New York State Secretary of State Journal of the Proceedings of the State Convention to Consider Ratification of the United…

The convention of delegates to consider ratification of the proposed United States Constitution was held at Poughkeepsie in June and July, 1788, pursuant to resolutions of the Assembly and Senate passed January 31 and February 1, 1788.

The journal of the proceedings of the convention, kept by secretary John McKesson, consists of minutes of resolutions and votes by delegates on the proposed Constitution, the text of which is included in printed form. The minutes largely concern the day-to-day business of the convention, but the texts of proposed resolutions, the names of their sponsors, and the yea or nea votes of each delegate are included and provide information on the deliberations of the body. The proceedings include the text of the "Declaration of Rights, Ratification of the Constitution and Explanatory Amendments" which were adopted on July 25, 1788. At the end of the proceedings are the signatures of the president of the convention, George Clinton, and of the other delegates.

Microfilm is available at the New York State Archives.

This series has been digitized in its entirety and is available in State Archives Digital Collections.

Microfilm: 1 reel; 35mm.

Proceedings of the convention and related documents and newspaper reports are published in John P. Kaminski, Gaspare J. Saladino, Richard Leffler, and Charles H. Schoenleber, eds., ?The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution,? volumes 19-23: Ratification of the Constitution by the States: New York (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2003-2009).

This item was part of the Freedom Train exhibit that traveled the state from January 1949 to February 1950 (Laws of 1948, Chapter 659).

Restricted: Published versions are first use copies.