Factors/issues at play as States selected delegates who traveled, to meet in Philadelphia.
1) Travel to Philly was difficult and slow. “Muddy roads” and “spring rains” delayed many of the delegates, resulting in a delay of 11 days from the date set by Congress. [FN26] 1/17

2) Away fr family & business. Convened: May 25 [FN27] Adjourned: 9/17/1787. Messages went by letter & no faster than a rider on horseback. Some selected as delegates declined for fear that their livelihoods would suffer. [FN28] 2/17

3) Shays rebellion. Debt drove Massachusetts farmers, many of whom were Revolutionary war veterans, to march on armories. [FN29] The effort ended in February, 1787, but was mentioned during debates at State ratification conventions and in The Federalist. [FN30] 3/17

4) “Runaway” convention. Delegates job: “the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.” [FN31] Virginia Gov Patrick Henry refused to serve as a delegate because he “smelt a rat” in Philadelphia. [FN32] Proceedings were secret, w/doors 4/17

“kept shut, and the members brought under the most solemn engagements of secrecy.” [FN33]
5) Slavery. Christian nationalists try to downplay slavery as an issue at Philadelphia. An office holder notes the word “slave” is absent from the Constitution signed on 9/17/1787. 5/17

The “3/5” clause [FN34] ban on prohibiting “Importation of such Persons” prior to 1808, [FN35] and the Fugitive Slave Clause [FN36] were, as delegates at Philadelphia knew, references to slavery and enslaved persons. [FN37] The Federalist addressed slavery. [FN38] 6/17

6) “God.” The Constitution invokes “the favor and guidance of Almighty God.” [FN39] That is not from the Constitution of the United States. It is from the Preamble of the Constitution of the Confederacy. Jesus Christ is absent from that Constitution also. Irony: 7/17

Christian nationalists having us swear to tell the truth with one hand on a bible as they lie about our history. While we still are allowed to speak freely, I want to set forth our history. “In the year of our lord” did not make us a theocracy in 1787 or today. Next up: Philly+ 8/17

Footnotes:
FN26. American Battlefield Trust, “Philadelphia in 1787,” 01/28/25, updated 07/23/25, accessed 08/03/26.
FN27. Id. 9/17

FN28. E.g., James Iredell, lead federalists at the North Carolina ratification conventions, was financially unable to attend the Philadelphia convention. Later, he was one of the first\ SCOTUS justices. See, Willis P Whichard, “Justice James Iredell,” (2000). 10/17

FN29. See, David O Stewart, “The Summer of 1787,” (2007) pp. 11-17.
FN30. The Federalist No. 6 (Alexander Hamilton). 11/17

FN31. “Proceedings of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government,” 1 Elliot’s Debates, pp. 116-18.
FN32. Stewart, note 26 at p. 25.
FN33. John Ferling, “A Leap in the Dark,” (2003), p. 284. 12/17

FN34. Art. I, §2: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States ,,, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding the whole Number of free Persons, including ... three fifths of all other persons.” 13/17

FN35. Art. I, §9: “The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight”... 14/17

FN36. Art. IV, sec. 2, cl 3. “No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour but shall be delivered up...” 15/17

FN37. See, “Slavery and the Constitution,” The Anti-Federalist Papers, (2003), pp. 153-58. Excerpts from debates from August 21 and 22, 1787. 16/17

FN38. “barbarism of modern policy.” The Federalist No 42 (James Madison); apology for counting enslaved as 3/5 of a person. The Federalist No 54 (James Madison).
FN39. “Constitution of the Confederate States; March 11, 1861,” Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Library, accessed 8/4/26. 17/17