86-171 S: Selected Bicentennial Celebrations Commemorating the 200Th Anniversaries of the U.S. Constitution and of the U.S. Cong
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SELECTEI) BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS COMMEMORATING THE 200th ANNIVERSARIES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND OF THE U.S. CONGRESS Roger H. Davidson Senior Specialist in American National Government and Public Administration and Thomas Kephart Research Assistant in American National Government November 1986 The Congressional Research Service works exclusivelv for the Congress. conducting research, analyzing legislation, and prot iding information at the request of committees, Mem- bers. and their staffs. The Service makes such research available, without parti- san bias, in rnanv forms including studies, reports, cornpila- tions, digests. and backqround briefings. Upon request. CRS assists committees in 'knalyzing legislative proposals and issues. and in assessing the possible effects of these proposals and their alternatives. The Service's senior specialists and subject analysts are also available for personal consultations in their respective fields of expertise. ABSTRACT Planning and preparation for commemorating the bicentennials of the Congress and the Constitution are in high gear. This report provides a calendar of 18th century events that may occasion celebrations or observances, and a preliminary review of selected activities currently in preparation by federal agencies, private organizations, and state and local entities. It expands upon the listings included in earlier CRS publications on this subject, Report No. 84-575, (April 18, 1984), Report No. 85-100s (May 1, 1985), and Report No. 86-9 (January 1986). As the period of significant dates has proceeded, planning and activity has steadily quickened and broadened. The authors wish to credit Mary L. Dunkley for the secretarial production of this report. Contents BICENTENNIAL CALENDAR ........................................... 1 ABOUT THIS COMPENDIUM .......................................... 7 GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED BICENTENNIAL PROJECTS ............................ 8 U.S. Senate ...................................................... 8 U.S. House of Representatives .................................... 11 Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution ......................................... 13 U.S. Supreme Court ............................................... 16 The Library of Congress ......................................... 17 Manuscript Division ......................................... 17 Copyright Office ............................................ 18 Congressional Research Service .............................. 18 National Endowment for the Humanities ............................ 20 The National Archives ............................................ 23 Smithsonian Institution .......................................... 24 U.S. Information Agency .......................................... 26 National Park Service ............................................ 27 U.S. Marshals Service ............................................ 28 U.S. Bureau of the Census ........................................ 28 National Historical Publications and Records Commission ...................................... 29 BICENTENNIAL PROJECTS PRIVATE GROUPS .................................. 30 American Rar Association ......................................... 30 American Enterprise Institute .................................... 31 The Brookings Institution ........................................ 33 Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy ...................... 34 Committee on the Constitutional System ........................... 35 "The Constitution and The Commonwealth" .......................... 37 Convention 11. Inc ............................................... 37 Council for the Advancement of Citizenship ....................... 38 Daughters of the American Revolution ............................. 40 Federal Bar Association .......................................... 40 First Federal Congress Project ................................... 41 The Jefferson Foundation ......................................... 42 National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution .......... 44 The New York Public Library ...................................... 44 Project '87 ...................................................... 47 U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress ................... 50 U.S. Capitol Historical Society .................................. 50 University of Wisconsin Projects ................................. 51 University of Dallas ........................................... 51 U.S. Military Academy ........................................... 52 STATE AND LOCAL BICENTENNIAL COMMISSIONS .............................. 53 Alabama Humanities Foundation .................................... 53 Arizona Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution .................................... 53 California Bicentennial Commission ............................... 54 We The People .Colorado: The Colorado Commission on the Bicentennial .............................. 54 Connecticut ...................................................55 Delaware Heritage Commission ..................................... 55 Florida Endowment for the Humanities ............................. 56 Hawaii ....................................................... 57 Committee to Commemorate the U.S. Constitution in Illinois .................................... 58 Kentucky Department of Education ................................. 58 Louisiana Bicentennial Commission ................................ 59 Maryland Office for the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution .................................... 59 Missouri Constitutional Bicentennial Commission .................. 61 Montana Statehood Centennial Office and Commission ............... 62 New Hampshire Bicentennial Commission ............................ 63 New Hampshire Constitution Bicentennial Education Commission ........................................ 63 New Jersey Bicentennial Commission ............................... 64 New York ......................................................... 64 North Carolina Bicentennial Commission on the United States Constitution .............................. 64 North Dakota Constitution Celebration Committee .................. 65 Oregon Commission on the Ricentennial of the Constitution ......................................... 65 Pennsylvania Commission on the Ricentennial of the United States Constitution ........................... 65 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission .................... 65 Philadelphia "We the People .200" Committee ..................... 66 Rhode Island Bicentennial Foundation ............................. 67 viii U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Commission of South Carolina ........................................... 67 Tennessee: Knoxville-Knox County Constitution Bicentennial Commission ..................................... 68 Utah Governor's Commission on Law and Citizenship ................ 69 Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial .......................... 69 Washington Constitutional Committee .............................. 71 APPENDIX .............................................................. 72 BICENTENNIAL CALENDAR Official Washington and private organizations across the nation are preparing for two historically significant bicentennial celebrations: the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution in 1987, and the bicentennial of the U.S. Congress in 1989. Actually, the nation is in the midst of a period of bicentennial dates, extending to the Bill of Rights' bicentenary in 1991. A number of these may be occasion for bicentennial celebrations. Here is a chronology of selected eighteenth century events with potential for bicentennial observance. -11 March 28, 1785: Mount Vernon Conference. George Washington hosted a meeting at Mount Vernon of four comissioners from Maryland and four from Virginia to discuss problems relating to the navigation of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River. After negotiating agreements, the commissioners recommended to their respective legislatures that annual conferences be held on commercial matters, and that Pennsylvania be invited to join Maryland and Virginia to discuss linking the Chesapeake and the Ohio River. January 16, 1786: Virginia's legislature adopted a statute for religious freedom, originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson and introduced by James Madison. The measure protected Virginia's citizens against compulsion to attend or support any church, and against discrimination based upon religious belief. The law served as a model for the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. January 21, 1786: Virginia's legislature invited all the states to a September meeting in Annapolis to discuss commercial problems. August 7, 1786: The Congress of the Confederation considered a motion offered by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina to amend the Articles of Confederation in order to give Congress more control over foreign affairs 1/ This list is drawn from: Chronology of Bicentennial Dates. this const~tution: A Bicentennial Chronicle, September 1983, revised Winter, 1985. Published by Project '87 of the American Historical Association and the American Political Science Association. pp. inside front cover, 51-53. CRS -2 and interstate commerce. Because amendments to the Articles required the unanimous consent of the states, an unlikely eventuality, Congress declined to recommend the changes. September 11-14, 1786: Annapolis Convention. New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia sent a total