Who was at the Constitutional Convention?
There were 55 delegates, including George Washington (whom the delegates unanimously elected to chair the convention), Ben Franklin (the ‘sage’ of the convention, and, at 81, it’s oldest member), Alexander Hamilton (later in the convention he was stripped of his vote when the other New York delegates left), and James Madison of Virginia (whose scrupulous notes would tell us of the proceedings of the Convention). Rhode Island did not send a delegate. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were not there because they were serving the country abroad, but they sent letters encouraging the delegates. Patrick Henry did not attend because he “smelt a rat” that the convention, which was purportedly only to revise the Articles of Confederation, would instead write an entirely new document creating a strong federal government “tending toward the monarchy.” 39 delegates actually signed the Constitution.
