Who wrote the final wording of the United States Constitution in 1787?

Gouverneur Morris wrote the final wording of the United States Constitution in 1787. As a member of the Convention’s Committee of Style and Arrangement, he turned the delegates’ resolutions into the polished text sent to the states for ratification.

Morris did not invent every idea in the Constitution. Delegates debated and approved the substance clause by clause during the Constitutional Convention. His assignment was to organize and refine that material into a coherent final document.

He is especially associated with the Constitution’s Preamble, including its opening words, “We the People.” Morris’s drafting helped give the document a unified voice and a concise, formal style that distinguished it from the convention’s earlier working drafts.

James Madison is often linked to the Constitution because of his extensive notes and influential proposals, but he was not the final stylist. Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton also played major roles at the convention without being responsible for the completed wording.