After the American War for Independence, the colonies were a loose confederation, acting more like independent countries than a united nation. They were governed by the Congress of the Confederation, a weak legislature that controlled foreign policy, war, and currency, but which still allowed for individual colonies’ sovereignty in an effort to avoid the tyranny of a dominant few.

But the instability of the Union’s early years made it clear to the Congress that a more centralized government based on a revised constitution was necessary. Thus, the states sent delegates to a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 25 through September 17, 1787.

Throughout the summer, the Convention did not just revise the Articles but created a completely new form of government with three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. Checks and balances were codified so that no branch would have more power than another. The important question of states’ representation was solved by creating a bicameral Congress, with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate.

On September 17, 1787, the state delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. Following this, the Congress of the Confederation distributed the Constitution to all the states for each to ratify by popular vote.

One issue that was rejected by the Convention but which became a sticking point during the ratification process was the need for a bill of rights, outlining restrictions on the government as it concerned people’s rights. James Madison, a member of the House of Representatives, wrote 19 constitutional amendments in 1789, 12 of which were ratified by the states on September 25 of that year. The first ten were called the Bill of Rights and became part of the Constitution in 1791, outlining the rights of the people to protect them from the state (“Congress shall make no law…”).

Benjamin Franklin, the oldest signer of the Constitution at 81, and a Pennsylvania delegate, spoke to the Convention after the Constitution was signed, saying,

“…I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us… I doubt too whether any other convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an Assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies… Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best.”