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Prof. Brian Kalt reports:

I’m researching the legislative history of the Twelfth Amendment and I just stumbled across this great editorial comment from the folks who compiled the Annals of Congress (as the Library of Congress website where I access the Annals puts it, “The Annals were not published contemporaneously, but were compiled between 1834 and 1856, using the best records available, primarily newspaper accounts. Speeches are paraphrased rather than presented verbatim.”)

The debate on a parliamentary question is set out, but prefaced with the following bracketed comment: “[A debate took place on this proposition, tedious, intricate, and desultory, which it was very difficult to follow, and often to comprehend.]”

It’s here at 13 Annals of Congress 81.

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    10 Comments

    1. S says:

      It is interesting to see John Q. Adams, Jonathan Dayton (signer of the Constitution) and other senators reportedly arguing about how to interpret the Constitution.

      April 2, 2010, 3:46 pm

    2. Peter says:

      The font in the Annals of Congress, as well as the Register of Debates and the Congressional Globe was incredibly small (as was the font in the newspapers of the period). Perhaps that stemmed from the fact that people of that era had better eyesight, or perhaps the printers just wanted to save money.

      They used to post pages from the congressional globe on the walls of taverns and other places. People would read them and argue about whatever was being discussed in Congress. And then sports came along.

      Incidentally, the first Congress established marine hospitals under its commerce power for the benefit of sailors. Of course early lawmakers would fall over in shock if they saw how many round pegs we have stuffed in that square hole. or something like that.

      April 2, 2010, 5:34 pm

    3. sardonic_sob says:

      They should just put that last line in for the entry of every day Congress is in session, and call it a wash.

      April 2, 2010, 11:15 pm

    4. Dave Hardy says:

      I recall one passage: “A desultory debate ensued.” We can wish for a fuller record … for instance, James Madison’s outline for his speech on the Bill of Rights has several segments that are not mirrored in the Annals. Did he leave them out? Did the newspaper reporter(s) omit them? I doubt we will ever know.

      April 3, 2010, 12:33 am

    5. Kent Scheidegger says:

      Today we have a verbatim record of carefully scripted remarks, written to be legislative history and not to persuade anyone, spoken to an empty chamber or perhaps not at all.

      April 3, 2010, 8:41 am

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    8. Brett Bellmore says:

      Kent Scheidegger: Today we have a verbatim record of carefully scripted remarks, written to be legislative history and not to persuade anyone, spoken to an empty chamber or perhaps not at all.

      Yup, the congressional record today is a work of fiction. Most of the debate it records never occured.

      April 3, 2010, 2:51 pm

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