History of North America

Was the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 a constitutional coup?

No, the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 was not a constitutional coup. A coup is a sudden, violent overthrow of a government. The Philadelphia Convention was a meeting of delegates from the thirteen original American states that was held in order to revise the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States. The delegates to the convention were elected by their respective state legislatures, and they met in secret to discuss and debate the proposed changes. The resulting document, the United States Constitution, was then submitted to the states for ratification. In order to be ratified, the Constitution had to be approved by at least nine of the thirteen states. The Constitution was eventually ratified by all thirteen states, and it went into effect in 1789.