A report on Articles of Confederation, Constitutional Convention (United States) and Constitution of the United States

Page one of the officially engrossed copy of the Constitution signed by delegates. A print run of 500 copies of the final version preceded this copy.

1977 13-cent U.S. Postage stamp commemorating the Articles of Confederation bicentennial; the draft was completed on November 15, 1777

Signing of the Constitution, September 17, 1787 (1940 by Howard Chandler Christy)

The Act of the Maryland legislature to ratify the Articles of Confederation, February 2, 1781

James Madison, the author of the Virginia Plan

Dates the 13 states ratified the Constitution

Edmund Randolph, the Governor of Virginia, introduced the Virginia Plan

Closing endorsement section of the United States Constitution

James Wilson's ideas shaped the American presidency more than any other delegate

United States Bill of Rights
Currently housed in the National Archives.

Salmon P. Chase {{refn|group= lower-alpha|The Chase Court, 1864–1873, in 1865 were Salmon P. Chase (chief Justice); Hon. Nathan Clifford, Maine; Stephen J. Field, Justice Supreme Court, U.S.; Hon. Samuel F. Miller, U.S. Supreme Court; Hon. Noah H. Swayne, Justice Supreme Court, U.S.; Judge Morrison R. Waite}}

William Howard Taft {{refn|group= lower-alpha|The Taft Court, 1921–1930, in 1925 were James Clark McReynolds, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., William Howard Taft (chief justice), Willis Van Devanter, Louis Brandeis. Edward Sanford, George Sutherland, Pierce Butler, Harlan Fiske Stone}}

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy (1940)

Earl Warren {{refn|group= lower-alpha|The Warren Court, 1953–1969, in 1963 were Felix Frankfurter; Hugo Black; Earl Warren (chief justice); Stanley Reed; William O. Douglas. Tom Clark; Robert H. Jackson; Harold Burton; Sherman Minton}}

U.S. Postage, Issue of 1937, depicting Delegates at the signing of the Constitution, engraving after a painting by Junius Brutus Stearns

William Rehnquist {{refn|group= lower-alpha|The Rehnquist Court, 1986–2005.}}

Quaker John Dickinson argued forcefully against slavery during the convention. Once Delaware's largest slaveholder, he had freed all of his slaves by 1787.

Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York, was to create a new Frame of Government rather than fix the existing one.

- Constitutional Convention (United States)

It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution.

- Constitution of the United States

The result of the convention was the creation of the Constitution of the United States, placing the Convention among the most significant events in American history.

- Constitutional Convention (United States)

According to the United States Senate: "The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments."

- Constitution of the United States

This became the Constitutional Convention.

- Articles of Confederation

On March 4, 1789, the government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution.

- Articles of Confederation

11 related topics with Alpha

Alexander Hamilton

5 links

American revolutionary, statesman and Founding Father of the United States.

Coat of arms of the Hamiltons of Grange in Ayrshire, Scotland.

The Hamilton House, Charlestown, Nevis. The current structure was rebuilt from the ruins of the house where it was thought that Alexander Hamilton was born and lived as a young child.

Kings College c. 1756, adjacent to the New York Commons where City Hall Park is today

Alexander Hamilton in the Uniform of the New York Artillery, by Alonzo Chappel (1828–1887)

Aides-de-camp's office inside Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge. General Washington's staff officers worked in this room, writing and copying the letters and orders of the Continental Army.

The Storming of Redoubt #10, an 1840 painting by Eugene Lami

Detail of Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, showing Colonels Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens, and Walter Stewart

Miniature of Hamilton attributed to Charles Shirreff, c. 1790

A Turban Head eagle, one of the first gold coins minted under the Coinage Act of 1792

A painting of a Revenue Marine cutter, which may be of either the Massachusetts (1791), or its replacement, the Massachusetts II

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by Walter Robertson. Circa 1794

A statue of Hamilton by Franklin Simmons, overlooking the Great Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson, New Jersey, where Hamilton envisioned using the falls to power new factories

Aaron Burr, Hamilton and Philip Schuyler strolling on Wall Street, New York, 1790

Alexander Hamilton by William J. Weaver, ca. 1794-1806

A statue of Hamilton in the United States Capitol rotunda

Detail of 1802 portrait by Ezra Ames, painted after death of Hamilton's eldest son Philip

Hamilton's tomb in Trinity Church's first burial grounds at Wall Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan

Drawing (c. 1902) of the Burr–Hamilton duel, from a painting by J. Mund

This July 25, 1804 article reflected extreme lamentation over Hamilton's death, and described the plan for his funeral procession and other tributes, including a 30-day wearing of a commemorative black armband ("crape") by members of the Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania of which Hamilton had been President General.

Elizabeth Schuyler, portrait by Ralph Earl

Distinctive unit insignia of the United States Army 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment (i.e. Alexander Hamilton Battery). The crest at center is that of Clan Hamilton, with the addition of 13 gold acorns representing the original 13 states.

USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) seal. The two colors on the coat of arms represent the aspects of Alexander Hamilton's life: military and civilian. The white demarcation line is a virtual diagram of the trenches converging on the British redoubt #10 at Yorktown. Surmounting the crossed bayonets symbolizing Hamilton's taking of the redoubt is a Doric column which represents Hamilton's service as a statesman. The crest shows an ermine cinquefoil, which is the principal charge on the Hamilton family coat of arms and is worn by a unicorn, taken from the hand-carved powder horn Hamilton is believed to have owned. The motto, "Vigilant Sentinel," is derived from a quote in Federalist No. 12: "A few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrance of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the law."

A starboard view of the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine USS Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617) underway.

Alexander Hamilton on the Series 2004A U.S. $10 bill

The Hamilton Grange National Memorial in St. Nicholas Park

A statue of Hamilton outside Hamilton Hall, overlooking Hamilton Lawn at Columbia University in New York City

Image of the statue of Alexander Hamilton created by William Ordway Partridge, commissioned for the Hamilton Club of Brooklyn. The statue later stood in front of Hamilton Grange when the house was located at 287 Convent Ave.

A view of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge from the south

Lin-Manuel Miranda performs the title role in the 2015 musical Hamilton.

He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, and was the founder of the Federalist Party, the nation's financial system, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper.

Hamilton was a leader in seeking to replace the weak confederal government under the Articles of Confederation; he led the Annapolis Convention of 1786, which spurred Congress to call a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where he then served as a delegate from New York.

Portrait based on the unfinished Athenaeum Portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1796

George Washington

4 links

American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

Ferry Farm, the residence of the Washington family on the Rappahannock River

Lieutenant Colonel Washington holds night council at Fort Necessity

Washington the Soldier: Lieutenant Colonel Washington on horseback during the Battle of the Monongahela (oil, Reǵnier, 1834)

Colonel George Washington, by Charles Willson Peale, 1772

Martha Washington based on a 1757 portrait by John Wollaston

General Washington, Commander of the Continental Army by Charles Willson Peale (1776)

Washington taking command of the Continental Army, just before the siege.

Battle of Long Island
Alonzo Chappel (1858)

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (1851)

The Passage of the Delaware, by Thomas Sully, 1819 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776
by John Trumbull

Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge, by John Ward Dunsmore (1907)

Washington Rallying the Troops at Monmouth, Emanuel Leutze (1851–1854)

An engraving of Washington, likely made after his tenure in the army.

French King Louis XVI allied with Washington and Patriot American colonists

Siege of Yorktown, Generals Washington and Rochambeau give last orders before the attack

General George Washington Resigning His Commission, by John Trumbull, 1824

Shays' Rebellion confirmed for Washington the need to overhaul the Articles of Confederation.

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940. Washington is the presiding officer standing at right.

President George Washington, Gilbert Stuart (1795)

The President's House in Philadelphia was Washington's residence from 1790 to 1797

Seneca chief Red Jacket was Washington's peace emissary with the Northwestern Confederacy.

Battle of Fallen Timbers by R. F. Zogbaum, 1896. The Ohio Country was ceded to America in its aftermath.

USS Constitution: Commissioned and named by President Washington in 1794

Washington's Farewell Address (September 19, 1796)

Washington on his Deathbed
Junius Brutus Stearns 1799

Miniature of George Washington by Robert Field (1800)

The sarcophagi of George (right) and Martha Washington at the present tomb's entrance

The Washington Family by Edward Savage (c. 1789–1796) George and Martha Washington with her grandchildren. National Art Gallery

George Washington's bookplate with the Coat of arms of the Washington family

George Washington as Master of his Lodge, 1793

Washington as Farmer at Mount Vernon
Junius Brutus Stearns, 1851

Runaway advertisement for Oney Judge, enslaved servant in Washington's presidential household

In 1794, Washington privately expressed to Tobias Lear, his secretary, that he found slavery to be repugnant.

Washington, the Constable by Gilbert Stuart (1797)

A drawing from a Japanese manuscript of Washington fighting a tiger.

George Washington Presidential one-dollar coin

Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as the president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government.

On March 1, 1781, Congress ratified the Articles of Confederation, but the government that took effect on March2 did not have the power to levy taxes, and it loosely held the states together.

Annapolis Convention (1786)

4 links

National political convention held September 11–14, 1786 at Mann's Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland, in which twelve delegates from five U.S. states gathered to discuss and develop a consensus on reversing the protectionist trade barriers that each state had erected.

At the time, under the Articles of Confederation, each state was largely independent from the others, and the national government had no authority to regulate trade between and among the states.

The direct result of the Annapolis Convention's report and the ensuing events was the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, when the United States Constitution was drafted.

An artist's depiction of the rebellion: Shays' troops repulsed from the armory at Springfield, Massachusetts in early 1787

Shays' Rebellion

3 links

Armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades.

Populist Governor John Hancock refused to crack down on tax delinquencies and accepted devalued paper currency for debts.

Artist's depiction of protesters watching a debtor in a scuffle with a tax collector by the courthouse at Springfield, Massachusetts. The insurrection was a tax-related rebellion.

Governor James Bowdoin instituted a heavy tax burden and stepped up a collection of back taxes.

Militia general William Shepard defended the Springfield Armory against rebel action.

General Benjamin Lincoln, portrait by Henry Sargent

This monument marks the spot of the final battle of Shays' Rebellion in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

The 1787 Constitutional Convention by Junius Brutus Stearns, 1856

Elbridge Gerry (1861 portrait by James Bogle) opposed the Constitution as drafted, although his reasons for doing so were not strongly influenced by the rebellion.

The widely held view was that the Articles of Confederation needed to be reformed as the country's governing document, and the events of the rebellion served as a catalyst for the Constitutional Convention and the creation of the new government.

There is still debate among scholars concerning the rebellion's influence on the Constitution and its ratification.

John Adams

4 links

American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801.

Adams's birthplace now in Quincy, Massachusetts

Boston Massacre of 1770 by Alonzo Chappel

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence depicts the Committee of Five presenting its draft to Congress. Adams is depicted in the center with his hand on his hip.

The Assembly Room in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence

Adams frequently clashed with Benjamin Franklin over how to manage French relations.

Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West (Adams in front).

Portrait of Adams by John Trumbull, 1793

Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1795. Washington rarely consulted Vice President Adams, who often felt marginalized and overshadowed by Washington's prestige.

President's House, Philadelphia. Adams occupied this Philadelphia mansion from March 1797 to May 1800.

A political cartoon depicts the XYZ Affair – America is a female being plundered by Frenchmen. (1798)

Thomas Jefferson, Adams's vice president, attempted to undermine many of his actions as president and eventually defeated him for reelection.

Alexander Hamilton's desire for high military rank and his push for war with France put him into conflict with Adams.

John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and one of Adams's few dependable allies

John Adams, c. 1816, by Samuel Morse (Brooklyn Museum)

Tombs of John and Abigail Adams (far) and John Quincy and Louisa Adams (near), in family crypt at United First Parish Church

John Adams by Gilbert Stuart (1823). This portrait was the last made of Adams, done at the request of John Quincy.

Adams was the primary author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which influenced the United States constitution, as did his essay Thoughts on Government.

While in London, Adams learned of a convention being planned to amend the Articles of Confederation.

In 1868, this committee of representatives prosecuted President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial, but the Senate did not convict him.

United States Congress

2 links

Legislature of the federal government of the United States.

The 1940 painting Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, depicting George Washington presiding over the signing of the United States Constitution.

Historical graph of party control of the Senate, House, and Presidency. Since 1980, the Democrats have held the Presidency for four terms, but because of the Senate filibuster, have only been able to freely legislate in two years. The Republicans have been similarly disabled.

Congress's "power of the purse" authorizes taxing citizens, spending money, and printing currency.

Congress authorizes defense spending such as the purchase of the USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31).

Congress oversees other government branches, for example, the Senate Watergate Committee, investigating President Nixon and Watergate, in 1973–74.

View of the United States Capitol from the United States Supreme Court building

The impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999, Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding

Second committee room in Congress Hall in Philadelphia

Lobbying depends on cultivating personal relationships over many years. Photo: Lobbyist Tony Podesta (left) with former senator Kay Hagan (center) and her husband.

The House Financial Services committee meets. Committee members sit in the tiers of raised chairs, while those testifying, and audience members sit below.

In this example, the more even distribution is on the left and the gerrymandering is presented on the right.

The Federalist Papers argued in favor of a strong connection between citizens and their representatives.

The Congress was created by the Constitution of the United States and first met in 1789, replacing in its legislative function the Congress of the Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation in 1781 created the Congress of the Confederation, a unicameral body with equal representation among the states in which each state had a veto over most decisions.

Government powerlessness led to the Convention of 1787 which proposed a revised constitution with a two–chamber or bicameral Congress.

December 23, 1783: General George Washington Resigning His Commission by John Trumbull (1822–1824)

Congress of the Confederation

2 links

The governing body of the United States of America from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789.

It was preceded by the Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) and was created by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union in 1781.

The Congress of the Confederation was succeeded by the Congress of the United States as provided for in the new United States Constitution, proposed September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia and adopted by the United States in 1788.

The Philadelphia Convention, under the presidency of former General George Washington instead of a series of amendments, or altering the old charter, issued a proposed new Constitution for the United States to replace the 1776–1778 Articles.

Benjamin Franklin

2 links

American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first United States Postmaster General.

La scuola della economia e della morale sketch of Franklin, 1825

Benjamin Franklin (center) at work on a printing press. Reproduction of a Charles Mills painting by the Detroit Publishing Company.

William Franklin (1730-1813), son of Benjamin Franklin

Franklin's The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle (January 1741)

This Join, or Die by Franklin urged the colonies to join the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War). It later served as a symbol of colonial freedom during the American Revolution.

In 1751, Franklin co-founded Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, one of the first hospitals in the United States (depicted in this engaving by William Strickland, 1755)

First U. S. postage stamp, issue of 1847, honoring Benjamin Franklin.

Pass, signed by Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin, gave William Goddard the authority to travel as needed to investigate and inspect postal routes and protect the mail.

Pennsylvania colonial currency printed by Franklin and David Hall in 1764

Franklin in London, 1767, wearing a blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected at the French court in later years. Painting by David Martin, displayed in the White House.

John Trumbull depicts the Committee of Five presenting their work to the Congress.

Franklin, in his fur hat, charmed the French with what they perceived as rustic New World genius.

While in France, Franklin designed and commissioned Augustin Dupré to engrave the medallion Libertas Americana, minted in Paris in 1783.

Franklin's return to Philadelphia, 1785, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Gouverneur Morris signs the Constitution before Washington. Franklin is behind Morris. Painting by Hintermeister, 1925.

Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky c. 1816 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, by Benjamin West

Franklin and Electricity vignette engraved by the BEP (c. 1860)

An illustration from Franklin's paper on "Water-spouts and Whirlwinds"

A bust of Franklin by Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1778

Voltaire blessing Franklin's grandson, in the name of God and Liberty, by Pedro Américo, 1889–90

Dr Richard Price, the radical minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church, holding a letter from Franklin

Franklin bust in the Archives Department of Columbia University in New York City

Franklin on the Series 2009 hundred dollar bill

Marble memorial statue, Benjamin Franklin National Memorial

Life-size bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin (seated with cane) in the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia

While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

In that capacity, he served as host to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia.

New York (state)

2 links

State in the Northeastern United States.

New York was dominated by Iroquoian (purple) and Algonquian (pink) tribes.

New Amsterdam, present-day Lower Manhattan, 1660

New York and neighboring provinces, by Claude Joseph Sauthier, 1777

British general John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga in 1777

1800 map of New York from Low's Encyclopaedia

The Erie Canal at Lockport, New York, in 1839

Flight 175 hitting the South Tower on September11, 2001

Flooding on AvenueC in Lower Manhattan caused by Hurricane Sandy

New York is bordered by six U.S. states, two Great Lakes, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Enveloped by the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound, New York City and Long Island alone are home to about eleven million residents conjointly.

Lake-effect snow is a major contributor to heavy snowfall totals in western New York, including the Tug Hill region.

Two major state parks (in green) are the Adirondack Park (north) and the Catskill Park (south).

The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor is a symbol of the United States and its ideals.

The African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan

New York population distribution map. New York's population is primarily concentrated in the Greater New York area, including New York City and Long Island.

The Stonewall Inn in the gay village of Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, site of the June 1969 Stonewall riots, the cradle of the modern LGBT rights movement

The main laboratory building of the IBM Watson Research Center is located in Yorktown Heights, New York.

Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, hub of the Broadway theater district, a media center, and one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections

CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, the largest container ship to enter the Port of New York and New Jersey as of September7, 2017

Harris Hall of the City College of New York, a public college of the City University of New York

South campus of the University at Buffalo, the flagship of the State University of New York

The New York City Subway is one of the world's busiest, serving more than five million passengers per average weekday.

John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States

Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, New York's U.S. Senators

Kathy Hochul (D), the 57th Governor of New York

New York became the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.

New York City was the national capital under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first national government.

Hamilton led the Annapolis Convention (1786) that called for the Philadelphia Convention, which drafted the United States Constitution, in which he also took part.

Gouverneur Morris

0 links

Wooden leg of Gouverneur Morris. New-York Historical Society.

Gouverneur Morris and Robert Morris. Charles Willson Peale, 1783.

Morris wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution.

Gouverneur Morris signs the Constitution. Painting by John Henry Hintermeister, 1925.

Gouverneur Morris portrait bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1789, Paris.

Gouverneur Morris (January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.

He represented Pennsylvania at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in which he advocated a strong central government.