HISTORICAL DATA-1787:








  •  JANUARY

  •  FEBRUARY

  •  MARCH

  •  APRIL

  •  MAY:    On May 25 of this year, with 29 delegates from nine  states of the United States of America having arrived in Philadelphia, the Constitutional Convention begins its proceedings and unanimously elects George Washington of Virginia as its president.  (Source:   The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition-John A. Garraty, page 189).  

  • [G. Dempsey Note:  Go here:  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjclink.html  for official account of the Convention]. 

  •  MAY:    On May 30 of this year the delegates to the Continental convention which is meeting in  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania vote to accept a resolution which says that "a national Government ought to be established" for this country, and they then set about formulating  a specific plan.  (Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition-John A. Garraty, page 190). 

  •  MAY:    On May 30 of this year the delegates to the Continental Convention which is meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are struggling over a question which is proving difficult to resolve in a way that all will accept. The question is: Who will control the proposed new national government? Various interests are pressing their claims vigorously. Led by Virginia, the larger states are pushing for representation in the national legislature to be based upon each state's population, but the smaller states want to keep the existing system of equal representation for all.  At about this time the Convention delegates split into two groups over this question. The large states rally behind the Viginia Plan drafted by James Madison and presented to the Convention  by Edmund Randolph, governor of Virginia. The small states support the New Jersey Plan as proposed by William Patterson, a former Attorney General of that state. The question is important; equal state representation is felt to be undemocratic, while a proportional rpresentation system is thought to be capable of destroying the influence of all of the states as states.  (Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition-John A. Garraty, page 190).

  •     On this day also (May 30, 1787) the delegatges meeting in Philadelphia approve-with little opposition-a measure which will deprive the individual states of the old Confederacy (which they represent) of their right to issue their own currency, make treaties, and to levy taxes upon either imports or exports without the permission of the new federal Congress. This brings about a massive shift of power to the federal government, as made possible by the new nationalistic feelings in the country.(Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 190). 

  • MAY (NO SPECIFIC DATE):    At this time the average age of the delegates to the American Constitutional Convention which is meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  is less than 43 years of age; however, according to John A. Garraty, they "manage to escape the weaknesses so often associated with youth". They are, he claims, "mature beyond their years...inspired by the uniqueness of [their] opportunities."  (Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 189). 

  • MAY (NO SPECIFIC DATE):    At this time also, at the assembly of delegates from all the states of the United States of America (except Rhode Island) which is meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the concept of republican government, drawing its authority from the people and eventually being responsible to them, is a universal assumption as to the form of government to be adopted by this new nation.  (Source: The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 189).      

  •  MAY (NO SPECIFIC DATE):    At about this time there are several big questions facing the delegates to the Constitutional Convention which is meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One is: What powers should the national government be granted? Several of the proposed powers  cause relatively little discussion. The right to levy taxes and to regulate interstate commerce and foreign commerce is assigned to the central government almost without debate. A similar reception is afforded the proposal to grant the central government the power to raise and to maintain an army and a navy and to summon the militia of the states to enforce national laws and to put down insurrections.  (Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 190).           

  •  JUNE

  •  JULY:    At about this time delegates are assembling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to draw up a Constitution for the 13 former British colonies in North America. At the Convention, George Washington, the presiding officer, urges the delegates not to produce a document of which they themselves could not approve, simply in order to "please the people".  (Source:  The American Political Tradition-Richard Hofstadter, pg. 4).  

  •  AUGUST 

  •  SEPTEMBER:    On September 17 of this year the final draft of the United States Constitution which is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this day  by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in that city requires the consent of the upper house, or Senate, of the federal legislature before any national treaty can go into effect, and for major Presidential appointments. The Senate also serves an essential legislative function, for the Founding Fathers intended it to represent in Congress not only the interests of the separate states but also the interests of what Alexander Hamilton called "the rich and the well-born" as contrasted to "the great mass of the people".  (Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 191). 

  • SEPTEMBER:    In the final document of the proposed new federal Constitution signed by the Constitutional Convention delegates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 17 of this year, the lower, popularly elected branch of the Congress is supposed to represent especially the mass of ordinary citizens. It is given the sole right to introduce bills for raising revenue. The 26-man Senate is looked upon by many as a sort of advisory council similar to the upper house of the colonial legislatures.  (Source:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 191).                  

  •  SEPTEMBER:    On September 24 of this year in Pennsylvania John Penn, Jr. and his father, John Penn Sr. sign a deed which transfers ownership of the land on Sixth Avenue in what will become the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to John Gibson, John Ormsby, Devereux Smith and Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, who were Trustees of the Congregation of the Episcopal Church, which was then called the Church of England. The execution of this deed, and the fact that these men were Trustees for the Episcopal Church in the town, implies that there was, in fact, an existing Episcopal community there in 1787.  (SOURCE: Article, "Rev. John Taylor and His Commonplace Book." by Charles W. Dahlinger  in The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine,  Volume 1, Number 1, January, 1918-reproduced at:  http://archive.org/stream/westernpennsylva01histuoft/westernpennsylva01histuoft_djvu.txt   accessed 6/28/2014-GD).

  •  OCTOBER:    On or about October 5 of this year in North Carolina, United States of Amerrica, an Antifederalist (opponent of the new United States Constitution) declares that the routine clause (Article I, Section 4) giving Congress the power to regulate "the times, places, and manner of holding elections" threatens to "destroy representation entirely."  (SOURCE:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 193).

  •  NOVEMBER:   

  •  DECEMBER:    On December 7 of this year in North America, the State of Delaware in the new United States of America becomes the first state to ratify the proposed new constitution for the country.  (SOURCE:   The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 194). 

  •    On or about December 12 of this year Pennsylvania becomes the second State of the new United States of America to approve the proposed Counstitution for the country. It is ratified by a 2-1 majority.  (SOURCE:  The American Nation...to 1877-Volume I, Second Edition, John A. Garraty, pg. 194).

  •  (NO SPECIFIC DATE): 

  • (FULL YEAR):    

                                                                                                                                                                                EXIT: WELCOME SCREEN