September 3, 1787: Separation of Powers

Part of the National Park Service's day-by-day account of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, September 1787.

The seals of the President, Congress and the Supreme Court.

"Mr. Randolph was inflexibly fixed against inviting men into the Legislature by the prospect of being appointed to offices."
— James Madison's notes

In the Convention: Monday, September 3, 1787

Full faith and credit. The day opened with the article requiring each state to give "full faith and credit" to other states' public acts, records and court proceedings. Amendments by Gouverneur Morris (Pennsylvania) and Madison (Virginia) passed, and the article was approved without a vote — though Randolph complained that its loose definition of the government's powers would let it usurp all the states' powers.

Bankruptcy. Next came Congress's power to make uniform bankruptcy laws. Sherman (Connecticut) noted that in England some bankrupts could be put to death, and did not want Congress to have such power; Morris saw no danger of abuse. The clause passed 9–1, Connecticut against.

Members of Congress in other offices. Then the delegates took up the rule barring members of Congress from other federal offices.

1. Charles Pinckney (South Carolina) moved instead to bar members only from taking a salary for another office. It failed 2–8, but others still wanted to narrow the ban.
2. King (Massachusetts), seconded by Williamson (North Carolina), moved to bar members only from newly created offices. Sherman still preferred a total ban, but suggested a compromise: King's idea plus a ban on members taking offices whose salaries they had raised. After much debate for and against, King's motion failed on a 5–5 tie.
3. Williamson, seconded by King, then moved Sherman's compromise. It passed 5–4–1, with Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and South Carolina against and Georgia divided.

The article now barred members of each house, during their term, from any federal civil office created, or whose pay had been increased, in that time — and barred anyone holding federal office from sitting in either house.

What it meant. The Convention had driven another nail into the coffin of a parliamentary system: sitting members of Congress could not serve in the president's administration. The debate was hot, but only about how far to go — no one questioned keeping legislative and executive power apart.

In short

• The Convention barred members of Congress from serving in presidential administrations, keeping the legislative and executive branches separate.

The delegates' day

• Washington (Virginia) went to see a machine at Dr. Franklin's (Pennsylvania) called a mangle, which pressed washing instead of ironing it. He judged it quick and well suited to tablecloths and other things without pleats or irregular folds — very useful in any large household. He dined, took tea and spent the evening at Robert Morris's.
• John Tabor Kempe wrote from London to Livingston (New Jersey): the New Jersey papers he needed to support his claims against the Crown for losses suffered through his loyalty had not arrived, and he was anxious about them.

Philadelphia today

• A John Summers was buried in the "Strangers Grave Yard."

Sources

• National Park Service, Independence National Historical Park, "September 3, 1787: Separation of Powers," from The Constitutional Convention: A Day by Day Account for September 1787. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september3.htm
• Quotations are from Madison's notes of the Convention (1787); the rest is rewritten in hubnx's own words.