Volume 16 , Issue 28

Constitution of the United States

It was 14 May 1787, that the Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Constitution of the United States.

Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on 25 May 1787. Through discussion and debate it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention would draft an entirely new frame of government.

All through the summer, in closed sessions, the delegates debated, and redrafted the articles of the new Constitution. Among the chief points at issue were how much power to allow the central government, home many representatives in Congress to allow each state, and how these representatives should be elected -- directly by the people or by the state legislators. The work of many minds, the Constitution stands as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise.

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