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15. Drafting the Constitution

Shays' Rebellion and the alarm it caused, the men who gathered at Philadelphia, the questions that nearly broke them, and the compromises that did not.

15. Drafting the Constitution

Since 1787, people from around the world have come to tour Independence Hall, where the Constitution of the United States was signed. The 1780s has often been…

15a. Shays' Rebellion

The modern day Northampton courthouse, built in 1884 on the same site as the courthouse where Shays' Rebellion occurred. The crisis of the 1780s was most inten…

15b. A Cast of National Superstars

Benjamin Franklin was the premier scientist, author, businessman and all-around scholar of his time. At the same time that Shays' Rebellion attempted to force…

15c. The Tough Issues

In spite of the common vision and status that linked most of the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention, no obvious route existed for how to revise the Artic…

15d. Constitution Through Compromise

Roger Sherman was the only man to sign all 4 of the important Revolutionary documents: The Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles o…