Research

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 * June 15, 1787 || [|New Jersey Plan] presented to Convention by [|William Paterson][|[3] ||

There were 42 out of 55 delegates at the Philadelphia convention, and they spent many weeks arguing over what the new plan of government should be like. They made rules like It is the shortest and oldest constitution in the the world. Other constitutions were based on ours. The first states to ratify was Delaware, Pennsylavania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Viriginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Virginia and New York were the big problems in ratifying the Constitution; they weren't sure they wanted the Constitution and they were really big states, so the Congress couldn't afford to lose them. To ratify the Constitution, 9 of the 13 states needed to ratify. ever since 1789 when it was completely finished it has been amended 27 times until now. In 1789 James Madison proposed 12 amendments and congress approved them and 11 states had ratified them by 1791. In September 17, 1787 38 out of 41 delegates were present at the time and they signed and agreed upon on that day. They had a really big arguement over it all and finally they reached the needed nine out of thirteen states ratified it. The Constitution was written by a number of men including Thomas Paine, John Adams, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. The Constitution of 1787 is basically the same constitution of today, except the Bill of Rights, which were added in 1789. The Constitution was called the Constitution of 1787 until it was ratified in 1789 when New Hampshire, the 9th state, ratified it. The Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution in 1791. They were 10 amendments that granted freedoms. We got rid of the Articles of Confederation because they didn't propose a strong enough government. We couldn't do any foreign affairs, or earn any money because we couldn't propose taxes. So eventually we had to to make a new government otherwise other countries would take advantage of us and the United States would be no more. In the late 1700's there was not very good transportion making it hard for the delgates to get their on the designated date to be there. The Constitution has become the whole foundation of the government in America.
 * May 29, 1787 || [|Virginia Plan] presented to Convention by [|Edmund Randolph][|[1]] ||
 * **Created** || September 17, 1787 ||
 * **[|Ratified]** || June 21, 1788 ||

The original U.S. constitution is currently on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.