Fisher Ames’s speech to the Massachusetts Ratification Convention. Ames, a highly regarded figure, said that the Senate, by its unique nature, exemplified the “sovereignty of the states,” while the House of Representatives was the dominion of the “individuals.” This meant that the Senate served as a “federal feature” and a guard against the national government eventually subsuming the states—a recurring complaint among delegates to the commonwealth’s ratification convention. Ames even warned that if members of the Senate were elected directly by the people it would make it much easier for the
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