Federal convention, the.
The representatives of twelve States assembled in convention at
Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to prepare a constitution of government for the
United States of a national character.
George Washington, a delegate from
Virginia, was chosen president, and
William Jackson, secretary.
The convention was composed of some of the most illustrious citizens of the new republic.
There was the aged
Franklin, past eighty-one years of age, who had sat in a similar convention at
Albany (q. v.) in 1754.
John Dickinson, of
Pennsylvania;
W. S. Johnson, of
Connecticut; and
John Rutledge, of
South Carolina, had been members of the
Stamp act Congress (q. v.) at New York in 1765.
Washington,
Dickinson, and
Rutledge had been members of the Continental Congress of 1774.
From that body also were
Roger Sherman, of
Connecticut;
William Livingston, governor of
New Jersey; George Read, of
Delaware, and
George Wythe, of
Virginia.
From among the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, besides
Franklin, Read,
Wythe, and
Sherman, had come
Elbridge Gerry, of
Massachusetts, and
Robert Morris,
George Clymer, and
James Wilson, of
Pennsylvania. Eighteen members had, at the same time, been delegates to the Continental Congress; and among the whole number there were only twelve who had not at some time sat in that body.
The officers of the Revolution were represented by
Washington, Mifflin,
Hamilton, and
C. C. Pinckney.
Of the members who had taken conspicuous posts since the
Declaration of Independence, the most prominent were
Hamilton,
Madison, and
Edmund Randolph.
then the successor of
Patrick Henry as governor of
Virginia.
The members who took the leading part in the debates were
Gerry,
Gorham, and
King, of
Massachusetts;
Johnson,
Sherman, and
Ellsworth, of
Connecticut;
Hamilton and
Lansing, of New York;
Paterson, of
New Jersey;
Wilson,
Gouverneur Morris, and
Franklin, of
Pennsylvania;
Dickinson, of
Delaware:
Martin, of
Maryland;
Williamson, of
North Carolina; and
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and
Charles Pinckney, of
South Carolina.
Rhode Island refused to elect delegates to the convention.
The following is a full list of the members of the national convention: From
New Hampshire—John Langdon,
John Pickering,
Nicholas Gilman, and
Benjamin West;
Massachusetts—
Francis Dana,
Elbridge Gerry,
Nathaniel Gorham,
Rufus King, and Caleb Strong;
Connecticut—
William Samuel Johnson,
Roger Sherman, and
Oliver Ellsworth; New York—
Robert Yates,
John Lansing, Jr., and
Alexander Hamilton;
New Jersey—
David Brearley, William Churchill Hous-
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ton,
William Paterson,
John Neilson,
William Livingston,
Abraham Clark, and
Jonathan Dayton;
Pennsylvania—
Thomas Mifflin,
Robert Morris,
George Clymer,
Jared Ingersoll,
Thomas Fitzsimons,
James Wilson,
Gouverneur Morris, and
Benjamin Franklin;
Delaware—George Read,
Gunning Bedford, Jr.,
John Dickinson,
Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom;
Maryland—
James McHenry, Daniel of St.
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Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll,
John Francis Mercer, and
Luther Martin;
Virginia—
George Washington,
Patrick Henry,
Edmund Randolph,
John Blair,
James Madison, Jr.,
George Mason, and
George Wythe.
Patrick Henry having declined the appointment,
George McClure was nominated to supply his place;
North Carolina—
Richard Caswell,
Alexander Martin,
William Richardson Davie,
Richard Dobbs Spaight, and
Willie Jones.
Richard Caswell having resigned,
William Blount was appointed a deputy in his place.
Willie Jones having also declined his appointment, his place was supplied by
Hugh Williamson;
South Carolina—
John Rutledge,
Charles Pinckney,
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and
Pierce Butler;
Georgia—William Few,
Abraham Baldwin,
William Pierce,
George Walton,
William Houston, and
Nathaniel Pendleton.
Fac-similes of the signatures of the signers of the
Constitution, copied from the original in the archives of the national government, are given on preceding pages.
William Jackson was secretary.
A committee was appointed to report rules of proceeding by the convention.
They copied them chiefly from those of Congress, and their report was adopted.
Each State was to have one vote; seven States were to constitute a quorum; all committees were to be appointed by ballot; the doors were to be closed, and an injunction of secrecy was placed on the debates.
The members were not even allowed to take copies of the entries on the journal.
The injunction of secrecy as to the proceedings of the convention was never removed.
At the final adjournment the journal, in accordance with a previous vote, was intrusted to the custody of
Washington, by whom it was afterwards deposited in the Department of State.
It was first printed, by order of Congress, in 1818.
Robert Yates, one of the members from New York, took brief notes of the earlier debates.
These were published in 1821, after
Mr. Yates's death.
Mr. Madison took more perfect notes of the whole convention, which were published in 1840; and a representation to the legislature of Maryland, by
Luther Martin, furnished nearly all the material for the history of the
Constitution of the United States (q. v.).
