Thursday, March 12, 2020

Who Was Not at the Constitutional Convention?


Which well-known founders did not attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787? I mentioned a few in class but here are some details in writing.

Patrick Henry (of "give me liberty or give me death!" fame) said he "smelled a rat" in Philadelphia. He did not want a more effective, probably more powerful federal government.

John Adams was serving as ambassador to Great Britain, an extremely difficult job for the man who implied in the Declaration of Independence that the king was a pirate.

Thomas Jefferson was serving as ambassador to France, the other major power of the time. His views were represented most ably by James Madison (later called the Father of the Constitution).

Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, was busy in Britain.

John Hancock was ill and did not serve as a Massachusetts delegate to the convention, but did serve in 1788 as president of his state's ratifying convention. His speech in favor of ratification drew the support of famed rabble-rouser Samuel Adams, and the Massachusetts convention narrowly approved the Constitution, 187 to 168.

Six people signed both the Declaration of Independence (in 1776) and the Constitution (in 1787):  
George ClymerBenjamin FranklinRobert MorrisGeorge ReadRoger Sherman, and James Wilson.

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