DEBATES
IN THE
FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787,
HELD AT PHILADELPHIA.
Monday, May 14, 1787,
Was the day fixed for the meeting of the deputies, in Convention, for revising the federal system of government. On that day a small number only had assembled. Seven states were not convened till
Friday, May 25,
When the following members appeared: from
Massachusetts—Rufus King;
New York—Robert Yates and Alexander Hamilton;
New Jersey—David Brearly, William Churchill Houston, and William Patterson;
Pennsylvania—Robert Morris, Thomas Fitzsimons, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris;
Delaware—George Reed, Richard Basset, and Jacob Broom;
Virginia—George Washington, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, George Mason, George Wythe, and James M'Clurg;
North Carolina—Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Hugh Williamson;
South Carolina—John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, and Pierce Butler;
Georgia—William Few.
Mr. ROBERT MORRIS informed the members assembled that, by the instruction and in behalf of the deputation of Pennsylvania, he proposed George Washington, Esq., late commander-in-chief, for president of the Convention.[1] Mr. JOHN RUTLEDGE seconded the motion, expressing his confidence that the choice would be unanimous; and observing, that the presence of General Washington forbade any observations on the occasion, which might otherwise be proper.
Gen. WASHINGTON was accordingly unanimously elected by ballot, and conducted to the chair by Mr. R. Morris and Mr. Rutledge, from which, in a very emphatic manner, he thanked the Convention for the honor they had conferred on him, reminded them of the nov-
- ↑ The nomination came with particular grace from Pennsylvania, as Dr. Franklin alone could have been thought of as a competitor. The doctor was himself to have made the nomination of General Washington, but the state of the weather and of his health confined him to his house.
