Philadelphia hosted the 1787 Constitutional Convention remembered during America250.
Delegates met at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, from May 25 to September 17, 1787. The convention was initially called to revise the Articles of Confederation, but delegates instead drafted an entirely new framework of government.
George Washington presided over the meetings, while James Madison played a major role in developing and recording the Virginia Plan. Delegates debated representation, executive power, taxation, commerce, and the relationship between state and national authority.
The Constitution was signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. It did not immediately create an operating government; ratification by the states followed, and the new federal government began in 1789. Philadelphia had also hosted the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted.