What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention in 1787?
The Philadelphia Convention (now also known as the Constitutional Convention, the Federal Convention, or the “Grand Convention at Philadelphia”) took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, to address problems in the United States of America following independence from Great Britain. Although it was purportedly intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention of many of the Convention’s proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were from the outset to create a new government rather than “fix” the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the convention. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. The Convention is one of the central events in the history of the United States.
