Committee of detail report
Commentary
The Committee of Detail report returned to the idea of an executive chosen by the members of the national legislature, specifying that a ballot should be taken, and departing from the instructions they had originally been given on July 23rd. This seems to instead reflect debates in the Constitutional Convention on July 24th, 25th, and 26th, which had re-aired almost all of the issues concerning the selection and nature of the executive, and the motion of Houston and Spaight on the National Legislature which passed by seven votes to four. Even though James Wilson, the delegate who originally proposed removing reference to the National Legislature, was a member of the Committee, his position was not reflected in the report. Had this been the end of the matter, the debate would have rested close to where it began, with selection by the legislature.
Associated event
Report of the Committee of Detail was copied
on 06 August 1787None
Committee of detail report by Dr Nicholas Cole (npcole)
The Creation of the Electoral College
Cite as: Dr Nicholas Cole, ‘Committee of detail report’ in N. P. Cole, Grace Mallon and Kat Howarth, The Creation of the Electoral College, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2016), item 76.