... it is expedient that on the second Monday in May next a Convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several States be held at Philladelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation...
Assembly Room in Independence Hall, Philadelphia,
site of the signing of the Constitution in 1787.
Photo courtesy of Independence National Historical
Park.
The original states, except Rhode Island, collectively appointed
70 individuals to the Constitutional Convention, but a number did not accept
or could not attend. Those who did not attend included Richard Henry Lee,
Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams and, John Hancock.
In all, 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions,
but only 39 actually signed the Constitution. The delegates ranged in age
from Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, to Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, who was so
infirm that he had to be carried to sessions in a sedan chair.
Connecticut
Ellsworth (Elsworth), Oliver*
Johnson, William S.
Sherman, Roger
Delaware
Bassett (Basset), Richard
Bedford, Gunning, Jr.
Broom, Jacob
Dickinson, John
Read, George
Georgia
Baldwin, Abraham
Few, William
Houstoun, William*
Pierce, William L.*
Maryland
Carroll, Daniel
Jenifer, Daniel of St. Thomas
Martin, Luther*
McHenry, James
Mercer, John F.*
Massachusetts
Gerry, Elbridge*
Gorham, Nathaniel
King, Rufus
Strong, Caleb*
New Hampshire
Gilman, Nicholas
Langdon, John
New Jersey
Brearly (Brearley), David
Dayton, Jonathan
Houston, William C.*
Livingston, William
Paterson (Patterson), William
New York
Hamilton, Alexander
Lansing, John, Jr.*
Yates, Robert *
North Carolina
Blount, William
Davie, William R.*
Martin, Alexander *
Spaight, Richard D.
Williamson, Hugh
Pennsylvania
Clymer, George
Fitzsimons, Thomas
Franklin, Benjamin
Ingersoll, Jared
Mifflin, Thomas
Morris, Gouverneur
Morris, Robert
Wilson, James
South Carolina
Butler, Pierce
Pinckney, Charles
Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth
Rutledge, John
Rhode Island
Rhode Island did not send any delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
Virginia
Blair, John
Madison, James
Mason, George *
McClurg, James*
Randolph, Edmund J.*
Washington, George
Wythe, George*