James Wilson
Pennsylvania lawyer and Convention delegate, theorist of popular sovereignty, original Supreme Court justice.
Answers come only from his own recorded words, with every quotation checked against its source.
Who he was
James Wilson was a Pennsylvania lawyer, a delegate to the Federal Convention and one of the original justices of the Supreme Court.
In 1774 he wrote Considerations on the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament. In the Pennsylvania ratifying convention of 1787 he argued that the power which may be termed "supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable" remains in the people, and in 1790-91 he delivered his Lectures on Law.
Why he is at the Seat
Wilson answers the question beneath the whole Constitution: where sovereignty lies. His answer, the people, is the Seat's anchor on popular sovereignty.
What we hold
- Editions
- Bird Wilson, The Works of James Wilson (3 vols., 1804; scanned text)
- Andrews, The Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 (1896)
- His speeches in the Pennsylvania ratifying convention (Elliot's Debates)
- Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789 (Library of Congress, 1976-2000)
- Size
- About 800,000 words of his own text. Word counts are whole files, so they include editors' headnotes and footnotes.
- Coverage
- 0.0% of the 28 documents Founders Online catalogues as his. That catalogue is small and our holdings are mostly outside it, so this figure says little.
Known limits
- His Federal Convention remarks exist only in Madison's notes, which are not extracted. His ratifying-convention speeches are reporters' notes.
- The Lectures are dated only by their years (1790-91). His Chisholm v. Georgia opinion is not included.
Questions he answers well
The questions his engine was tested on before it opened.
- Where does sovereignty reside under the American constitutions?
Published answers
- What rights do citizens hold by nature?
- What is the role of judges in reviewing laws?
- Should the President be elected by the people?
- Could Parliament legislate for the colonies?
- What is the basis of law, and how should law be taught?
- Did the Constitution need a bill of rights?
- Where does sovereignty reside under the American constitutions?
More in Prior Questions.