Finally, The United States of America
By Peter Cameron
November 2026
Last month we learned how the Constitution finally created the United States of America. What we didn’t discuss were the trials and tribulations that it took to produce that founding document. Understanding the process, the negotiations, the give and take between opposing sides, is the only way we can gain an appreciation for what our Constitution represents.
The impetus for the Second Constitutional Convention came from James Madison and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The convention started in controversy with only 55 of the 74 delegates attending, the others boycotting the event. Madison, the main proponent of the strong, organized national government, dubbed the Virginia Plan, faced strong opposition from many of the smaller states fearing they would lose equal representation.
At the Constitutional Convention, dozens of different solutions were proposed and discarded, unacceptable to one side or the other. Near the end of June 1787, the delegates returned to the original plan proposed by Virginia. For the legislature, big states wanted representation by population, the small states one vote per state. On June 20, the convention, overriding the small states, voted that the House of Representatives be based on population.
That raised another issue. How to count slaves within that population. In perhaps the most controversial compromise of the convention, they determined slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a man.
The small states, threatening to walk out, put forth a final proposal demanding the Senate be one vote per state. The big states compromised, agreeing that each state would have 2 senators.
Just before a final vote, three delegates proposed that a Bill of Rights be attached. This would codify the freedoms demanded in the Declaration of Independence to all Americans. The delegates, tired and ready to go home, voted the proposal down.
A final vote was taken and the entire convention, except for the same three delegates that demanded the Bill of Rights, voted yes. But the battle was only half over. Two thirds of the states had to ratify the document.
There were two camps. The Federalists wanted the Constitution and a strong national government. The Anti-Federalists, mostly from the small states, opposed it, using the loss of representation and the refusal to add the Bill of Rights as a powerful argument against the document. A bitter mudslinging campaign was waged in the press between the two sides. The Federalists countered with examples of how the Constitution would correct the inadequacy of the Articles of Confederation and the promise to add a Bill of Rights after ratification. The arguments became heated.
Nine states were needed to ratify the Constitution. It was by no means a sure thing. States met to consider the proposed Constitution. By January 9, 1788, Delaware, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania had ratified it. That was five of the nine states needed. Rhode Island overwhelmingly defeated it. The outcome, in swing states like Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, who demanded a Bill of Rights, was far from certain.
Massachusetts finally voted yes, as did Maryland. New Hampshire at first refused to vote at all, only to finally vote yes on July 2, 1788. Finally, in late July, South Carolina voted yes. The ninth state. We now had a constitution and a new form of government.
New York and Virginia eventually voted yes, once being promised that a Bill of Rights would be added. In early 1789, James Madison, now a member of the House of Representatives, introduced 17 amendments, eventually trimmed to twelve, that would become the Bill of Rights. This was ratified December 15, 1791.
A revolution, the inadequate Articles of Confederation, a grueling Constitutional Convention, a bitter ratification vote, and finally the added Bill of Rights, gave this country its first breath as it was born into the world. Without those struggles our country might look entirely different. Our Constitution, the backbone of our country, has guided our freedoms. Frequently tested, yet resolute, this document protects our Republic.
Peter Cameron is an Otis, MA resident and a retired policeman. He is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University with a B.S. in History with a concentration in U.S. Colonial History.