Letter from George Washington to Arthur Lee (1787): Early Attendance at the Convention

by George Washington
  • May 20, 1787
Image: The Signing of the United States Constitution, Louis S. Glanzman (1987) Commissioned by the PA, DE, NJ State Societies, Daughters of the American Revolution. Independence National Historical Park Collection.
Constitutional Convention
How does Washington describe the impact of delays on the attitudes of punctual delegates? What does this suggest about the mood at the Convention prior to the formal proceedings beginning? How might minimal attendance at the Convention by this time affect the credibility and progress of the proceedings?
The Convention was scheduled to begin in mid-May but did not officially commence until May 25th. What might this delay suggest about the delegates' attitudes toward the Convention? What significance can be drawn from the fact that states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York prioritized arriving on time?

No related resources

Philadelphia, May 20th, 1787.

My rheumatic complaint having very much abated... I have yielded to what appeared to be the wishes of many of my friends, and am now here as a delegate to the convention. Not more than four states were represented yesterday. If any have come in since, it is unknown to me. These delays greatly impede public measures, and serve to sour the temper of the punctual members, who do not like to idle away their time.

Prior Document
No prior document in this Era
Next Document
No next document in this Era
Teacher Programs

See Our List of Programs

Conversation-based seminars for collegial PD, one-day and multi-day seminars, graduate credit seminars (MA degree), online and in-person.

Programs

Check out our collection of primary source readers

Coming soon! World War I & the 1920s!

Bookstore