The Convention was presided over by Washington. Among the other delegates were Hamilton of New York, Madison and Randolph and Mason of Virginia, Franklin and Wilson and Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, and the two Pinckneys of South Carolina. Madison himself, speaking of the delegates in his Introduction to his report of the Debates, says that they were selected in each state “from the most experienced and highest standing citizens.” The reader will not forget that each of these men came under a commission from the independent government of a sovereign and independent nation, twelve such independent governments and nations being represented in that Convention. In the face of this important fact, it is amazing to realize the startling proposition offered for consideration, on May 30, 1787. On that day, the Convention having gone into a Committee of the Whole, Randolph, commissioned delegate from the independent government and nation of Virginia, moved, on the suggestion of Gouverneur Morris, commissioned delegate from another independent government and nation, that the assembled delegates consider the three following resolutions: “1. That a union of the states merely federal will not accomplish the objects proposed by the Articles of Confederation--namely, common defense, security of liberty, and general welfare. “2. That no treaty or treaties among the whole or part of the states, as individual sovereignties, would be sufficient. “3. That a _national_ government ought to be established, consisting of a _supreme_ legislative, executive, and judiciary.” (5 _Ell. Deb._ 132.)