So on May 25, 1787, fifty-five delegates from all the states but Rhode Island came to Philadelphia for what would be known as the Constitutional Convention. The first and foremost goal hoped to be achieved by this meeting was to fix and revise the failing Articles of Confederation. There were many disagreements along the way concerning how to deal with specific issues, especially between large and small states, the north and the south, and nationalists and anti-nationalists. But instead of leading to the collapse of the convention, these conflicts led to compromises that helped shape the country and its format into what it is today.

At first some delegates were reluctant to stray too far away from the current form

of government. The early discussions revolved around a similarly structured government. The in-depth talk began once the hot issues arose. These included representation, counting of slaves, control of commerce, and protection of rights. These needed to be worked out immediately with no help from past experience.

I believe that the men that made up the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were truly geniuses of their time. Never before had such a form of government been tried, thus in doing so a great risk was involved. Each man came with his own idea of how to improve the Articles of Confederation, while a few even came with the idea of doing away with them and starting fresh. Behind a curtain closed to the rest of the young nation, these men toiled day after day, until they formed the most perfect political system the world has ever seen. Even through all their arguments and disagreements, they remembered their goal of making the United States a better country.

James Madison of Virginia was the first to propose a new plan of government. Based on the ideas of the French philosopher Montesquieu, the idea called for three separate branches, including a bicameral legislature, and also a system of checks and balances, which would prevent one branch form gaining too much power.

The next issue to arise was the control of commerce. The delegates decided to give Congress the power to tax and regulate trade, with the exception of exports. Another decision made was the removal of direct election, except for the electi

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