The States Answer the Call to Meet in Philadelphia For the Constitutional Convention

The letter is to Governor Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania, whose state would host the historic convention and its delegates

 

It was the votes of New Hampshire that officially ratified the Constitution.

 

“Sir, I have the honor inclosing the resolve of the General Assembly in this State appointing Delegates to meet in Convention at Philadelphia the second day of May next.”

The basis of the post-Revolutionary War United States government was the Articles of Confederation. This document reflected the states’ wariness of vesting too much power in a central governing authority, and guaranteed the states their “sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” There was no executive or judicial branches of government, just a Congress responsible for conducting foreign affairs and national defense. The Articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce, enforce laws or take any action that all of the states had not approved. This resulted in a weak and ineffectual government, one which was failing and threatening to drag the country down with it.

Many of the nation’s leading statesmen felt that the Articles needed to be revised. George Washington was one such proponent, arguing “we have errors to correct.” So in September 1786, five states sent delegates to the Annapolis Convention, the first coordinated meeting to deal with these issues. At the Convention, the sparse attendance meant that little could be accomplished substantively. However, at its close, the delegates issued a report to the thirteen state legislatures and Congress, proposing that the states appoint commissioners to meet at Philadelphia in May 1787, for the explicit purpose of framing measures to strengthen the Articles, to “render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union…” On December 1, 1786, Virginia accepted the proposal of the Annapolis Convention and passed an act for “appointing deputies from this Commonwealth to a Convention proposed to be held in the City of Philadelphia in May next…” Copies of this were sent to the other states in the hopes that they would act similarly.

John Sullivan was a major general in the Continental Army, and served at Trenton, Princeton, and in Rhode Island. He is noted for commanding the Sullivan Expedition in 1779, a campaign against the Iroquois towns that had taken up arms in support of the British. Elected to Congress in 1780, Sullivan worked closely with the France’s Ambassador to the U.S., the Chevalier de la Luzerne. Returning home to New Hampshire, he was named the state’s attorney general in 1782 and served until 1786. During this same time he was elected to the state assembly, and served as speaker of the house. Sullivan was elected President of New Hampshire (Governor) in 1786 and served until 1789. He led the drive in New Hampshire that led to its ratification of the United States Constitution on June 21, 1788.

New Hampshire was one of the first states to respond to Virginia’s call to the Constitutional Convention, agreeing to send delegates in March 1787. Here Sullivan officially notifies the Governor of Pennsylvania, who would host the convention and its delegates, that his state had appointed delegates. Letter signed, as Governor of New Hampshire, Durham, March 3, 1787, to Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Mifflin, with franking panel attached. “Sir, I have the honor of inclosing the resolve of the General Assembly in this State appointing Delegates to meet in Convention at Philadelphia the second day of May next.”

Nicholas Gilman and John Langdon represented New Hampshire at the convention. Both signed the Constitution in September 1787.

The convention first met at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), the same brick building in Philadelphia where the Continental Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Every state except Rhode Island would eventually be represented, but for the first two weeks of the convention only two state delegations were present and they had to keep adjourning daily until a quorum was reached. On May 25 a quorum of seven states was obtained and the convention got down to work. Among the first orders of business was electing George Washington president of the Convention, which was done unanimously.

This letter has been in a private collection for 3 generations.