ABSTRACT
Two hundred years ago this past summer, 55 delegates from twelve colonies (egalitarian and antinomian Rhode Island sent no one) met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation and ended up writing the Constitution. The style of the age was more aristocratic than democratic. Since these 55 gentlemen trusted one another, they met in complete secrecy from May to September. George Washington, who silently presided over the meetings, was the very personification of aristocratic and class authority in this classic age of deferential democracy.
