An unknown, early draft of the U.S. Constitution have been found in a Historical Society of Pennsylvania building in Philadelphia.
Titled "Continuation of the Scheme," the papers had been filed in another area of work authored by James Wilson. While filed among Wilson's other papers, it should have been filed among other drafts of the Constitution known to exist. The paper is written in Wilson's handwriting.
"Two drafts of the Constitution in Wilson's hand had been separated from his papers long ago. One of them included the beginning of still another draft and was apparently seen as part of a single working version, instead of a separate draft. Toler said "The Continuation of the Scheme," including its provisions about the executive and judiciary branches, completes that draft, making it a third."
Oh, and before anyone tries to weave alternate meanings into the word "scheme," please keep in mind it was a word commonly used in the 1700s that meant "plan." Not as the Huffingtons, Bradys and others would have people think that something evil was afoot.
Overall, this is way cool news..
2 comments:
Scheme as in schematic.
Thanks for the news Brent!
Ran
Historical context is important when deciding current constitutional interpretation. I look forward to how knowing there are 3, not 2 of Wilson's drafts will add, if at all, to the current scheme.
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