Shapers of the Great Debate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787

A Biographical Dictionary

Joseph Morton

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9780313330216
• eBook ISBN: 9780313060328
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early American History
• Index: History

As the oldest still operational written constitution in the world, the U.S. Constitution—and the concepts it proclaims— have been under almost constant attack since its inception. At a convention in 1787, fifty-five delegates assembled in Philadelphia to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation, only to emerge sixteen weeks later with a new document: the U.S. Constitution. The convention was filled with constant debate over how much power should be given to government and how should this power be allocated, state rights v. nationalists, small states v. large states, political conservatives v. political liberals, and slave-owners v. non-slave-owners. Fifty-five biographies, one for each delegate, are presented. Biographies include such notable individuals as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Luther Martin, and James Madison. An introductory essay, appendices including the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution, and an annotated bibliography are also included. The Shapers of the Great Debate series takes a biographical approach to history, following the premise that people make history in the circumstances in which they find themselves. Each volume in this series examines the lives and experiences of the individual's involved in a particular debate through major and minor biographies.

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• SERIES FOREWORD
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• ABRAHAM BALDWIN (1754–1807)
• RICHARD BASSETT (1745–1815)
• GUNNING BEDFORD, JR. (1747–1812)
• JOHN BLAIR (1732–1800)
• WILLIAM BLOUNT (1749–1800)
• DAVID BREARLEY (1745–1790)
• JACOB BROOM (1752–1810)
• PIERCE BUTLER (1744–1822)
• DANIEL CARROLL (1730–1796)
• GEORGE CLYMER (1739–1813)
• WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE (1756–1820)
• JONATHAN DAYTON (1760–1824)
• JOHN DICKINSON (1732–1808)
• OLIVER ELLSWORTH (1745–1807)
• WILLIAM FEW (1748–1828)
• THOMAS FITZSIMONS (1741–1811)
• BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706–1790)
• ELBRIDGE GERRY (1744–1814)
• NICHOLAS GILMAN (1755–1814)
• NATHANIEL GORHAM (1738–1796)
• ALEXANDER HAMILTON (1755–1804)
• WILLIAM CHURCHILL HOUSTON (1746?–1788)
• WILLIAM HOUSTOUN (1755–1813)
• JARED INGERSOLL (1749–1822)
• DANIEL OF ST. THOMAS JENIFER (1723–1790)
• WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON (1727–1819)
• RUFUS KING (1755–1827)
• JOHN LANGDON (1741–1819)
• JOHN LANSING, JR. (1754–1829)
• WILLIAM LIVINGSTON (1723–1790)
• JAMES MADISON, JR. (1751–1836)
• ALEXANDER MARTIN (1740–1807)
• LUTHER MARTIN (1744–1826)
• GEORGE MASON (1725–1792)
• JAMES McCLURG (1746–1823)
• JAMES McHENRY (1753–1816)
• JOHN FRANCIS MERCER (1759–1821)
• THOMAS MIFFLIN (1744–1800)
• GOUVERNEUR MORRIS (1752–1816)
• ROBERT MORRIS (1734–1806)
• WILLIAM PATERSON (1745–1806)
• WILLIAM LEIGH PIERCE (1740–1789)
• CHARLES PINCKNEY (1757–1824)
• CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY (1746–1825)
• EDMUND RANDOLPH (1753–1813)
• GEORGE READ (1733–1798)
• JOHN RUTLEDGE (1739–1800)
• ROGER SHERMAN (1721–1793)
• RICHARD DOBBS SPAIGHT (1758–1802)
• CALEB STRONG (1745–1819)
• GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732–1799)
• HUGH WILLIAMSON (1735–1819)
• JAMES WILSON (1742–1798)
• GEORGE WYTHE (1726–1806)
• ROBERT YATES (1738–1801)
• APPENDIX A: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL UNION
• APPENDIX B: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
• SELECTED ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX