The 1787 Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia, linking the U.S. founding story to America250.
Delegates gathered from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in the Pennsylvania State House, the building now called Independence Hall. The convention was originally authorized to revise the Articles of Confederation, but the delegates instead drafted an entirely new framework of government.
George Washington presided over the meetings. Delegates debated representation, executive power, federal authority, taxation, and slavery. The resulting Constitution created the federal structure still used by the United States, subject to later amendments.
Philadelphia’s importance in the founding era can cause the Declaration and Constitution to blur together in popular memory. They were adopted eleven years apart and served different purposes: the Declaration announced independence, while the Constitution organized the new national government.