[andrewmg]

For those interested in such things, ConSource has a wonderful collection[0] of historical materials relating to the U.S. Constitution, including contemporaneous state constitutions, notes from states' ratification debates, and records from the Constitutional Convention.

[0] https://www.consource.org/library/

On the Federalist Papers, my current obsession is Federalist 36, on the taxing power: "Let it be recollected that the proportion of these [direct] taxes is not to be left to the discretion of the national legislature, but is to be determined by the numbers of each State..., a circumstance which effectually shuts the door to partiality or oppression."