Key Contributors to the Creation of the Constitution
James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Known as "The Father of the Constitution," was the man who wrote the document itself.
- Madison believed that a federal government was needed to keep order between the states.
- He first suggested to the delegates at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention that a three branch government would function well in the case of the United States.
- The three branch government system would later be proposed to the delegation upon the suggestion of James Madison by his close friend, Edmund Randolph, in the Virginia Plan.
Edmund Randolph
Edmund Randolph
Edmund Randolph, with the help of James Madison, proposed the Virginia Plan, effectively forming the Government of the United States.
- The Virginia plan most notably proposed a three branch system of government.
- Edmund Randolph's plan, combined with several others, created the basis of the national government.
George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the presiding president of the Constitutional Convention and would later be elected the first president of the United States.
- During the Convention, Washington was in charge of delegating and administrating the convention.
- Upon the ratification of the Constitution, Washington was elected president and promptly began to organize the Executive Branch.
- Washington Created the Presidential Cabinet, a body meant to administrate the nation. Washington's organization of the Executive Branch allowed the Constitution to function properly. Without the cabinet system, The executive would have no way of upholding the Constitution on a practical basis.
Roger Sherman
Roger Sherman
Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, was one of the most influential delegates at the Constitutional Convention.
- Sherman was one of only four people to sign all of the four documents that created this nation, The Continental Association, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and The Constitution.
- Sherman proposed the Connecticut Compromise, the compromise that established the Bicameral legislature seen in the current congress.
- Sherman also influenced a multitude of other decisions made in the convention that were ultimately added to the Constitution.
