The Constitutional Convention, 1787
Allyn Cox
Oil on Canvas
1973-1974
Great Experiment Hall
Cox Corridors
Following the Revolutionary War, the new American government was first
organized under the Articles of Confederation, but that document gave
the federal government too little authority to be effective. Convened
to amend the Articles of Confederation, this convention wrote a new
Constitution that strengthened the national government but imposed the
separation of powers and a system of checks and balances to guard
against tyranny. This mural shows delegates meeting in Benjamin
Franklin's garden (from left to right): Alexander Hamilton, James
Wilson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin.
Left: The plowman and his book symbolize education for all, a
concern of the time.
Right: A colonist bars the door of his home, symbolizing the
desire for freedom from unreasonable search that was eventually
addressed by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
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