Philadelphia hosted the 1787 Constitutional Convention included in America250’s founding-era history. Delegates met in the Pennsylvania State House, the building now known as Independence Hall.
The convention originally assembled to address weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. Instead, delegates drafted an entirely new governing framework: the United States Constitution.
George Washington presided over the convention. Other notable delegates included James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris. Rhode Island did not send delegates.
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 39 delegates. It then went to the states for ratification. Philadelphia had already been central to the independence movement because the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration there in 1776.