AF-separation-of-powers-Digital-20 - Flipbook - Page 27
Framers of the U.S. Constitution
The Founding Fathers who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention
T
he road to Philadelphia was long
and winding. When delegates met at
the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia in 1787 to sign their
names to what would become the
supreme law of our land – the Constitution of the United States – they
were participating in an event that
came to chart humanity’s new course.
They paved the way for the birth of a
new nation grounded in
self-governance by declaring their
independence from the British king
and rebelling against tyranny. They
risked it all to take back the
inalienable rights granted to them by
God — life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. They paid for their
freedom, and ours, with blood and
sacrifice. Their hard-fought victory in
the Revolutionary War earned them
the United States of America. The
Constitution is a remarkable
document. It is the supreme law of
the land and sets forth our three
branches of government, each branch
functioning independently but
connected to one another based on
our policies and principles of checks
and balances – the Separation of
Powers principles.
The Founding Fathers who were
delegates to the Constitutional
Convention are listed to the right.
Connecticut
• Oliver Ellsworth (Elsworth)
• William. Samuel Johnson
• Roger Sherman
Delaware
• Richard Bassett
• Gunning Bedford, Jr.
• Jacob Broom
• John Dickinson
• George Read
Georgia
• Abraham Baldwin
• William Few
• William Houston
• William L. Pierce
Maryland
• Daniel Carroll
• Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
• Luther Martin
• James McHenry
• John F. Mercer
Massachusetts
• Elbridge Gerry
• Nathaniel Gorham
• Rufus King
• Caleb Strong
New Hampshire
• Nicholas Gilman
• John Langdon
New York
•Alexander Hamilton
• John Lansing, Jr.
• Robert Yates
North Carolina
• William. Blount
• William R. Davie
• Alexander Martin
• Richard. Dobbs Spaight
• Hugh Williamson
Pennsylvania
• George Clymer
• Thomas Fitzsimons
(FitzSimons; Fitzsimmons)
• Benjamin Franklin
• Jared Ingersoll
• Thomas Mifflin
• Gouverneur Morris
• Robert Morris
• James Wilson
Rhode Island
Rhode Island did not send any
delegates to the Constitutional
Convention.
South Carolina
• Pierce Butler
• Charles Pinckney
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
• John Rutledge
Virginia
New Jersey
• David Brearly (Brearley)
• Jonathan Dayton
• William C. Houston
• William Livingston
• William Paterson (Patterson)
• John Blair
• James Madison Jr.
• George Mason
• James McClurg
• Edmund J. Randolph
• George Washington
• George Wythe
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