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The Achievement of the Philadelphia Convention
Senate, and those of the large States by establishing representation in
the House of Representatives on population.
8. The delegates wanted a strong Chief Executive who was independent and not chosen by or subservient to the legislature. They also desired a judiciary independent of the executive, but subject to some control by the legislature.
9. The delegates also reached an agreement on questions pertaining
to slavery. They agreed to allow Congress to prohibit the importation of
slaves after 1808. They also allowed the States to include three-fifths of
their slave population for purposes of establishing representation in the
House of Representatives. This came to be known as the ‘‘Three-Fifths
Compromise.’’ Under the fugitive slave clause, the new Constitution
also provided that slaves who might escape from one State into another
must be returned to their owners.
I
n the heart of Philadelphia stands a handsome two-story
brick building with central tower, belfry, spire, and conspicuous exterior
clocks. It was erected before 1735 as the State House of Pennsylvania. Today it is called Independence Hall.
Here, in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. Here again,
on May 25, 1787, twenty-nine gentlemen assembled to prepare a constitution for a nation. Some days later they were joined by twenty-six more delegates. Fifty-five delegates attended the Constitutional Convention in the
summer of 1787, but for voting purposes the number of States represented during the Convention’s four months of debate never rose above
eleven at any one time. None ever arrived from Rhode Island.
Great empires have crashed since that day in May, but the Constitution
framed in Independence Hall endures. Related here is the story of what
happened at that Pennsylvania State House during the summer of 1787.
The Problems of the Convention
As noted earlier, the Articles of Confederation contained a number of
flaws. How might the Articles be revised to remedy such defects? As
matters soon turned out, the Convention delegates found it desirable to