Alessandro Padilla September 7, 2011

Shh! Were Writing the Constitution!

By: Jean Fritz

After the Revolutionary War, the thirteen states believed they could be independent. George Washington predicted that if we did not stand as one nation, none would ultimately survive. He hoped for the best: that each state would send delegates to the Continental Congress. They needed a government or laws to keep them together which lead to the Articles of Confederation. As time passed, changes were needed and Congress scheduled a meeting to improve the Articles. Fifty-five delegates presented themselves and had to keep it all a secret from the public. The governor of Virginia proposed a plan (The Virginia Plan) which included a legislative branch, an executive branch, and a judicial branch. In the end, they all agreed on having a national legislature, one executive, and a vice president. Some thought the president should serve lifetime while others said he should serve 4 years. They had quite a lot of work ahead of them! As the conventions continued, they wondered if they were ever going to settle on anything. Benjamin Franklin hired a minister to start off every day with a prayer due to the feuds with the smaller and larger states. They finally agreed on having two senators and one representative for every forty thousand inhabitants (changed later to every thirty thousand inhabitants). They created a Bill of Rights to grant rights to our citizens. They sent the constitution to be engrossed. Thirty-nine delegates signed, three backed out at last minute, and the rest had already

left for their homes. For the bill of rights to be passed, nine states had to ratify it. They did in this order: Delaware first; New Jersey second; Georgia third; Pennsylvania fourth; Connecticut fifth; Massachusetts sixth; Maryland seventh; South Carolina eighth; and New Hampshire ninth. North Carolina and Rhode Island didnt even hold elections. Finally, they decided to have a party in celebration of the new government and the Bill of Rights. I recommend this book to anyone interested in history or non-fiction. Shh! Were Writing the Constitution! Only states facts with a joke here and there. In addition, I took an interest in this book because of the pictures. They tell you where and what the characters are doing and they are very detailed. In a nutshell, Shh! Were Writing the Constitution! is a nonfiction and entertaining book with a joke from time to time.