The Constitutional Convention was established in 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation with a national constitution for all states.
Before the Constitutional Convention began, a rules committee decided how the process would work.
No matter how many delegates a state sent, each state was given only one vote. If a state sent more than one delegate, all delegates had to come to an agreement about their state's one vote.
Any delegate could voice an opinion. All proceedings would be kept secret until the Constitutional Convention presented a finished Constitution.
The Constitutional Convention of May 1787 was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where delegates from 12 of the 13 states were present. The state of Rhode Island refused to send a delegate because it was afraid of losing its states' rights.
Due to the difficulty of travel in the late 1700s, very few of the selected delegates were present on the designated day, and it was not until May 25 that a quorum of seven states was secured.
The delegates worked for 4 months behind closed doors of the State House to draft a new document known later as the "Constitution."
For further info, see links below:
www.congressforkids.net - Delegates to the Constitutional Convention
www.boundless.com - The Constitutional Convention
www.newworldencyclopedia.org - Philadelphia Convention
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