The history of the United States Constitution is outlined in this account of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The document is grouped according to 12 topical headings, which follow a brief account of the participation of George Washington and James Madison. Section 1 deals with the conceptualization and development of the Articles of Confederation. Section 2 focuses on delegates who played major roles in the convention. Sections 3, 4, and 5 present three conflicting proposals (the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and Hamilton's Plan) which later resulted in the "Great Compromise" (section 6), bringing delegates significantly closer to agreement on a constitution. Section 7 describes the first draft of the Constitution, from which the final document would result some 5 weeks later. The Federalists (who supported the Constitition) and the anti-Federalists (who opposed it) are described in section 8. Section 9 discusses the Constitution's ratification and section 10 traces the development of the Bill of Rights. Section 11 focuses on measures taken to protect the original document. The final section, the text of the Constitution, presents 7 articles and 26 amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The document concludes with a photograph of the original document and suggestions for further reading. (LH)