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America’s First Constitutions and Declarations of Rights
Madison, George Mason, John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, Gouverneur Morris, and others—
would later meet together in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution of the
United States. In these respects, the writing of these constitutions was a
dress rehearsal for the Federal Convention of 1787 and a valuable experience in the art of constitution-making.
To a large extent, the main pillars of the new governments were adaptations of the old colonial forms. Yet the task of writing the State constitutions was formidable. The participants were novices at drafting a
body of fundamental laws, and most were unfamiliar with the mechanics
of constitutional government. Added to this, the nation was at war, and
many of the best minds were absorbed in the affairs of the Continental
Congress and the war effort. Many of the Stat