Beschreibung:

BILL OF RIGHTS – The Gazette of the United States. New York: John Fenno, No.9, 3 October 1789. No. 50.
BILL OF RIGHTS – The Gazette of the United States. New York: John Fenno, No.9, 3 October 1789. No. 50. The presumed first printing of the final Bill of Rights as passed by both houses of Congress and submitted for ratification by the states, published in the leading Federalist newspaper of the day. An early printing of the twelve proposed amendments to the Constitution as passed by the House and Senate on 25 September 1789: “The Convention of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution—” The Congress resolved, “That the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several Sates, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States.” All but two of the proposed amendments (the first and second) were ratified by December 1791. The first, a proposal to regulate the number of citizens represented by a member of the House of Representatives, is a pending amendment to this day. (Considering that the amendment, if in force as written, would charge each member of the House with representing no more than 50,000 people, there would be over 6,000 Congressman in office today.) The second proposed amendment, which stipulated that Congress could not pass legislation regarding its compensation that took effect before an election of Representatives to the House was finally ratified as the 27th Amendment on 5 May 1992. Four pages, folio (427 x 268mm). (Mild dampstains, marginal losses infilled, minor losses to text restored.)