What was the purpose of the constitutional convention of 1787?

• A. To declare independence from Britain.
• B. To ratify the Articles of Confederation.
• C. To draft a new framework for the U.S. government.
• D. To create the Bill of Rights.

Answer: (C)

Drafting a new framework for the U.S. government. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called because the nation needed a stronger central government than the one created by the Articles of Confederation. Under those Articles, the national government was too weak to tax, regulate interstate trade, or enforce laws, and that led to economic problems and disputes between states. At Philadelphia, delegates realized that simply tweaking the Articles wouldn’t fix these fundamental weaknesses, so they drafted an entirely new plan—the Constitution. This new framework established three branches of government, a system of checks and balances, and economics and law provisions that let the federal government work with the states while maintaining overall authority. The other options don’t fit the purpose: independence was declared in 1776, ratifying the Articles happened earlier, and the Bill of Rights was added later to protect individual rights, not to set up the initial government structure.