Constitution of the United States

About the Author

Fifty-five delegates attended the Constitutional Convention between May 25 and September 17, 1787. Averaging forty-four years old, the delegates were primarily lawyers, farmers, and merchants. The fifty-five-year-old George Washington was elected president of the convention. When the convention operated as a committee of the whole—that is, for the purpose of discussion under less official terms—Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts, presided. Thirty-nine delegates signed the final document. Three delegates—Elbridge Gerry, from Massachusetts, and Edmund Randolph and George Mason, both from Virginia—were in attendance on the last day but refused to sign the Constitution.

All of the delegates were political leaders in their home states. Many had served in Congress and in their state governments. Only two—Randolph, of Virginia, and William Livingston, of New Jersey—were incumbent governors. All of the delegates and subsequent scholars acknowledged the leadership of the thirty-six-year-old James Madison, of Virginia. He was soon dubbed and is still often referred to as the “father of the Constitution”—an appellation he steadfastly rejected, as he believed that the Constitution was the product of many hands and many hearts. In essence, no one person was the “father of the Constitution”; instead, perhaps, a half dozen or so might be called “uncles.”

Some delegates took the lead in making proposals and debating issues, while others only listened and voted. Some delegates arrived late, while others left early. Six delegates spoke most frequently—Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania (173 times); Madison (168 times); Roger Sherman, of Connecticut (161 times); Mason (186 times); and Gerry (119 times). Six other delegates spoke between 61 and 78 times—Randolph, Hugh Williamson (N.C.), Rufus King (Mass.), Oliver Ellsworth (Conn.), Gorham, and Charles Pinckney (S.C.). Thirty delegates, or 54 percent of the attendees, either never spoke or were recorded as speaking fewer than a dozen times.

James Madison was the primary author of the Virginia Resolutions, presented on the first day of debates, which became the outline that the convention debated. Several key provisions of the Virginia proposal were rejected by the convention, leaving Madison despondent. Other proposals were presented by William Paterson (N.J.), Alexander Hamilton (N.Y.), and Pinckney. Other key delegates performed significant roles. The eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin, though too frail to stand and speak himself, gave his Pennsylvania colleague James Wilson written speeches that Wilson then read. Franklin's speeches were often delivered when tempers flared, and his humor helped to reduce the tension. John Rutledge (S.C.) chaired the Committee of Detail; Gerry chaired the committee that proposed the Great Compromise, aimed at balancing representation from small and large states; and William Samuel Johnson (Conn.) chaired the Committee of Style. Morris wrote the preamble and the final version of the text of the entire Constitution. Jacob Shallus, the assistant clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly, was the scribe who actually wrote the four-page engrossed copy of the Constitution.