James Madison
Virginia, age 36. Drafted much of the Virginia Plan, kept the fullest notes of the debates, co-wrote the Federalist, and later drafted the Bill of Rights.
Unit 2 · Summer 1787
The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Four hot months, guarded doors, and a plan of government that is still in use.
The United States won its war in 1783. Four years later, it was close to falling apart. Congress could not pay its debts, and angry farmers had taken up arms in Massachusetts. In May 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia, officially to revise the Articles of Confederation. They ended up writing a new Constitution. How did a meeting called to patch up the old system end with a whole new one? Start with the timeline.
Timeline: 1781 to 1791
- · The Articles struggle
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress cannot tax, cannot regulate trade between states, and has no separate executive or national courts. Changing the Articles requires all thirteen states to agree.
- · Shays' Rebellion
Farmers in western Massachusetts, crushed by debts and taxes, close courts to stop farm seizures. In January 1787 they march on the federal arsenal at Springfield and are driven off by state militia. Congress has no army to send.
- · Annapolis Convention
Delegates from only five states meet to discuss trade. Alexander Hamilton drafts their report calling for a wider convention in Philadelphia the next May.
- · Congress approves the convention
It calls the meeting "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation."
- · The Convention opens
With enough states present, delegates meet at the Pennsylvania State House and choose George Washington as president. They agree to keep their debates secret.
- · The Virginia Plan
Edmund Randolph presents a plan largely drafted by James Madison: a strong national government with three branches and a two-house legislature, with seats based on population. Big states like it.
- · The New Jersey Plan
William Paterson proposes keeping one house with one equal vote per state. Small states fear being outvoted by Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
- · The Great (Connecticut) Compromise
Delegates narrowly agree to a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate with equal votes for every state. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut had pushed the idea.
- · The Three-Fifths Compromise
Southern delegates wanted enslaved people counted in full to give their states more seats in the House, even though the people counted had no rights or votes. Northern delegates objected. The Convention agreed to count three-fifths of "all other Persons," meaning enslaved people, for both representation and direct taxes. The rule gave slaveholding states extra power in Congress and in presidential elections for decades. The Convention also barred Congress from banning the Atlantic slave trade before 1808 and added a fugitive slave clause.
- · The signing
Thirty-nine delegates sign. Three who stayed to the end refuse: George Mason, Edmund Randolph, and Elbridge Gerry. Franklin's speech urging unity is read aloud.
- · The Federalist Papers
Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay write 85 essays under the pen name "Publius," mostly in New York newspapers, arguing for ratification. Anti-Federalists such as "Brutus" answer them.
- · Delaware ratifies first
Pennsylvania and New Jersey follow later that month.
- · New Hampshire, the ninth state
Nine states are enough to put the Constitution into effect. Virginia (June 25) and New York (July 26) ratify soon after, after close fights.
- · New government begins
The first Congress is set to meet under the Constitution, but it doesn't have a quorum until April. Washington is inaugurated on April 30.
- · Bill of Rights ratified
Unit 3: Madison guides amendments through the first Congress. The ten that the states ratify protect speech, religion, the press, fair trials, and more, keeping a promise made to win over doubters.
Key People
Federalists and framers
George Washington
President of the Convention. He said little in debate, but his presence gave the meeting trust. He became the first president.
Benjamin Franklin
Pennsylvania, age 81, the oldest delegate. Urged compromise and asked every delegate to sign.
Alexander Hamilton
New York. Wanted a very strong central government and wrote most of the Federalist essays.
Gouverneur Morris
Pennsylvania. Spoke more often than any other delegate and led the final wording of the Constitution, including the Preamble. He also condemned slavery on the Convention floor.
Roger Sherman
Connecticut. With Oliver Ellsworth, a leading voice for the Great Compromise.
Critics and Anti-Federalists
George Mason
Virginia. Refused to sign, mainly because the Constitution had no bill of rights.
Patrick Henry
Virginia. Declined to attend the Convention and then led the fight against ratification in Virginia, warning that the new government would swallow the states' power and the people's liberty.
"Brutus"
A New York Anti-Federalist writing under a pen name, often thought to be Robert Yates. Argued a republic could not work over so large a country.
Primary Sources
Quotes follow the National Archives transcription of the Constitution, the Avalon Project text of Madison's notes and the Federalist, and the Teaching American History text of Brutus.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Why it matters: The Articles were a league of states. This opening says the government comes from the people. Patrick Henry attacked exactly that phrase: why "We the People" and not "We the States"?
"…which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons."
Why it matters: The words "slave" and "slavery" never appear, but "all other Persons" meant enslaved people. Notice how the framers protected slavery without naming it. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) replaced this clause.
"I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them… Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best."
Why it matters: Franklin argues for humility: no one gets everything, and a flawed plan may still be the best possible one.
"Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens…"
Why it matters: A "faction" is a group pursuing its own interest against others' rights. Madison argues a large republic is safer because no single faction can easily take over.
"Ambition must be made to counteract ambition… If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
Why it matters: This is the logic of checks and balances: give each branch the power and motive to resist the others.
"…a free republic cannot succeed over a country of such immense extent, containing such a number of inhabitants, and these increasing in such rapid progression as that of the whole United States."
Why it matters: Brutus makes the opposite argument from Federalist No. 10. Read them side by side: who has the stronger case?
Context Cards
Why the secrecy?
Delegates wanted to change their minds freely without public pressure. We know what was said mostly because Madison took notes, published in 1840, four years after his death in 1836.
Did they break the rules?
Congress asked only for revisions to the Articles. The Constitution also said it would take effect after nine states ratified, not all thirteen as the Articles required.
Was three-fifths about people's worth?
It was a deal about political power and taxes. Enslaved people got nothing from it. Counting them more fully would have given their enslavers even more power.
A rising sun
Franklin said he had wondered whether the sun carved on Washington's chair was rising or setting: "now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun."
Talk About It
- Was the Convention right to throw out the Articles instead of revising them, as Congress had asked?
- The Three-Fifths Compromise helped get the Constitution approved. What did that compromise cost, and who paid it?
- Madison and Brutus disagree about whether a large republic can protect liberty. Who has been proven right?
- Anti-Federalists lost the ratification vote but won the Bill of Rights. Did they really lose?
Test Yourself
Sources
- National Archives, The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription.
- National Archives, The Bill of Rights: A Transcription.
- Avalon Project, Yale Law School, Madison's Notes, September 17, 1787.
- Avalon Project, Federalist No. 10 and Federalist No. 51.
- Teaching American History, Brutus I.
- Library of Congress, To Form a More Perfect Union.
- Office of the Historian, Constitutional Convention and Ratification, 1787–1789.
Credits: all illustrations are original SVG drawings made for Jugami.