1789-06-08 (speech); newspaper witness published 1789-06-12
Amendments to the Constitution, [8 June] 1789
Madison proposes constitutional safeguards against abuses of power, including protection from unreasonable searches and warrants lacking probable cause, oath, or particularity, and explains courts’ role in protecting declared rights.
Proposed amendments under “Fourthly”; speech’s discussion of independent tribunals guarding rights.
A proposal and reported speech, not the final Fourth Amendment. Newspaper and Congressional Register are distinct reporting witnesses. The NARA classroom PDF headed June 8, 1787 has an apparent date error; use the verified 1789 date.
Archival links:
Full transcription and provenance: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-12-02-0126
Newspaper custodial record: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/formation-of-political-parties.html#obj7
Contemporary newspaper image: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/BillofRights/FormationofPoliticalParties/Assets/us_int0001tiff_enlarge_725.Jpeg
Date
1789-06-08 (speech); newspaper witness published 1789-06-12
Credits
James Madison
Reference collection
Founders Online scholarly transcription: Hobson and Rutland, eds
Archival identity and provenance reviewed. Historical source files preserved unchanged. No independent human proofreading. Complete contemporary Congressional Register Volume I (1789), 626 digitized PDF pages, preserved from the Princeton Theological Seminary Library copy via Internet Archive. June 8 amendments material includes printed pages 414–437, PDF pages 420–443. Existing full Founders Online reported-speech reading transcription and separate LOC newspaper witness retained. Embedded volume OCR is uncorrected.
Unmodified archival response body from https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/BillofRights/FormationofPoliticalParties/Assets/us_int0001tiff_enlarge_725.Jpeg
Follow-up preservation update, 12 October 2026: Complete contemporary Congressional Register Volume I (1789), 626 digitized PDF pages, preserved from the Princeton Theological Seminary Library copy via Internet Archive. June 8 amendments material includes printed pages 414–437, PDF pages 420–443. Existing full Founders Online reported-speech reading transcription and separate LOC newspaper witness retained. Embedded volume OCR is uncorrected.
Modern reading derivative of the archival source identified on this record; not an original artifact. Layout visually reviewed. Complete reported June 8 speech from Founders Online, based on Congressional Register I, 418–419 and 423–437, hosted as a reading transcription. One LOC newspaper image is a separate reporting witness, not a complete newspaper or a facsimile of the Congressional Register.
Follow-up preservation update, 12 October 2026: Complete contemporary Congressional Register Volume I (1789), 626 digitized PDF pages, preserved from the Princeton Theological Seminary Library copy via Internet Archive. June 8 amendments material includes printed pages 414–437, PDF pages 420–443. Existing full Founders Online reported-speech reading transcription and separate LOC newspaper witness retained. Embedded volume OCR is uncorrected.
Modern reading derivative of the archival source identified on this record; not an original artifact. Layout visually reviewed. Complete reported June 8 speech from Founders Online, based on Congressional Register I, 418–419 and 423–437, hosted as a reading transcription. One LOC newspaper image is a separate reporting witness, not a complete newspaper or a facsimile of the Congressional Register.
Follow-up preservation update, 12 October 2026: Complete contemporary Congressional Register Volume I (1789), 626 digitized PDF pages, preserved from the Princeton Theological Seminary Library copy via Internet Archive. June 8 amendments material includes printed pages 414–437, PDF pages 420–443. Existing full Founders Online reported-speech reading transcription and separate LOC newspaper witness retained. Embedded volume OCR is uncorrected.
The Congressional Register: or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the First House of Representatives of the United States of America, Volume I. New York: Harrisson and Purdy, 1789. Princeton Theological Seminary Library, call number 13463; digitized by Internet Archive, identifier congressionalreg01unit, ark:/13960/t6d223128. Complete digitized volume; June 8 amendments material includes printed pages 414–437 (PDF pages 420–443).
The Congressional Register: or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the First House of Representatives of the United States of America, Volume I. New York: Harrisson and Purdy, 1789. Princeton Theological Seminary Library, call number 13463; digitized by Internet Archive, identifier congressionalreg01unit, ark:/13960/t6d223128. Complete digitized volume; June 8 amendments material includes printed pages 414–437 (PDF pages 420–443).
Source download: https://archive.org/download/congressionalreg01unit/congressionalreg01unit.pdf
Downloaded 12 October 2026; bytes preserved unchanged. SHA-256: 49a4ebacdcbf4709f7b477615ee9726f9dd01f4c70504838cc7fe47ea785b975. No claim of independently proofread embedded OCR.
Founders Online scholarly transcription: Hobson and Rutland, eds. (University Press of Virginia, 1979), based on Thomas Lloyd’s Congressional Register, I, 418–419 and 423–437. Separate contemporary newspaper witness: New York Daily Advertiser, June 12, 1789; LOC Serial and Government Publications Division.
Historical primary texts are public domain. Source institutions credited separately. Modern editorial annotations are not licensed for republication by this record.
