In 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates from each of the 13 colonies met to fix the old government. George Washington, who was president of the convention, had a sun on the back of his chair. Benjamin Franklin wondered if the sun was rising or setting. Many doubted the crumbling old government could be fixed.
“I hope the 13 colonies don’t collapse!” the delegates thought worriedly, walking into the room.
However, the delegates were in for a surprise when some proposed a constitution for a new government. Frustrated delegates quickly disagreed with each other. Delegates for colonies with more people liked the new Constitution, which gave more power to their colonies in the government. Power-wanting delegates for little colonies did not like the idea. They wanted equal power with the bigger colonies.
Delegates from Connecticut helped work out a compromise, which is called the Great compromise, or Connecticut compromise. With the new government, all colonies had more equal power with each other. Congress had two houses. One had representatives from the states based on population, and one has representatives with the same number from each state. This agreement made both small and large states happy. Nine out of thirteen colonies/states approved the constitution so there was a new government! Eventually all thirteen approved.
“Now I know what is on George Washington’s chair,” declared Ben Franklin. “It’s a rising sun, just like our rising young country!”
The result of the convention, has been more than 200 years of the United States, not divided states, of America, and hopefully many more!