Historic Scenes
Making a Nation: The Philadelphia Convention
The violence and unrest in Massachusetts loomed large in the minds of the delegates crafting a new United States constitution at Philadelphia in the spring and summer of 1787. Could they create a free government of the people powerful enough to keep the United States from collapsing into anarchy?
Observers
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Thomas Jefferson to James Madison
December 20, 1787
"I own I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive. The late rebellion in Massachusets has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in 13 states in the course of 11 years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one. Nor will any degree of power in the hands of government prevent insurrections." Click for more info -
Richard Price
January 26, 1787
"It is a pity that some general controuling power cannot be established, of sufficient vigour to decide disputes, to regulate commerce, to prevent wars, and to constitute an union that shall have weight and credit." -
an anonymous Pennsylvania correspondent, Hampshire Gazette
January 17, 1787
"A convention…will undoubtedly be able to remove the defects of the confederation, produce a vigorous and energetic continental government, which will crush and destroy faction, subdue insurrections, revive public and private credit, disappoint our transatlantic enemies and their lurking Emissaries among us, and finally (to use an Indian Phrase) endure 'while the sun shines, and the rivers flow.'" -
Samuel Adams to Richard Henry Lee
December 3, 1787
"I confess, as I enter the Building I stumble at the Threshold. I meet with a National Government, instead of a Federal Union of Sovereign States. I am not able to conceive why the Wisdom of the Convention led them to give the Preference to the former before the latter. If the several States in the Union are to become one entire Nation, under one Legislature, the Powers of which shall extend to every Subject of Legislation, and its Laws be supreme & controul the whole, the Idea of Sovereignty in these States must be lost." Click for more info
Themes
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Getting By & Getting Ahead
More lenient state fiscal policies following the collapse of the Regulator movement eased the financial burdens of Massachusetts citizens.
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We the People
Massachusetts citizens flocked to the polls to reject the hard-line policies of Governor James Bowdoin and his supporters.
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The Wider World
Events in Massachusetts over the preceding fall and winter had heightened interest in the work of the Philadelphia Convention, both at home and abroad.
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Everyday Life
In the aftermath of the Regulation, Massachusetts communities turned their attention to re-forming and repairing community ties.
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Related To This Scene
Articles of ConfederationHistoric illustration © 2008 Bryant White.