Who REALLY Got Us the Constitution in 1787-8. - by Jim Surkamp (CC)

They were John Rutledge (SC), Roger Sherman (CT), Abraham Baldwin (GA), Manasseh Cutler (private citizen), Gouverneur Morris (PA) and Maj. Gen. Adam Stephen at the 1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention. (A presentation given September 24, 2025. Shepherd University, Lifelong Learning).

From the Floor of the Constitutional Convention September, 1787

bankruptcy, anarchy, stupid selfishness everywhere

What they undertook to do
They brought to pass
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass

Did the Convention start on time? NO

Was what it was about what most delegates thought it would be about? NO.

Could the first man selected to be the Convention's secretary do it? No He had no experience.

Was there always a divine light shining through the windows guiding every thought and word and deed as some sentimental historians have implied? NO The windows in the second floor meeting room were blacked out to avoid snooping.

When Alexander Hamilton rose and outlined for six hours what must be done, the delegates shrugged.
He said "Gold and silver are the darlings of enterprise and avarice. It's the avarice part that frightened the agrarian delegates

The one who got the ball rolling - James Madison - couldn't sell his biggest idea.
When the Committee of Detail was chosen to draft the Constitution, Madison was not chosen

When a quiet delegate changed a vote from yes to abstain, did it matter? It saved the Convention and the fledgling country from fracture.

Did a bill passed by Congress to abolish slavery in five Northern states - affect the Constitutional debate? As a Midwesterner from one of those states would say: "You bet!"

Did George Mason point at President George Washington and refer to "Grand Signor upon his divan.?
Yes, but his biographer left it out. George Washington, after it, called Mason my "quondam" or "one time" friend.

Did Governeur Morris slap on the back of and give a jolly greeting to George Washington? Unfortunately for Gouverneur Morris

Was Yoda of Star Wars fame present at the Convention? - As Ben Franklin who was twice the age of the average delegate with his many many lifetimes more than these whipper snaps.

Was James Madison in a weak state of exhaustion towards the end of things? Yes

Did the Northern states oppose having every enslaved person be counted as only three fifths a man? - No. Nine of the eleven state delegations voted Aye.

Was there debate over the concept of what would become the Fugitive Slave Act? Almost none. It's complicated.

Influential delegate Roger Sherman of Connecticut reflected: "It is the best work of man this side of the grave, given the time and circumstances."

Are the times and circumstances of today a severe challenge to the Constitution? We all feel it in our bones. Let's talk.