1787
U.S. Constitution Signed
After four months of argument, compromise, and Franklin's quiet humor, thirty-nine delegates signed the Constitution. Franklin glanced at Washington's chair and said he now knew whether the sun carved in its back was rising or setting. Ratification would be a harder fight, state by state, over twelve long months. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote eighty-five Federalist Papers to persuade New York, and barely succeeded.
Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade Founded
In a London printing shop, twelve men - nine of them Quakers - founded a committee to petition Parliament against the slave trade. Thomas Clarkson would ride thousands of miles collecting evidence; William Wilberforce would fight it in Parliament for twenty years. A long moral argument with a great economic system had begun.
Kansei Reforms Begin in Japan
Matsudaira Sadanobu, rising to power in the shogunate, launched austerity measures against famine and urban unrest: debt cancellations for samurai, price controls, forced returns of peasants to villages, and bans on heterodox learning. Tokugawa Japan tightened its belt and its mind - a holding pattern that would last thirty years.
Constitutional Convention Opens in Philadelphia
Fifty-five delegates met in the Pennsylvania State House under oath of secrecy, windows shut against eavesdroppers in the summer heat. Washington presided; Madison took notes. They had been asked to fix the Articles of Confederation; within days they quietly decided to replace them. The American experiment entered its second draft.
Federalist Papers Begin Publication
Under the pseudonym 'Publius,' Hamilton, Madison, and Jay began publishing 85 essays defending the new Constitution in New York newspapers. Written at top speed (Hamilton did the most, Madison did the best), the essays would become the great commentary on the American republican idea - and the textbook of its logic.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1787?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1787. The most significant is U.S. Constitution Signed: After four months of argument, compromise, and Franklin's quiet humor, thirty-nine delegates signed the Constitution.
What era was 1787 part of?
1787 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1787?
The curated events from 1787 span North America, Europe and East Asia.