Constitutional Convention

American  

noun

1. the convention in Philadelphia (1787) of representatives from each of the former Colonies, except Rhode Island, at which the Constitution of the United States was framed.

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Constitutional Convention Cultural  

1. The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787; all states were invited to send delegates. The convention, meeting in Philadelphia, designed a government with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. It established Congress as a lawmaking body with two houses: each state is given two representatives in the Senate, whereas representation in the House of Representatives is based on population.

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Example Sentences

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Constitutional Convention

It then examined these provisions’ original public meaning, gleaned from the Federalist Papers, Constitutional Convention records and state ratifying convention debates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

At the Constitutional Convention, he explained, one of the Framers tried to put a semicolon into the spending clause.

From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026

Thirteen of the 39 signers of the Constitution were from the South, and it’s estimated that 25 delegates to the Constitutional Convention owned slaves.

From Salon ● May 14, 2026

Wilson survived the attack and went on to be a major part of the Constitutional Convention and one of America’s first great constitutional jurists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

Perhaps the most graphic illustration of the singular status that Washington enjoyed was the decision of the Constitutional Convention to deposit the minutes of its secret deliberations with him for safekeeping.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis