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  • Becoming Free and Independent States
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  • Forming a More Perfect Union
  • Securing the Blessings of Liberty
  • The Thirteenth Amendment
  • • A Number of Valuable Slaves
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Forming a More Perfect Union:
Virginia and the Debate over the U.S. Constitution

In the years following the American Revolution, crises faced the new nation that threatened to endanger the hard-won independence of the former British colonies. They centered on the structure and operation of the new American government. Not officially adopted until March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation had numerous problems, which only became more evident as time passed under this system of government. The new government had little or no support from the states, which were anxious to maintain as much individual power as possible and, as a result, the Congress was limited in its abilities to raise funds, to regulate trade, and to conduct foreign policy.

Virginians played a critical role in the campaign for changes to the Articles of Confederation and were instrumental in shaping the document that replaced it, the United States Constitution. Recognizing the problems with the Articles of Confederation, Virginians called for a convention in September 1786 to be held in Annapolis, Maryland. James Madison planned to use the occasion to discuss not only commerce but also the larger failings of the Articles of Confederation. Madison's designs, however, were foiled by lack of participation, but before leaving Annapolis these men prepared a report for all the state legislatures detailing the need for another convention to address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. They recommended that the state legislatures appoint deputies to meet in convention in Philadelphia the following May.

In the spring and summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates from twelve of the thirteen states met in Philadelphia. The convention was called for May 14, but it was not until May 25 that an adequate number of representatives arrived to make a quorum of seven states. The convention met from May 25 to September 17, 1787, at the statehouse in Philadelphia (later renamed Independence Hall). Representing Virginia were John Blair, James Madison, George Mason, James McClurg, Edmund Randolph, George Washington, and George Wythe.

During the convention, Virginians provided key leadership and guidance. On the first day, the delegates unanimously elected Washington president of the convention. As a leader of the convention from its outset, James Madison also took detailed notes of the convention's proceedings, which have become the most thorough account of the debates and day-to-day deliberations of the convention. On May 29, 1787, the governor of Virginia, Edmund Randolph presented a series of resolutions to the delegates of the Constitutional Convention. These resolutions became known as the Virginia Plan (or large state plan), and essentially outlined a new form of government. Elements of the subsequently proposed New Jersey Plan (or small state plan) were incorporated into the proposal that emerged from the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan ultimately provided the framework of what—after much debate, expansion, development, and compromise by the framers—became the Constitution of the United States.

For all of their leadership and contributions, factions and differences of opinion arose within the Virginia delegation. Of the seven Virginia representatives, only three signed the final document. In his refusal to sign, George Mason expressed his disapproval of the new Constitution for not including a bill of rights, a point that he continued to argue in the weeks after the convention concluded. Mason found so many serious problems with the Constitution that he vowed to defeat its ratification and advocated calling a new convention to revise the proposed Constitution. Governor Randolph also refused to sign the Constitution, and James McClurg and George Wythe left Philadelphia before the convention adjourned.

Once the text was approved on September 17, 1787, the Constitution could not be put into effect until nine of the thirteen states agreed to its ratification. Each of the thirteen states held ratifying conventions at different times in order to determine whether this Constitution should be adopted. By the summer of 1788, eight states had approved the new system of government and, of the remaining five, North Carolina and Rhode Island were not going to ratify. This left the fate of the new government up to Virginia, New York, or New Hampshire. In this way, both Virginia and New York, because of their size, population, and economic significance, held the keys to the success or failure of the new form of government.

When the 168 delegates to the Virginia Convention of 1788 arrived in Richmond in June, the future of the Constitution was in doubt. The Federalists (supporters of ratification) and the Anti-Federalists (opponents of the Constitution) were almost evenly split, and the debate promised to be intense. The delegates included some of the nation's leading political thinkers, and they clearly understood the importance of the situation as they gathered in the State Capitol to debate the merits of the Constitution for more than three weeks.

The Virginia convention ratified the U.S. Constitution on June 25, 1788, by a vote of 89 to 79. Alexander Hamilton, a leading Federalist in New York, had requested James Madison to have a message sent from Richmond to the New York convention in Poughkeepsie by express rider in order to inform the New York convention, which was meeting at the same time, of Virginia's decision. Members of both parties in New York anxiously awaited the news. When the message arrived on July 2, 1788, it helped to convince Anti-Federalist leaders that New York must ratify, which was done on July 26, 1788.

Virginia and New York became the tenth and eleventh states, respectively, to ratify the U.S. Constitution, giving the new nation the strength it needed to recover from the debts of the Revolutionary War and to prepare for future events. The later addition of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution eased the concerns of many of the Anti-Federalists because it guaranteed individual rights.

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