New York

By; Blanca Ponce and Coraima Arredondo

Delegates
Alexander

Hamilton
John Lansing Jr.
Robert Yates

Alexander Hamilton

Age of Convention; 30

Date of Birth; January 11, 1757

Date of Death; July 12, 1804

Schooling; Attended Kings College (Columbia)

Occupation; Lawyer, Public Security Interests, Real Estate, Land

Speculation, Soldier.

Prior Political Experience; Confederation Congress 1782-1783,

Represented New York at Annapolis Convention 1786, Lower State
Legislature of New York 1787.

Committee Assignments; Committee of Rules, Committee of Style

John Lansing Jr.

Age of convention; 33

Date of birth; January 30 1754

Date of Death; December 29, 1829

Schooling; Read law with Robert Yates

Occupation; Lawyer, Public Security Interests

Prior Political Experience; New York Lower House Legislature 17801784 & Speaker 1786, Confederation Congress 1784-1785, Mayor of
Albany 1786-1790

Committee Assignments; None

Robert Yates

State: New York

Age at Convention: 49

Date of Birth: January 27, 1738

Date of Death: September 9, 1801

Schooling: Read law with William Livingston

Occupation: Politician, Judge

Prior Political Experience: State Constitutional Convention for New

York 1776-1777, New York Supreme Court Judge 1777-1798, New York
Provincial Congress 1775-1776

Committee Assignments: First Committee of Representation, Third

Committee of Representation.

Did They Sign The Constitution ? Why ?

Alexander Hamilton; Yes, He urged the calling of the Constitution

Convention. Frequently absent on legal business. Was the only one
from New York to sign. Played a substantial part in ratifying the
Constitution in New York.

John Lansing Jr.; No, He left the convention with Robert Yates,
because of abolishing, not amending, the Articles of Confederations.

Robert Yates; No, He left the convention with John Lansing Jr.,
because of abolishing, not amending, the Articles of Confederations.

Federalists or Anti-Federalists. Why ?

Alexander Hamilton: Federalist, because he was the first Secretary of

the Treasury and established the Bank of the United States and thus
established America as a major economic power. He was the most
important founding father in that respect because without him, America
would have no credit and would have failed as a country.

John Lansing Jr: Anti-Federalist, because he believed that the power

between the national and state government should be equal. In other
words, he didn't like the idea of a strong national government.

Robert Yates: Anti-Federalist, because he was on the committee that

debated the question of representation in the legislature, and it soon
became apparent that the convention intended much more than
modification of the current plan of union.

Is it a Conservative or a Liberal State ?

The Liberal Party was one of several minor parties that fulfill a role
almost unique to New York State politics. New York law allows
electoral fusion a candidate can be the nominee of multiple parties
and aggregate the votes received on all the different ballot lines.

The Liberal Party's primary electoral strategy was generally to crossendorse the nominees of other parties who agree with the Liberal
Party's philosophy; only rarely did the Liberal Party run its own
candidates. By supporting agreeable candidates and threatening not
to support disagreeable ones, the Liberal Party hoped to influence
candidate selection by the major parties.

Compromise

The dinner table bargain refers to a pivotal episode in the final

stages of these compromise efforts. Based on an account given to us
by former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson two years after the
event, the dinner was a private meeting between Secretary of the
Treasury Alexander Hamilton and U.S. House of Representative
member James Madison. Shortly after the Assumption Bill failed for a
second time in June in the House, Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton,
despairing that his financial plan would be scuttled, appealed to the
newly appointed Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to apply his
influence on the matter. According to Jeffersons account, he
arranged the dinner for the two officials at his residence in New York
City on or about June 20, 1790. The meeting produced a political
settlement on the assumption and residency crisis.

Additional Information

The total area of New York State is 54,471.144 square miles

(47,223.839 land and 7,247.305 inland water).

The geographic center of New York State is located in Madison County,

approximately 12 miles south of Oneida and 26 miles southwest of
Utica.

There are four mountain ranges in New York State: Adirondack,

Catskill, Shawangunk and Taconic.

The highest point in New York State is Mount Marcy, Essex County in
the Adirondacks - 5,344 feet above sea level.

The New York State Barge Canal System is the longest internal
waterway system in any state (800 miles or 1,280 kilometers) carrying
over 2 million tons per year.

New York State has 62 counties, 62 cities, 553 villages and 932 towns.