Editing Independence Hall (section)

=== Constitutional Convention ===

In May 1787, delegates from twelve states (Rhode Island declined to participate) convened at Independence Hall for what became known as the Constitutional Convention. Meeting in the same Assembly Room where independence had been declared eleven years earlier, delegates debated throughout the hot summer of 1787 with the windows shut to maintain secrecy. After months of deliberation and compromise, the United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, providing the framework for the nation's government that endures to this day.<ref name="constitutional">{{cite web |url=https://www.theconstitutional.com/blog/2016/03/15/independence-hall-history |title=Independence Hall History |publisher=The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia |access-date=December 22, 2025}}</ref>

George Washington presided over the Convention from a chair featuring a carved half-sun on its back. [[Benjamin Franklin]], at 81 the oldest delegate present, reportedly remarked upon the Constitution's signing that he had often wondered during the debates whether the sun on Washington's chair was rising or setting. "Now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun." This "rising sun chair" remains in the Assembly Room today.<ref name="nps-history"/>