Washington and the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

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Leaders of several states are refusing to go to a constitutional convention. Washington knows he's the most widely respected man in the country and that if he attends, he'll be asked to preside over the meetings. His sense of duty and concern for his reputation finally went out. The men there, the framers, construct a powerful new federal government with a president and a bi-cameral congress.

In the summer of 1787, fifty-five men got together in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution for the United States, replacing the new nation’s original blueprint, the Articles of Confederation. But why, exactly? What problems were the framers trying to solve? Was the Constitution designed to advance democracy, or to rein it in? And how can the answers to those questions inform our crises of democracy today?

By producer/host John Biewen with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with Woody Holton, Dan Bullen, and Price Thomas. The series editor is Loretta Williams.