Lesson 9: How Was the Philadelphia Convention Organized?

Primary Sources


Credentials of the Members of the Federal Convention : State of New Hampshire; June 27, 1787

The act appointing New Hampshire's delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/cred01.asp


Credentials of the Members of the Federal Convention. Commonwealth of Massachusetts; April 9, 1787

An act for appointing Massachusetts delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/cred02.asp


Credentials of the State of Connecticut 1787

An act for appointing Connecticut's delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/credct.asp


James Madison's Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787

Madison's day-by-day journals on the proceedings at the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/debcont.asp


Notes of Ancient and Modern Confederacies

One of the documents James Madison wrote in preparation for the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://bit.ly/gg3Vw


The Text of Pinckney

The Text of Pinckney's Plan

Link: http://www.usconstitution.net/plan_pinck.html


The Virginia Plan (1787)

The Virginia Plan was presented by Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph to the Philadelphia Convention on May 29, 1787. It provided for a national government composed of three branches. It proposed a Congress of two houses, both of which would be based on proportional representation. The Virginia Plan favored a strong national government.at the Philadelphia Convention that provided for a national government composed of three branches. It proposed a Congress of two houses, both of which would be based on proportional representation. The Virginia Plan favored a strong national government.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/vatexta.asp


United States Constitution

The supreme law of the United States that provides the framework for the government. The Constitution outlines the nation's institutions of government and the most important rights of the people. The document was created in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The government created by the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789.

Link: http://civiced.org/constitution


Vices of the Political System of the United States—James Madison, 1787

Madison's working paper outlining an agenda for the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/yln7zkk