Anonymous

After the Constitution was made public, newspapers began running letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in which they described their support for or opposition to the proposed plan of government. This anonymous article appeared in the Massachusetts Centinel on November 21, 1787 (about a month after the Constitutional Convention finished its work). The author, who remains anonymous, provides the reader with a list of problems—both great and small—with the U.S. Constitution. Many of this author's complaints seem to stem from the fact that the Constitution did not include a Bill of Rights, which would have protected trial by jury, freedom of the press, and other liberties.

The following objections made to the new Constitution you are requested to publish for the consideration of the public at this all-important crisis. Yours, Anonymous.

The...