How the Hell Did the Constitutional Convention Come Together?

In this episode, John explains how the Constitutional Convention was actually created and put into motion in 1787. John discusses the dire situation in which the young United States found itself, with threats from foreign adversaries and all sorts of domestic disputes and disorder, and how the government created by the Articles of Confederation was unable to resolve any of these major problems. John talks about the push by the "nationalists", as they came to be called, like James Madison, Robert Morris and Alexander Hamilton, to form a much stronger central government than the one that existed under the Articles of Confederation.There is, of course, opposition to these kinds of reforms and John covers who opposed the push for big, bold changes to the national government and why they felt the way they did. Finally, John talks about the Annapolis Convention, how it led directly to the Constitutional Convention and how Madison led the delegates from Virginia and Pennsylvania in meetings in the days before the full Constitutional Convention met so that the nationalists could set the agenda when the full body began its sessions.