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History–Tours
178725 May – 17 September 1787 · Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Constitutional Convention

The Assembly Room of Independence Hall, with wooden chairs and green baize-covered tables
Photo: National Park Service. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Fifty-five delegates met behind closed doors in the Pennsylvania State House to repair the weak Articles of Confederation and instead wrote a new frame of government, with George Washington presiding and James Madison as its leading drafter. The Constitution they signed created a federal republic with separated powers. Ratified in 1788, it is the oldest written national constitution still in force and a model for many others.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Assembly Room, Independence HallThe room where delegates debated, with Washington's 'rising sun' chair.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: National Constitution CenterMuseum of the Constitution with life-size bronzes of the delegates in Signers' Hall.Map ↗

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