The Making of the Constitution

government did not have a president or courts. And in the Confederation Congress, each state had one vote. The states were all equal. In contrast, Madison wanted to give more populous states more power than less populous states. Over the next weeks, delegates stood and described their concerns about Madison’s plan.

strengthen the power of a central government. “… there can be no doubt but that the result will … have a powerful effect on our destiny.” James Madison Delegate from Virginia James Madison was very intelligent. He was also very wise about politics. So he gave his plan to a more powerful delegate to read. On the first day of the convention, the governor of Virginia, Edmund Randolph, described Madison’s plan for a national government. It had three parts, or branches. The first branch was a legislature that made the law. States with larger populations would have more votes than states with smaller populations. The second branch was the executive, or president. The president would enforce the law. The third branch was a court system, including a supreme court. The courts would rule on disputes about the meaning of the law. Eventually, 55 men from 12 states took part. Only the smallest state, Rhode Island, chose not to send someone. The men who attended the convention were called delegates or deputies. Portrait of the delegates Age: The youngest was 26; the oldest 81. The average age was 42. Education: Most had a college education. Several had graduate degrees. Almost half studied at Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Professions: Law, business, finance, real estate and agriculture. Some were also governors, judges, doctors and military veterans. Public service: Eight signed the Declaration of Independence; six signed the Articles of Confederation; and forty represented their states in the Confederation Congress. The delegates elected George Washington president of the convention. But Washington said little during the meetings. It was another man from Virginia, James Madison, who quickly became a leader. Madison had come to Philadelphia with a plan to George Washington was one of the people who believed a stronger government was necessary. Although he wanted to stay home after the war and take care of his estate, he agreed to attend a meeting to improve the government. In the late spring of 1787, horses and a carriage took him over 250 kilometers of rough road to join other state leaders in Philadelphia. At the time, the meeting was called the Philadelphia Convention, or sometimes the Federal Convention or Grand Convention. Today we usually call it the Constitutional Convention. 

But by 1787, the confederation was in trouble. Its Congress was weak. It could not solve disputes among the states. It could not pay its debts to other countries. It could not even pay the American soldiers who fought in the war for independence. And some of those unpaid soldiers were beginning to protest. The protests frightened many people in power. The confederation government, they said, could not protect private property and prevent anarchy. They asked Congress to call a meeting of state leaders to discuss changes. On May 13, 1787 General George Washington arrived in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Washington was the most famous man in the United States. He had been the commander in chief of the army that overthrew the British in the Revolutionary War. The war made the 13 American colonies independent in 1783. The colonies — now states — joined under an alliance of friendship, called a confederation.