George Washington and the Making of the Constitution

Many Americans do not associate George Washington with the Constitution, but instead remember him as the first president of the United States and the general who led American troops to victory during the American Revolution.

Few will remember that Washington was a firm advocate for the establishment of a strong national government, even before the Revolution was over, and the president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Most people, moreover, do not think of Washington as a great political thinker because he did not leave a great body of political tracts for later generations — nothing on a par with the Declaration of Independence or the Federalist Papers. He did, however, have definite ideas on the kind of government the United States should have.

A primary place to find Washington’s political thoughts on the need for a stronger central government is in his correspondence to personal friends, to political allies, and even to political opponents, and the following letters offer a glimpse into his mind during the critical years before the adoption of the Constitution.

Links to Letters

• GW to John Hancock (Circular), 11 June 1783
• GW to Benjamin Harrison, 18 January 1784
• GW to Henry Knox, 5 December 1784
• GW to James McHenry, 22 August 1785
• GW to James Warren, 7 October 1785
• GW to James Madison, 30 November 1785
• GW to John Jay, 18 May 1786
• GW to John Jay, 15 August 1786
• GW to James Madison, 5 November 1786
• GW to David Stuart, 19 November 1786
• GW to David Humphreys, 26 December 1786
• GW to Jabez Bowen, 9 January 1787
• GW to Henry Knox, 3 February 1787
• GW to David Humphreys, 8 March 1787
• GW to Henry Knox, 8 March 1787
• GW to John Jay, 10 March 1787
• GW to James Madison, 31 March 1787
• GW to Alexander Hamilton, 10 July 1787
• GW to David Humphreys, 10 October 1787
• GW to James Madison, 10 October 1787
• GW to Henry Knox, 15 October 1787
• GW to David Stuart, 17 October 1787
• GW to Bushrod Washington, 9 November 1787
• GW to Alexander Hamilton, 10 November 1787
• GW to David Stuart, 30 November 1787
• GW to Charles Carter, 14 December 1787
• GW to Thomas Jefferson, 1 January 1788
• GW to Edmund Randolph, 8 January 1788
• GW to Lafayette, 7 February 1788
• GW to John Armstrong, 25 April 1788
• GW to Lafayette, 28 April-1 May 1788
• GW to Lafayette, 18 June 1788
• GW to Benjamin Lincoln, 29 June 1788
• GW to James McHenry, 31 July 1788
• GW to Benjamin Lincoln, 28 August 1788
• GW to Edmund Newenham, 29 August 1788
• GW to Thomas Jefferson, 31 August 1788
• GW to Annis Boudinot Stockton, 31 August 1788
• GW to Henry Lee, 22 September 1788
• Draft of the Federal Constitution: Report of Committee of Detail and Report of Committee of Style.  GW (or, in a few instances, the secretary of the convention William Jackson) entered on his printed copy of the draft of the Constitution presented to the Convention on 12 Sept. by the committee of style, all of the various changes in form and content adopted by the Convention between 12 and 15 Sept. when the Constitution took its final form.