Convention constitutionnelle de 1787 (document en anglais)

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called to revise the ailing Articles of Confederation.

However, it was decided that the best solution to the young country's problems was to set aside the

Articles of Confederation and draft a new constitution. Delegates from all of the states except

Rhode Island convened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Washington was chosen president of

the convention.

The men had a big task ahead of them. A huge problem was to decide how the legislature would be

structured. Some wanted representation to be based on population (Virginia Plan). Others wanted

equal representation (New Jersey Plan). Roger Sherman from Connecticut proposed a legislature

with two parts. States would have equal representation in the Senate. The population of states would

determine representation in the House. Three months later and after a lot of debate this "Great

Compromise" was agreed upon. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was

finally accepted by the delegates.

Nine states had to approve the Constitution before it could go into effect. The Founding Fathers now

had to get all the states to agree that this was a good document and that they should vote in favor of

it. This was the first great political question that faced Americans. People in favor of the

Constitution were called Federalists while those opposed were called Anti-Federalists. James

Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote a series of articles in favor of the Constitution

that became known as The Federalist Papers. Some of these articles explained about the system of

"checks and balances" in the Constitution wherein no one branch of government would have more

power than the other two.

On December 3, 1787, Delaware was the first state to ratify it. New Hampshire became the ninth

state to accept the Constitution on June 21, 1788, ending government under the Articles of

Confederation. It was not until May 29, 1790 that the last state, Rhode Island, finally accepted the

Constitution.

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