“New Insights into the Constitutional Convention”

Talk Title: “New Insights into the Constitutional Convention”
Talk Date: Thursday, September 18th, 2025
Talk Time: 7 p.m. via Zoom
Presenters: Professor John P. Kaminski and Attorney Adam Levinson

In 2025, historians are still learning behind the scenes details from the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia in 1787. Based on a deep dive into archival records, we now have reason to believe that Alexander Hamilton may have played a larger role at the Convention than previously understood.

The “conventional” narrative assumes that Hamilton arrived late and departed the Convention early out of “frustration.” Yet, Hamilton played an indispensable role in arranging for the Convention to meet. He knew that he would be outvoted by the “Antifederalists” on his New York delegation. So why did Hamilton depart the Convention? Why did he return? Where did Hamilton board during the Convention? What role did Hamilton play in September when he returned during the final weeks of the Convention?

A discussion with Professor John P. Kaminski and attorney Adam Levinson will review primary sources which shed new light into Hamilton’s role at the Constitutional Convention.

John Kaminski received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972. Since 1970 he has had a research appointment at the University. In 1981 he founded and still directs the Center for the Study of the American Constitution in the History Department at the University, where he has co-edited thirty-eight volumes of The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and has written, edited, or co-edited thirty other books on the Revolutionary era. He is deeply committed to teacher and judicial education and has regularly participated in seminars for these two groups of professionals throughout the country. Read more about John and his work on the digital storytelling project Love Wisconsin.

Adam Levinson is a full-time practicing lawyer who blogs about American legal history in his free time on the history website Statutesandstories.com. Adam’s website was originally built around his collection of antiquarian legal texts, including the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, and the Acts of the First Congress. Adam uses these and other primary sources to teach American history. Today, the website casts a wide net to blog about laws and other stories that arise from and reflect American history.

Adam graduated with a BA in history from the University of Michigan and earned a JD from the University of Miami. He is a partner in the firm of Klausner Kaufman Jenson & Levinson.

He frequently speaks about his ongoing archival research. Among other groups, he has provided keynote and other presentations for the DAR, SAR, the National Conference on History Education (NCHE), the Florida Conference on History Education (FCHE), the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society (the AHA Society), and the New York State Archives.

In 2024 Adam was awarded a Scholarly Fellowship by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.