Road to the Constitution

Creating the Declaration of Independence | Creating the United States Constitution | Creating the Bill of Rights

Road to the Constitution | Convention and Ratification

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777, but the states did not ratify them until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. Once peace removed the rationale of wartime necessity the weaknesses of the 1777 Articles of Confederation became increasingly apparent. Divisions among the states and even local rebellions threatened to destroy the fruits of the Revolution. Nationalists, led by James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Wilson, almost immediately began working toward strengthening the federal government. They turned a series of regional commercial conferences into a national constitutional convention at Philadelphia in 1787.

Benjamin Franklin. Plan for a Confederation, July 21, 1775. Printed document annotated by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Manuscript Division. Library of Congress (46.01) [Digital ID# us0046a — us0046a_2]

Benjamin Franklin’s proposed plan of confederation, 1775

Shortly after the revolutionary war began at Concord and Lexington, Benjamin Franklin submitted this plan for a united colonial confederation or American republic to the Continental Congress on July 21, 1775. Thomas Jefferson, a fellow delegate, annotated his copy of Franklin’s plan which began a national debate on the creation of an American Republic.

Thomas Rodney. Diary entry, March 1, 1781. Rodney Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (48)
[Digital ID# us0048 — us0048_4]

Articles of Confederation Ratified

After Maryland’s ratification established the Articles of Confederation as the first United States constitution, Thomas Rodney (1744—1811), a delegate to the Continental Congress from Delaware, recorded in his diary on March 1, 1781, that “the Completion of this grand Union & Confederation was announced by Firing thirteen Cannon on the Hill” in Philadelphia. John Hanson (1715—1783), a delegate from Maryland, was elected the first president of the confederation government.

Committee of Congress. Draft Report of Northwest Ordinance, March 1784. Broadside with emendations by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (49)
[Digital ID# us0049]

Northwest Ordinance Prohibits Slavery

When the Confederation Congress began planning the organization of the territories north and west of the Ohio River, Thomas Jefferson and his congressional committee moved against mainstream eighteenth-century thought to draft regulations that prohibited in the territories slavery or involuntary servitude except for convicted criminals. Although Jefferson envisioned that the prohibition would go into effect in 1800, the final ordinance of 1787 contained an immediate ban.

Letter from John Jay to George Washington, March 16, 1786. Manuscript. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (50)
[Digital ID# us0050]

Call to Revise Articles of Confederation

In this 1786 letter to George Washington, John Jay (1745—1829), a Continental Congress delegate from New York and later the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, expressed what most U.S. leaders had come to believe: that “an opinion begins to prevail that a general convention for revising the articles of Confederation would be expedient.” It was clear that George Washington was the fulcrum around which plans to revise or even replace the articles often revolved.

Letter from James Madison to George Washington, December 9, 1785. Manuscript. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (51)
[Digital ID# us0051 — us0051_3]

Madison and Washington Consider Confederation

In 1785, James Madison and George Washington were in the midst of a written conversation about ways to create a stronger national government. Both men believed that the confederation government might have to sink lower before the time would be right for a successful “meeting of Politico-Commercial Commssrs. from all states”a meeting that would occur in Philadelphia two years later.

Letter from James Madison to George Washington, April 16, 1787. Manuscript. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (52)
[Digital ID# us0052 — us0052_5]

Washington and Madison Plan for a New Government

In this letter written in 1787 on the eve of the federal Constitutional Convention, James Madison warns George Washington of the dangers from both temporizers and radicals. Madison also sketches his plans for a new federal government and constitution to be formulated in Philadelphia. Proportional representation and a national legislative veto over state laws were just two of Madison’s major proposals.

“State-house with a View of Chestnut Street, Philadelphia” from The City of Philadelphia. . . . Hand-colored engraving. Philadelphia: William Birch & Son, 1800. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (54)
[Digital ID# us0054 — us0054_3]

Independence Hall

Delegates to the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787 created the instrument of government in the East Room on the first floor of the Pennsylvania State House (known today as Independence Hall) on Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. These delegates took an oath of secrecy and met behind closed doors and windows with pulled drapes throughout the often hot and humid Delaware Valley summer.

Top