The first delegate to arrive in Philadelphia for the convention was James Madison. Madison was 35 years old. He was short and losing his hair. He was not a good speaker. But he always knew what he wanted to say. He had read everything that had been published in English about governments, from the governments of ancient Greece to those of his own time.

Madison believed the United States needed a strong central government that was more powerful than the 13 states.

Madison also knew that he should not push his ideas too quickly. So he planned his work quietly. He came to the convention with hundreds of books and papers. He was prepared to answer any question about government that any other representative might ask him.

Madison asked the other delegates from Virginia also to arrive early. He wanted to enter the convention with a plan for a strong central government. He was sure no other state would do this. Two Virginia delegates came early, as requested. Together, the three men worked on Madison's plan.

The only other delegates there were from Pennsylvania. Nobody seemed worried that there were no delegates from the other eleven states. After all, it took two weeks to ride a horse to Philadelphia from New Hampshire in the northeast. And it took as long as three weeks to get to Philadelphia from Georgia in the south.

Finally, the other delegates started coming a few at a time. Fifty-five men in all from twelve states. Pennsylvania sent the most delegates -- eight. Rhode Island sent none. A few of the delegates were very old. But many were in their twenties or thirties. The average age of the delegates was just 43 years.