Philadelphia hosted the 1787 Constitutional Convention that shaped the United States commemorated by America250.
Delegates met in the Pennsylvania State House, the building later known as Independence Hall. The convention ran from May 25 to September 17, 1787, and was originally intended to improve the Articles of Confederation. Instead, the delegates developed an entirely new framework of government: the United States Constitution.
George Washington presided over the convention. Delegates debated representation, executive power, federal authority, and the relationship between the states and the national government. The Connecticut Compromise helped settle the dispute over legislative representation by creating a Senate with equal state representation and a House based on population.
Philadelphia had already hosted the Continental Congress and the Declaration debates in 1776. That concentration of founding events explains why the city is closely associated with America’s revolutionary and constitutional history. The Constitution was signed there on September 17, 1787.