Constitutional Convention 1787

The need for a new government The articles of confederation were too loose and the founding fathers saw the need for a stronger central government Alexander Hamilton called for a Constitutional Convention to figure out what to do There were 55 delegates from all states except Rhode Island who didn’t want a stronger government

Those in Attendance George Washington was chosen as the president of the convention Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were away as ambassadors in Europe Patrick Henry didn’t like the idea of a central government so he did not attend James Madison transcribed all that happened The Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan were early drafts

The Ratification of the Constitution After a lot of arguing over several months, Washington was the first of 39 to sign the Constitution In order to get it ratified though, 9 of the 13 states had to agree to it James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote what later became known as the Federalist Papers trying to persuade the states to vote for the constitution Federalists and Anti-Federalists

The Bill of Rights On March 4th, 1789, New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify the constitution and it passed Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789 The Bill of Rights was created in 1791 and is the first 10 amendments to the Constitution