congress' preparations for the establishment of the new gov-
ernment under the Constitution, (6) the related debate in Congress
over the location of the federal capital, a matter of the utmost impor-
tance to New York City, (7) the progress of ratification in the remaining
states of North Carolina and Rhode Island, (8) the publication of the
New York Convention's journal and debates, (9) the establishment of
an Antifederalist newspaper in Albany, (10) the authorship of The Fed-
eralist, and (11) the economic impact of the Constitution on New York.
This section includes two groupings of documents. They are (1) the
extensive reports of four Boston newspapers on the New York Conven-
tion's ratification of the Constitution and Boston's reaction to it, and
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