August 24, 1787: How to Choose a President

Part of the National Park Service's day-by-day account of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, August 16 to 31, 1787.

The greater coat of arms of the United States.

"The election of the President by the Legislature… [will lead] to Legislative tyranny."
— Gouverneur Morris

In the Convention: Friday, August 24, 1787

The slave trade compromise. Livingston (New Jersey) reported that the Committee of Eleven, named two days earlier, recommended that Congress not be able to ban the slave trade before 1800, though imports of enslaved Africans could be taxed, and that navigation acts could pass by a majority of members present. Discussion was put off.

Disputes between states. A complicated procedure for settling disputes between states, copied word for word from the Articles of Confederation, was struck 8–2–1 (North Carolina and Georgia against, Pennsylvania absent) after Rutledge (South Carolina) argued that the new judiciary made it unnecessary.

Electing the president

The draft had Congress elect the president.

• A joint ballot. Rutledge moved that both houses vote together, which would favour the populous states that dominated the much larger House. Sherman (Connecticut), Dayton and Brearley (New Jersey), from small states, objected. Gorham (Massachusetts) said separate votes, each house able to veto the other's choice, would cause great delay and confusion; Wilson (Pennsylvania) agreed, and so did Langdon (New Hampshire), though it was "unfavorable to New Hampshire as a small State." Madison (Virginia) reckoned the large states had "ten to one" the small states' population but would get only a "four to one" edge: "This surely cannot be unreasonable, as the President is to act for the people, not for the States." It passed 7–4 (Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Georgia against).
• Equal votes for states in the joint ballot, moved by Dayton and Brearley, failed 5–6.
• Direct election by the people, moved by Carroll (Maryland) and Wilson, failed again, 2–9.
• Electors chosen by the people. Gouverneur Morris (Pennsylvania) argued once more that Congress would be the most corruptible branch and make the president its tool. His motion failed 5–6.
• Electors, details to be settled later, failed by the narrowest possible margin — 4–4, with two states divided and one absent.

The president's powers. A motion by Morris made it the president's duty to recommend legislation to Congress, and the wording on appointments was argued over and changed.

Finally, the Convention unanimously scrapped the rule, passed six days earlier, against adjourning before 4 p.m.; it would now adjourn at 3 p.m.

In short

• Once again the delegates argued over how to choose the president — and this time chose a joint ballot of both houses of Congress.

The delegates' day

• Walter Minto, the Scottish-born mathematician who headed Erasmus Hall, sent Washington (Virginia) a "small Tract on the Theory of Planets."
• Franklin (Pennsylvania) attended Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council. John Smith, administering the estate of Robert Smith — the builder of Franklin's house — asked him to settle his account and meanwhile advance 130 pounds toward the estate's debts.

Philadelphia today

• Clear and very warm — at least 85°.
• Work continued on painting the steeple of Christ Church, then the tallest building in the United States.

Sources

• National Park Service, Independence National Historical Park, "August 24, 1787: How to Choose a President," from The Constitutional Convention: A Day by Day Account for August 16 to 31, 1787. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-august24.htm
• The original spells the New Jersey delegate's name "Brearly"; it is usually written Brearley.
• Quotations are from the records and letters of 1787; the rest is rewritten in hubnx's own words.