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The Constitutional Convention that ended in September of 1787 certainly ended differently than the one that began in May. In fact, it’s only known as the “Constitutional” Convention because of the results. It began as a “Foederal” Convention. But actually, it kind of began before that.
In 1785, Maryland and Virginia got into a heated argument over navigation on the Potomac River, and representatives from each state decided to meet at Mount Vernon to reconcile the issue. Using this as a springboard issue, the commission was enlarged and met instead in Annapolis, Maryland in September of 1786.
But Alexander Hamilton, long a champion of a modified charter (to the Articles of Confederation), suggested to Congress that all thirteen states gather for even broader-reaching discussions…as he wrote, “to take into consideration the trade and commerce of the United States.” Since all things financial were Hamilton’s specialty, and commerce was very weakly addressed in the Articles, it made sense to him.
To many, however, the Articles of Confederation were perfect because they strictly limited the power of any federal government. All this talk of “trade and commerce” sounded way too far-reaching and more like a trashing of the Articles than a modification. In the end, Congress resolved that the convention meet “for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.”
The meeting place was appropriately Independence Hall (where the Declaration was signed eleven years prior) in Philadelphia, and the start date was May 14, 1787. Seventy-four delegates were named, of which fifty-five showed up. Of course, transportation wasn’t what it is now, and the spring of 1787 had been particularly wet, so delegates kind of mucked their way into Philadelphia. The ever-punctual James Madison arrived on the 3rd of May, but others would straggle in.
Rhode Island sent no one, and was resolutely against any measures that forced them to give up the financial racket they had built using their own currency. “Rogue Island” it was often called. One man said that “Rhode Island has acted a part which would cause the savages of the wilderness to blush.” George Washington wrote that “Rhode Island still perseveres in the impolitic – unjust – and one might add without much impropriety scandalous conduct, which seems to have marked all her public councils of late.” Harsh rhetoric, to be sure, coming from a man of guarded words.
And what of Washington? Well, he arrived on May 13, 1787 to a hero’s welcome. The bells chimed (and not just because it was Sunday morning), artillery was fired, and the General was escorted through Philadelphia by the City Troop.
The Federal Convention was about to begin…
Recommended Reading: Miracle at Philadelphia – As I’ve been plowing through Ketcham’s book on James Madison, I’ve been taking little tangents for related material. This is one of them.
