Essay --

Brielle Weyandt English 10 Honors Harding 18 December 2013 Miracle at Philadelphia Many factors affect the strength of a nation’s government, but one in particular created the foundation for a country hundreds of years afterwards. The Constitutional Convention occurred in Philadelphia during the hot, humid summer of 1787, at a Philadelphian state house. Delegates from twelve of thirteen states all convened to create the Constitution that would become the supreme law of the nation, and would let power fall in the hands of the people. The author of Miracle at Philadelphia, Catherine Drinker Bowen, narrates the trials and contributions of delegates from the developing states that eventually built a bustling nation of liberty and freedom. Those four months spent in one room calmly debating how to improve the government is arguably the most important moment in American history. After claiming independence from Great Britain, America had a tremulous start with thirteen states governing themselves using the Articles of Confederation and therefore not united under one whole government that set and regulated tax and commerce. With the states usually arguing and not providing financial support to the government, Shay’s Rebellion had begun in Massachusetts, urged by farmers, in protest of the tax collections and economic chaos. Without the political unrest caused by that one event, the future of America would have turned out differently; it would likely have been that the states would have plunged into massive debt and lost the freedoms achieved after the American Revolution. Afterwards, people had urged the creation of an effective government to support them, thus creating the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, fifty-five delega... ..., fought over the threatening of liberties and failure to protect an individual’s unalienable rights. Before the Anti-Federalists were appeased twelve states had ratified the Constitution, which allowed for the new government to take effect. The government went officially into effect March 4, 1789 with its first Congressional meeting and election and inauguration of George Washington as the President. However, states still wanted a list of rights written into the Constitution. The resulting ten of the proposed amendments gained ratification and inclusion into the Constitution, later to be enacted and provided to citizens of the United States. For many, the Constitution is the document meant too symbolize the freedom and liberty associated with America; over the course of a few years the most important aspects of a nation were created that still affect generations.