The Constitutional Convention officially began on May 25, 1787. George Washington was unanimously elected as president, and Major William Jackson of South Carolina had been employed as secretary. However, this role ultimately fell to James Madison as Jackson was not really qualified to handle such an arduous task. Madison eagerly assumed the role and occupied a desk at the front of the room so he could take detailed notes of the entire convention. Each night, after that day’s session ended, Madison reviewed his notes and filled in as many details as he could recall. This consistent schedule left him overworked and fatigued. We are indebted to Madison for his tireless efforts because his notes have survived as the most complete and detailed account of what took place at the convention.
Each state, except for Rhode Island, sent delegates to the convention at some point or another. This was a miracle because many attempts to call for a convention in the past had failed. The states were constantly bickering, and many believed a convention would be marginally successful at best. Finally, in February 1787, Congress officially invited each state to send delegates to Philadelphia for a convention that was scheduled to begin on May 14.
Although this was a step forward, no funding was given for the delegates to attend which required them to pay their own way. This was especially difficult for some, including James Madison, who lived on borrowed money. Additionally, it looked doubtful that George Washington would attend. Many believed without his presence the convention would fail. Although Washington had strongly encouraged the idea of a convention previously, he had declined the invitation to attend in May. His brother had just died, his mother and sisters were seriously ill, and he was in immense pain from rheumatism, which resulted in him getting little sleep. Furthermore, he had just declined an invitation from the Society of the Cincinnati who wanted to honor him at their convention in Philadelphia during this same time. He felt that to suddenly show up to another convention in the same city would be embarrassing and show a lack of respect for the society. However, Washington ultimately decided to attend which greatly increased the credibility of the convention.
Key Players at the Constitutional Convention
Of the 55 delegates that participated in one way or another during the convention:
- Two were college presidents (William S. Johnson and Abraham Baldwin).
- Three were, or had been, college professors (George Wythe, James Wilson, and William C. Houston).
- Four had studied law in England.
- Thirty-one were members of the legal profession, several of them being judges.
- Nine had been born in foreign countries and knew the oppressions of Europe from firsthand experience.
- Twenty-eight had served in Congress, and most of the rest had served in state legislatures.
- Nineteen or more had served in the army, 17 as officers, and 4 on Washington’s staff.
Dr. Samuel Eliot Morison of Harvard noted that:
“Practically every American who had useful ideas on political science was there except John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (on foreign missions) and John Jay (busy with the foreign relations of the Confederation). Jefferson contributed indirectly by shipping to Madison and Wythe from Paris sets of Polybius and other ancient publicists who discoursed on the theory of ‘mixed government’ on which the Constitution was based. The political literature of Greece and Rome was a positive and quickening influence on the Convention debates.” (Samuel Eliot Morison, Oxford History of the American People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 305.)
A distinctive quality of this convention was the youthfulness of most of its participants. The average age was about 41.
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