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Convention: A Daily Journal

Center for Civics Education

Convention: A Daily Journal

Convention: A Daily Journal is a day-by-day journal of the 1787 Constitutional Convention convened by twelve of the original thirteen states to amend the Articles of Confederation and create a “more perfect union.” It chronicles the daily activities of the Convention, profiles the delegates and their interactions with each other, and looks back to life in America in the 1780s. Writing in the first person, the story is told from an “observer” hearing events as told in contemporary newspaper accounts and delegates’ personal notes and letters.


Sunday, May 20, 1787

May 20, 2020 - 4 minute read


The Colonies

Tomorrow will mark one week since the Federal Convention was scheduled to meet.  Still, a quorum has not been achieved. George Washington has attended the informal meetings held each day in the State House but is increasingly frustrated that official proceedings cannot begin.  Writing to Arthur Lee, a friend and fellow Virginian, he lamented the current state of affairs. “These delays,” he wrote, “greatly impede public measures and sour the temper of the punctual members, who do not like to idle away their time.”

Nevertheless, the time has not been squandered. The Virginia-only meetings take place in the morning and informal sessions for all delegates take place in the afternoon at the State House where new delegates are received. Informal discussions also take place as the delegates get to know each other.  George Mason is keenly aware that he is in the company of the “first characters” of the country, many of whom have never met each other until this week.

South Carolina’s Pierce Butler observed that “the manners and modes of thinking of several States differed nearly as much as in different nations of Europe.”  Visitors from Europe who have toured this country as strangers have not been unaware of these differences, differences that may impede agreement at the convention.

Lodging at the same inns creates more opportunities for conversation. One delegate has established a “regular table” at the City Tavern for every night except Saturday.  Some are mingling with members of the Society of the Cincinnati (which has a decided sympathy for a stronger national government) while others maintain correspondence with folks back home.  

Some delegates attended church services this morning and have many to choose from. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, born into the Church of England but chose to become a member of the Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers.  As a dissenter he was particularly sensitive to freedom of conscience and the right to worship freely.  When he founded Pennsylvania in 1682 he welcomed people of all faiths. 

In Philadelphia, Protestant churches of various denominations, including Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian, and others, are complemented by two Roman Catholic Churches and a Jewish Synagogue. Jewish merchants have traded goods in Pennsylvania since at least the 1650s. The first synagogue was dedicated in 1782, just five years ago. Haym Salomon was a financial agent during the Revolutionary War and worked closely with Robert Morris to provision the Continental Army. When the small Jewish community needed room to expand, Salomon put up one-fourth of the cost.

St. Mary’s is the largest Catholic parish in the United States and established a parochial school for the parish in 1782. The Philadelphia Baptist Association was founded in 1707 and this year will mark the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal church, the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by black people.

George Washington was baptized in infancy into the Church of England.  At that time and until 1776 the Church of England was the official – that is, established – church of Virginia and  officeholders were required to be affiliated with the church. As an adult, Washington has served as a member of the vestry of his local parish and purchased a pew at several churches. His pastor and close personal friend, Rev. Lee Massey, has said, “I never knew so constant an attendant at Church as Washington.”  However, Washington’s diary does not record such constant attendance.  But that is a matter that does not concern us.

Today, Washington’s diary simply says that he “dined with Mr. & Mrs. Morris and other company at their farm (called The Hills). Returned in the afternoon and drank tea at Mr. Powels.”  The primary residence of Robert Morris and his family is a home on Market Street, once owned by William Penn’s grandson and was the headquarters for Sir William Howe and Benedict Arnold when the British occupied Philadelphia in 1777.

However, the Morrises spend much of their time at their country mansion, located on a bluff overlooking the Schuylkill River. The year after Robert married Mary White in 1769, he purchased an eighty-acre farm and began construction of “The Hills,” replete with a greenhouse for oranges and pineapples, two farmhouses, barns, and other buildings. Mary is the sister of Bishop William White, the first Anglican Bishop in the United States.

This afternoon, after leaving The Hills, Washington renewed his friendship with Samuel and Elizabeth Powel at their elegant three-story rococo home on Third Street, described by one French visitor as a “handsome house…adorned with fine prints and some very good copies of the best Italian paintings.”  Elizabeth Willing Powel, affectionately known as “Eliza,” was the daughter of a former mayor of Philadelphia (1763-1764) and her husband, Samuel, was mayor in 1775 and 1776.

George and Martha Washington have been friends of the Powels for many years and lived next door to them from November 1781 to March 1782 following the battle of Yorktown. Their friendship is a close one and permits a casual familiarity. On one jovial occasion, Samuel, who enjoys making silhouettes, persuaded Washington to sit for one.  When it was finished, Washington noticed a little sagging “extra flesh” on his chin and asked Samuel to redo or correct it.  Samuel duly excised the drooping skin. 

Washington is beloved by his countrymen like no other, but to some he is also a friend. 

 

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