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Center for Civics Education
Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham
Director, Center for Civics Education
949-214-3200
[email protected]
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.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/11/2020 - 4 minute read
This evening a small group of men, including six Pennsylvania delegates to the Federal Convention, gathered in the dining room of Dr. Franklin’s house just a few short blocks from the Statehouse. They came to hear Tench Coxe read a weighty tome on “The Principles on Which a Commercial System for the United States of America Should be Founded.”
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By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/10/2020 - 4 minute read
Almost daily we learn more about the delegates chosen by the States to meet in Philadelphia, just four days from now, for the purpose of addressing deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. It is expected that differences of interests and opinions will divide the convention, but it is also anticipated they might be able to overcome those differences and agree to compromises that will strengthen the confederation.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/9/2020 - 4 minute read
It was just at sunrise this morning when General Washington left Mt. Vernon for Philadelphia by carriage, accompanied by three slaves, including his valet William Lee. Lee had personally served Washington during the Revolutionary War and for two decades has accompanied him nearly everywhere.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/8/2020 - 4 minute read
James Madison (his friends call him “Jemmy”) has been in town since last Thursday. While he spends much of his time in his room at Mrs. House’s boardinghouse studying and preparing for the convention, he has been visiting with Benjamin Franklin and other friends, maintaining his correspondence, and following up on reports about a slave who had run away from his plantation in Virginia.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/7/2020 - 4 minute read
Lodging for out-of-town visitors is becoming a challenge. In the next few days delegates to the federal convention will begin arriving, adding to overcrowded inns and boarding houses. The Pennsylvania Packet exuberantly reported the reasons for the congested streets and bustling sidewalks, “Perhaps this city affords the most striking picture that has been exhibited for ages
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/6/2020 - 4 minute read
Benjamin Franklin is the quintessential example of the American entrepreneur and self-made man. By his own design, the key to success is constant improvement, both professionally and personally
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/5/2020 - 4 minute read
The winter of 1777 was bitter cold and hostile to the poorly provisioned Continental Army sequestered in makeshift shelters at Valley Forge. General Washington lamented seeing “ men without clothes…without blankets…without shoes by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet.” But it was there that Washington and his troops proved their mettle.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/4/2020 - 4 minute read
Traveling in 1787 can be tiring and unpleasant at best and hazardous at worst. Nevertheless, there three stage lines connect our country’s two largest cities, New York, and Philadelphia. Even these are plagued by unpaved and rutted roads, unreliable bridges and delays brought on by inclement weather.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/3/2020 - 4 minute read
This afternoon, James Madison arrived in Philadelphia, eleven days before the convention is scheduled to begin. It is his custom to arrive at such events early; he checked in at Mann’s Tavern a week before the Annapolis Convention which had convened to address disputes over various protectionist trade barriers impeding commerce among the states.
By Center for Civics Education Posted on 5/2/2020 - 4 minute read
Critics of our Constitution frequently argue it was made for a small country of 3 million people, mostly of English or other Western European descent, huddled against the eastern seaboard and wholly inadequate for a very diverse population of 330,000,000 inhabiting more than 3.7 square miles of land spanning the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
For more information, please contact the Director:
Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham Director, Center for Civics Education [email protected] 949-214-3200