Professor Allen C. Guelzo

The Grand Committee proposed to include slaves in the General Government, but this proposal was questioned by many. […]

Elbridge Gerry defended the Grand Committee’s report, and he was supported by George Mason. While there were objections to the report, nothing much came off it and eventually the Convention settled. […]

In 1787, each state delegation in the Assembly Room was to contribute one member to the Grand Committee, and it all leaned in the opposite direction from James Madison and James Wilson. […]

William Paterson was deeply concerned about the status of the smaller states. He did not want their congressional position to be weakened using the logic of numbers and cutting their vote. […]

Edmund Randolph disapproved strongly the way the states behaved as independent powers. He sought to strengthen the Confederation and make it effectual as the center of power. […]

At the Constitutional Convention, the battle lines were drawn with each state still vying for equal power and the task of turning the confederation into a strong seat of power seemed herculean. […]

William Pierce’s character sketches of the Constitutional Convention delegates offer a vignette into their personality, noting their quirks and whimsical nature. […]

James Madison was actively involved in the political world of America. He proposed a meeting of the commissioners to consider the necessity of having a uniform system in the commercial regulations. Later he was elected in a county election and gradually was appointed as a member of Virginia’s delegation to the Continental Congress. […]

George Washington was deeply involved in plans for the Potowmack Navigation Company, which aimed to develop the Potomac River the chief commercial highway of America. He was eventually able to break the deadlock between two states on the boundary of the river and make headway. […]