U.S. Constitutional Convention 1787 (2021 Edition)

Grand Convention at Philadelphia, May to September, 1787, Quill Project 2021 Edition.

Pennsylvania Delegation

This is one of the 13 delegations in the convention, accounting for 8 of 59 people who took part.

Members (8):

Name Visualize Details Delegations
George Clymer Visualize (16 March 1739 – 23 January 1813) Merchant, land speculator and legislator. A Philadelphia city councillor and justice of the peace, Clymer later joined the Pennsylvania state legislature and the Continental Congress. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and then member of the US House of Representatives. He was a supervisor of revenue and then president of the Philadelphia Bank. Pennsylvania Delegation (United States Bill of Rights 1789 (2021 Edition)) , Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
Thomas Fitzsimmons Visualize (1741 – 26 August 1811) Merchant and legislator. A merchant involved in the West India trade, Fitzsimmons joined a number of organizations at the start of the American Revolution. He commanded a company of home guards during the war and was head of the Pennsylvania Navy Board. He later joined the Confederation Congress and became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was elected to the US House of Representatives for a single term and later went into banking. Pennsylvania Delegation (United States Bill of Rights 1789 (2021 Edition)) , Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
Benjamin Franklin Visualize (6 January 1706 – 17 April 1790) Author, printer, political theorist, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humourist and diplomat. Having become a successful printer and author he began to devote his time to science and public life. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly and for several years was based in London, emerging as a leading spokesman on American affairs. Having returned from Britain he was chosen as a delegate to the Continental Congress and helped to draw up the Declaration of Independence. He was first US Postmaster, and Ambassador to France and Sweden. He was chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was President of Pennsylvania. Had once been a small slaveholder but had become an abolitionist before the Revolution. Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
Jared Ingersol Visualize (24 October 1749 – 31 October 1822) Lawyer and judge. A Philadelphia lawyer who joined the Continental Congress in 1780. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and then attorney general of Pennsylvania and US district attorney for Pennsylvania. In 1812 he ran unsuccessfully as DeWitt Clinton’s running mate for the US Vice Presidency, losing to James Madison and Elbridge Gerry. Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
Thomas Mifflin Visualize (10 January 1744 – 20 January 1800) Merchant, Continental Army officer and legislator. Having been elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly he also became a Continental Congressman. During the Revolutionary War he served as an aide-de-camp to George Washington and the army’s Quartermaster General. He became the President of the Confederation Congress and then a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was later President and then Governor of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
Gouverneur Morris Visualize (30 January 1752 – 6 November 1816) Lawyer, legislator and diplomat. Having practised law, he was elected to the New York State Assembly at the start of the Revolution and then the Continental Congress. His family were large landowners and had owned slaves, though he had become a staunch abolitionist. After moving to Philadelphia, he was selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for Pennsylvania. He was later US Ambassador to France where he became caught up in the French Revolution. On his return to America he joined the US Senate, representing New York. Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
Robert Morris Visualize (20 January 1735 – 8 May 1806) Leading merchant, financier and US finance minister. Having built up one of the largest shipping and merchant firms in Philadelphia he became interested in Revolutionary politics. He joined the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and the Continental Congress, where he was appointed Superintendent of Finance and Agent of Marine. He was responsible for all economic and maritime considerations in the new US executive. He also remodelled his business ventures during the war, which grew to make him one of the richest men in America. Afterwards, he was selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and later elected as a US Senator. He declined Washington’s offer of US Treasury Secretary, suggesting Hamilton instead. Failed land speculation deals and economic downturn in the 1790s resulted in his bankruptcy. For a time in the 1760s he had been a slave trader. Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)
James Wilson Visualize (14 September 1742 – 21 August 1789) Lawyer, jurist and militia officer. He studied law under John Dickinson, and during the Revolution joined the Continental Congress and the Pennsylvania militia. Having defended loyalists in court after the recapture of Philadelphia, his house was attacked by a mob. He was selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was later part of the redrafting of the Pennsylvania constitution. He was later made a US Supreme Court judge. Pennsylvania Delegation (This negotiation)