Brielle WeyandtEnglish 10 honorsHarding18 December 2013Miracle in PhiladelphiaMany factors influence the strength of a nation's government, but one in particular created the foundation for a country hundreds of years later. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia during the hot and humid summer of 1787, in a state house in Philadelphia. Delegates from twelve of the thirteen states all gathered to create the Constitution that would become the supreme law of the nation and let power fall into the hands of the people. The author of Miracle in Philadelphia, Catherine Drinker Bowen, chronicles the trials and contributions of delegates from developing states who ultimately built a vibrant nation of liberty and freedom. Those four months spent in a room calmly discussing how to improve government are arguably the most important moment in American history. After claiming independence from Great Britain, America got off to a rocky start with thirteen states governing themselves using the Articles of Confederation and therefore not united. under a single government that established and regulated taxes and trade. With states usually squabbling and not providing financial support to the government, Shay's Rebellion had begun in Massachusetts, prompted by farmers, to protest tax collection and economic chaos. Without the political turmoil caused by that event, America's future would have turned out differently; it would likely have been that states would have gone massively into debt and lost the freedoms they achieved after the American Revolution. Subsequently, citizens called for the creation of an effective government to support them, thus creating the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, fifty-five delegates... in the center of the paper..., fought on the threat to freedoms and the failure to protect the inalienable rights of the individual. Before the Anti-Federalists were appeased, twelve states had ratified the Constitution, allowing the new government to take effect. The government officially took effect on March 4, 1789 with its first meeting of Congress and the election and inauguration of George Washington as president. However, states still wanted a list of rights in the Constitution. The resulting ten proposed amendments gained ratification and inclusion in the Constitution, to be subsequently enacted and provided to the citizens of the United States. For many, the Constitution is the document intended to also symbolize the freedom and independence associated with America; over the course of a few years the most important aspects of a nation were created that still influence generations today.