WILLIAM MACLAY
On June 12, 1789 a Senate committee proposed a federal court system for the nation. Maclay described it as:
President George Washington dispatched David Humphreys on a secret mission to establish a diplomatic mission in Lisbon. To maintain the secrecy, he did not ask the Senate to confirm the appointment in advance.
While France was in the midst of a violent revolution, the American debate was on the power and prestige of the Presidency. Then Vice President John Adams was a proponent of a strong executive. Most others were not.
Maclay’s use of “contraband” stemmed from the Constitutional clause which read: No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States. Maclay used this clause to argue against John Adams and a few others who wanted titles for the United States executive officers.
Madison was very short.
William Maclay was a politician from Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century. Maclay, along with Robert Morris, was a member of Pennsylvania's first two-member delegation to the United States Senate. Following his tenure in the Senate, he served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on two occasions, as a county judge, and as a presidential elector. He is known for his journal providing historical information on the 1st United States Congress.
