At this very moment a convention was making a constitution to put an end to the Confederation itself. It was quite clear that something must be done or the states soon would be fighting one another. Attempt after attempt had been made to amend the Articles of Confederation so as to give Congress more power. But every attempt had failed because the consent of every state was required to amend the Articles. And one state or another had objected to every amendment that had been proposed. It was while affairs were in this condition that the Federal Convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787. JAMES MADISON

Of all the members of the Convention, James Madison of Virginia best deserves the title of Father of the Constitution. He drew up the Virginia plan which was adopted as the basis of the new Constitution. He spoke convincingly for the plan in the Convention. He did more than any one else to secure the ratification of the Constitution by Virginia. He kept a careful set of Notes of the debates of the Convention which show us precisely how the Constitution was made. With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay he wrote a series of papers which is called the Federalist and is still the best guide to the Constitution.