{"id":13469,"date":"2022-03-27T01:10:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T05:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/?p=13469"},"modified":"2022-04-11T09:44:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T13:44:46","slug":"yates-returns-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/yates-returns-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"Yates Returns Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Yates Returns Thesis – Part IV\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Last year it was discovered that New York delegate Judge Robert Yates attempted to return to the Constitutional Convention in September of 1787. This surprising revelation raises more questions than it answers. The “Yates Returns Thesis” theorizes that Yates\u2019 reason for returning to the Convention was to prevent Alexander Hamilton from signing the Constitution. This post (Part IV) provides an update based on additional archival records located to date.<\/p>\n

The expanding list of sources discussed below helps flesh out the activities of Judge Robert Yates and John Lansing in the late summer and early fall of 1787. After summarizing the reasons why historians believed that Yates and Lansing were not<\/i> expected to return to Philadelphia, the post concludes by discussing the “revised” timeline of when Yates must have changed his mind. The “traditional” timeline of Yates’ activities in the summer of 1787 is pictured below.<\/p>\n

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According to records of the New York State Auditor discovered in 2021, Judge Yates requested payment of \u00a3 19 and 4 shillings from the State of New York. This sum represented twelve days of travel at 32 shilling per day from Albany to New York City. Click here for a link to Yates Returns –\u00a0Part I<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Upon learning that the Convention had \u201crisen,\u201d Yates discontinued his trip to Philadelphia and returned home to Albany.<\/p>\n

This information helped shed light on other discoveries involving delegate compensation.<\/i> Yates was paid a total of \u00a3 142 and 8 shillings \u201cfor his service\u201d as a delegate at the Constitutional Convention, while Alexander Hamilton was only paid \u00a3 121 and 12 shillings. Click here for a link to Yates Returns –\u00a0Part II<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Why was Robert Yates reimbursed more than Alexander Hamilton, when Hamilton spent more time at the Convention? The answer is provided by Yates\u2019 aborted return trip in September, which is illustrated by the “Yates Returns” proposed new timeline pictured below.<\/p>\n

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StatutesandStories.com suggests that the discovery of Yates\u2019 effort to return to Philadelphia justifies a careful reexamination of traditional assumptions about a critical month in American history. Click here for a link to Yates Returns –\u00a0Part III<\/a><\/strong><\/span> – which explored Yates\u2019 motivations for returning to Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Following the “Yates Returns” discovery, previously mundane records have taken on added significance. For this reason, StatutesandStories.com worked with several research institutions to cast a wide net searching for evidence of Yates and Lansing\u2019s schedule in September of 1787. Special thanks are owed to the following archivists: Jill Reichenbach (New York Historical Society), John Diefenderfer (New York State Archives), Cara Dellatte (New York Public Library) and Craig Carlson (Director of the Albany Hall of Records). Loretta Deaver at the Library of Congress assisted with the impossible task of trying to disprove a negative, as will be discussed below in connection with a review of the Papers of William Paterson.<\/p>\n

This article – Part IV – analyzes additional primary sources which have been located following the Yates Returns discovery in late 2021. The records discussed below provide further support for the Yates Returns Thesis. StatutesandStories.com invites feedback from scholars regarding the following records, which in several cases are being digitized for the first time in this post:<\/p>\n

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  1. Promissory note for \u00a3 60 by Robert Yates dated 4 September 1787 (New York Historical Society);<\/li>\n
  2. Report by Judge Robert Yates to Governor George Clinton of the proceedings of the Court of Oyer and Terminer for Montgomery and Washington Counties in August of 1787 (New York State Archives);<\/li>\n
  3. Minutes of the City of Albany Common Council for September of 1787 evidencing attendance at City Hall by Mayor John Lansing on September 15 (Albany Hall of Records);<\/li>\n
  4. Letter from William Paterson to John Lansing dated July 27 requesting that Yates and Lansing return to the Convention (New York Historical Society); Hutson’s<\/em> Supplement to Farrand<\/em> at p. 195<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    While none of these records directly verify Robert Yates\u2019 effort to return to Philadelphia in September, these records help establish a timeline for his travels. Most importantly, it is entirely reasonable to presume that the reason why Robert Yates floated the \u00a3 60 promissory note on September 4th<\/sup> was to raise hard currency for his return trip to Philadelphia. As one of the highest-paid state employees in 1787, Judge Yates likely would not have needed the funds for any other purpose the week he departed for Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

    Additionally, the records discussed below verify the long-held understanding that John Lansing, New York\u2019s third delegate to the Constitutional Convention, did not<\/i> attempt to return to Philadelphia. It would have been unnecessary for both Yates and Lansing to take the return trip to the Convention, since either one of them would have been able to split the New York delegation and oppose Hamilton. In fact, because Yates was a sitting and well-respected judge, he arguably had more influence on the floor of the Convention than Lansing. This assumes that one of Yates’ objectives was to convince other delegates not to sign the Constitution.<\/p>\n

    September 4 promissory note by Yates:<\/em><\/p>\n

    Pictured below is the front and back of a promissory note from Robert Yates to John Ten Broeck, executed on September 4, 1787. The promissory note is housed among the 20,000 linear feet of archival materials at the New York Historical Society (barcode: 4503848-10), but has never been digitized for access by researchers.<\/p>\n

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    Yates’ promissory note indicates that:<\/p>\n