Abraham baldwin and william few biography

At the end of his term, he became a member of the Continental Congresswhere, inhe signed the Articles of Confederation. His involvement in the Revolution, like that of other Patriots in this patrician's extended family, was inspired by the family's ancient motto: "Strong in Faith and War". Carroll was an active member of the Constitutional Convention, despite the abraham baldwin and william few biography that illness prevented him from attending the early sessions.

Like his good friend James Madison, Carroll was convinced that a strong central government was needed to regulate commerce among the states and with other nations. He also spoke out repeatedly in opposition to the payment of members of the United States Congress by the states, reasoning that such compensation would sabotage the strength of the new government because "the dependence of both Houses on the state Legislatures would be compleat The new government in this form is nothing more than a second edition of [the Continental] Congress in two volumes, instead of one, and perhaps with very few amendments".

He wanted governmental power vested in the people, and he joined James Wilson in campaigning for popular sovereignty. When it was suggested that the President should be elected by the Congress, it was Carroll, seconded by James Wilson, who moved that the words "by the legislature" be replaced with "by the people". His signature on the Constitution made him one of two Roman Catholics to sign the document, a further symbol of the advance of religious freedom in America during the Revolutionary period.

Carroll did not arrive at the Constitutional Convention until July 9, but thereafter he attended quite regularly. He spoke about 20 times during the debates and served on the Committee on Postponed Matters. Returning to Maryland after the convention, he campaigned for ratification of the Constitution but was not a delegate to the state convention.

Following the Convention, Carroll immersed himself in state and national affairs. He was a key participant in the Maryland ratification struggle. He also defended the Constitution in the pages of the Maryland Journal, most notably in his response to the arguments advanced by the well-known Antifederalist Samuel Chase. After ratification was achieved in Maryland, Carroll became a representative from the sixth district of Maryland in the First Congress, where, reflecting his concern for economic and fiscal stability, he voted for the assumption of state debts by the federal government.

He later served in the Maryland Senate and as one of three commissioners appointed to survey the District of Columbia. He then became a commissioner co-mayor of the new capital city, but advanced age and failing health forced him to retire in Even then, interest in the good of his region kept him active. In the last year of his life he became one of George Washington's partners in the Patowmack Company, a business enterprise intended to link the middle states with the expanding west by means of a Potomac River canal.

He was one of the first Patriots to advocate complete independence from Britain. As a Pennsylvania representative, Clymer was, along with only five others, a signatory of both the Declaration of Independence and the U. He attended the Continental Congress and served in political office until the end of his life. Clymer was born in Whiteville on March 16, Orphaned when only a year old, he was apprenticed to his paternal uncle, William Coleman, in preparation for a career as a merchant.

He was a patriot and leader in the demonstrations in Philadelphia resulting from the Tea Act and the Stamp Act. He became a member of the Philadelphia Committee of Safety inand was elected to the Continental Congress He served ably on several committees during his first Congressional term and was sent to inspect the northern army on behalf of Congress in the fall of The British made a special point in destroying Clymer's country home in Chester County following the Battle of Brandywine.

He resigned from Congress inand in was elected to a seat in the Pennsylvania Legislature. Inhe was sent on a tour of the southern states in a vain attempt to get the legislatures to pay up on subscriptions due to the central government. He was reelected to the Pennsylvania legislature inand represented his state at the Constitutional Convention in He was elected to the first U.

Congress in Clymer shared the responsibility of being treasurer of the Continental Congress with Michael Hillegas, the first Treasurer of the United States. When Congress passed a bill imposing a duty on spirits distilled in the United States inClymer was placed as head of the excise department, in the state of Pennsylvania. He was also one of the commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the Creek Indian confederacy at Coleraine, Georgia on June 29, He is considered the benefactor of Indiana Borough, as it was he who donated the property for a county seat in Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

He was the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution and a member of the U. Dayton was arrested in for treason in connection with Aaron Burr's conspiracy, he was never tried, but his national political career never recovered. Dayton was born in Elizabethtown now Elizabeth in New Jersey. He was the son of Elias Dayton, a merchant who was prominent in local politics.

During the Revolutionary War Dayton served under his father in the 3rd New Jersey Regiment and attained the rank of captain by the age of After the war, Dayton studied law and established a practice, dividing his time between abraham baldwin and william few biography speculation, law, and politics. After serving as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention of which he was the youngest member, at the age of 26he became a prominent Federalist legislator.

Elected to the U. House of Representatives inhe did not take his seat, but was elected and took his seat in He served as speaker for the Fourth and Fifth Congress. Like most Federalists, he supported the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton, and suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion. He supported the Louisiana Purchase and opposed the repeal of the Judiciary Act of Dayton met with Aaron Burr in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and became involved in a "conspiracy" in which Burr later had been accused of intending to conquer parts of what is now the western United States.

This was never proven. An illness prevented Dayton from accompanying Burr's aborted expedition, but in Dayton was arrested for treason. He was released and never brought to trial but his national political career never recovered. After resuming his political career in New Jersey, he died in in his hometown and was interred in an unmarked grave now under the present St.

John's Episcopal Church in Elizabeth which replaced the original church in He was a militia officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, a delegate to the U. Among the wealthiest men in the British American colonies, he is known as the Penman of the Revolution, for his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, where he eloquently argued the cause of American liberty.

Dickinson was born at Croisadore his family's tobacco plantation in Talbot County, near Trappe, Maryland. He was the great grandson of Walter Dickinson who emigrated from England to Virginia in and, having joined the Society of Friends, came with several co-religionists to Talbot County on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in There, with acres 1.

Jones Neck in what became Kent County, Delaware. Croisadore passed through Walter's son, William, to his grandson, Samuel, the father of John Dickinson. Jones River from Dover to the Delaware Bay. As a result the family was enormously wealthy. Samuel Dickinson first married Judith Troth on 11 April The three eldest sons died of smallpox while in London seeking their education.

She was the daughter of the prominent Quaker, John Cadwalader of Philadelphia. Their sons, John, Thomas and Philemon were born in the next few years. For three generations the Dickinson family had been devout members of the Third Haven Friends Meeting in Talbot County and the Cadwaladers were equally devout members of the Meeting in Philadelphia.

But inJohn Dickinson's half-sister, Betsy, was married in an Anglican church to Charles Goldsborough in what was called a "disorderly marriage" by the Meeting. The couple would be the grandparents of Maryland governor Charles Goldsborough. This event hurt Samuel Dickinson in such a way that he never participated in the Meeting again. Leaving Croisadore to elder son, Henry Dickinson, they made the trek to their new home, where Samuel had already taken a leading role in the community as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Kent County.

The move also placed Mary nearer her Philadelphia relations, and young John was to grow up under the growing attraction of that great metropolis. By contemporary standards Poplar Hall was itself a busy place, situated on a now straightened bend of the St. Jones River. There was plenty of activity delivering the necessities, and shipping the agricultural products produced.

But the people were largely servants and slaves, employed by, or doing business with the Dickinsons. Neighbors were a long way away over the marshy hinterland, and even those that were there were not close friends, separated psychologically by differences in wealth and religion. The land itself was a vast, damp, mosquito ridden domain, acquired because it was cheaper to buy than to improve, and therefore quickly worn out and abandoned.

It had a subtle, quiet beauty, fully appreciated by John Dickinson and his father, but less so by others in the family, and not at all by his wife in the years to come. Dickinson was educated at home, largely by doting parents, but also by recent immigrants employed for that purpose. Dickinson was precocious and energetic, and in spite of his love of Poplar Hall and his family, was himself irresistibly drawn to the larger stage up river in Philadelphia.

Recognizing all this, his father sent him, at the age of 18, to begin studying the law under John Moland in Philadelphia. There he made friends with fellow students George Read and Samuel Wharton, among others, and enjoyed the new experience of urban life. By it was apparent that the place he really needed to study was London, and in spite of having already lost three sons while making similar trips, Samuel Dickinson agreed to send John for what ended up as three years of study at the Middle Temple.

After returning to Poplar Hall for a lengthy visit he was back in Philadelphia by the fall, having begun his career as barrister and solicitor. Dickinson never formally joined the Quaker Meeting, because, as he explained, he believed in the "lawfulness of defensive war. He was already among the wealthiest of men and this marriage only increased that.

In Philadelphia, he preferred to live at the family estate of his wife, called Fairhill, near Germantown.

Abraham baldwin and william few biography

Meanwhile he built an elegant mansion on Chestnut Street but never lived there as it was confiscated and turned into a hospital during his absence in Delaware. It then became the residence of the French ambassador and still later the home of his brother, Philemon Dickinson. Fairhill was burned by the British during the Battle of Germantown. As an adult Dickinson lived at his family home at Jones Neck, in Kent County Poplar Hall, for extended periods only in and In August it was sacked by Loyalists and after being restored, was badly burned in This home is now owned by the State of Delaware, is undergoing restoration and is open to the public.

After his service as President of Pennsylvania, he returned to live in Wilmington, Delaware in and built a abraham baldwin and william few biography at the northwest corner of 8th and Market Streets. As events unfolded Dickinson was one of Pennsylvania's delegates to the First Continental Congress in and the Second Continental Congress in and In support of the cause, he continued to contribute declarations in the name of the Congress.

But through it all, agreeing with New Castle County's George Read and many others in Philadelphia and the Lower Counties, Dickinson's object was reconciliation, not independence and revolution. He was a proud devotee of the British Constitution and felt the dispute was with Parliament only. He was also a product of his Quaker heritage, which insisted that disputes be settled without violence.

When the Continental Congress began the debate on the Declaration of Independence on July 1,Dickinson reiterated his opposition to declaring independence at that time. Dickinson believed that Congress should complete the Articles of Confederation and secure a foreign alliance before issuing a declaration. He abstained or absented himself from the votes on July 2nd that declared independence and absented himself again from voting on the wording of the formal Declaration on July 4.

Dickinson understood the implications of his refusal to vote stating, "My conduct this day, I expect will give the finishing blow to my once too great and, my integrity considered, now too diminished popularity. Following the Declaration of Independence Dickinson was given the rank of brigadier general in the Pennsylvania militia, known as the Associators.

But because of his unpopular opinion on independence two junior officers were promoted above him. While there he learned that his home on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia had been confiscated and converted into a hospital. Despite these setbacks, Dickinson insisted on always espousing his true feelings, no matter the consequence. After his service in Pennsylvania, Dickinson returned to Delaware, and lived in Wilmington.

He was quickly appointed to represent Delaware at the Annapolis Convention, where he served as its President. InDelaware sent him as one of its delegates to the Constitutional Convention ofalong with Gunning Bedford, Jr. Following the Convention he promoted the resulting Constitution in a series of nine essays, written under the pen name, Fabius.

InDelaware convened a convention to revise its existing Constitution, which had been hastily drafted in Dickinson was elected president of this convention, and although he resigned the chair after most of the work was complete, he remained highly influential in the content of the final document. Major changes included the establishment of a separate Chancery Court and the expansion of the franchise to include all taxpayers, except blacks and women.

Dickinson remained neutral in an attempt to include a prohibition of slavery in the document, believing the General Assembly was the proper place to decide that issue. The new Constitution was approved June 12, Once more Dickinson was returned to the State Senate for the session, but served for just one year before resigning due to his declining health.

In his final years he worked to further the abolition movement, donated a considerable amount of his wealth to the "relief of the unhappy. William Few, Jr. Few represented the U. Born into a poor yeoman farming family, Few achieved both social prominence and political power later in life. Exhibiting those characteristics of self-reliance vital for survival on the American frontier, he became an intimate of the nation's political and military elite.

The idea of a rude frontiersman providing the democratic leaven within an association of the rich and powerful has always excited the American imagination, nurtured on stories of Davy Crockett and Abraham Lincoln. In the case of the self-educated Few, that image was largely accurate. Few's inherent gifts for leadership and organization, as well as his sense of public service, were brought out by his experience in the Revolutionary War.

Important in any theater of military operations, leadership and organizational ability were particularly needed in the campaigns in the south where a dangerous and protracted struggle against a determined British invader intimately touched the lives of many settlers. Few's dedication to the common good and his natural military acumen quickly brought him to the attention of the leaders of the Patriot cause, who eventually invested him with important political responsibilities as well.

The war also profoundly affected Few's attitude toward the political future of the new nation, transforming the rugged frontier individualist into a forceful exponent of a permanent union of the states. Men of his stripe came to realize during the years of military conflict that the rights of the individual, so jealously prized on the frontier, could be nurtured and protected only by a strong central government accountable to the people.

This belief became the hallmark of his long public service. Descendant of Quaker shoemaker, Richard Few of Whiltshire England, and his son Isaac Few, a cooper, who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the s, the Fews lived in northern Maryland, where they eked out a modest living raising tobacco on small holdings. When a series of droughts struck the region in the s, the Fews and their neighbors—actually a sort of extended family consisting of cousins and distant relations—found themselves on the brink of ruin.

The whole community decided to abandon its farms and try its luck among the more fertile lands on the southern frontier. The group ultimately selected new homesites along the banks of the Eno River one mile from Hillsborough in Orange County, North Carolina, first in what is now Durham County but was then Orange Countyand later east of Hillsborough, in Orange County.

Here young Few developed the skills expected of the eighteenth-century farmer. From this experience Few obtained a rudimentary education that led to a lifelong love of reading. Essentially a self-educated man, Few also found time to read law and qualify as an attorney despite a full-time commitment to the unrelenting demands of agricultural toil.

In time the Few family achieved a measure of prosperity, emerging as political leaders in rural Orange County. Like many other western settlers, however, the family became involved with the Regulators, a populist movement that grew up in reaction to the political and economic restrictions imposed on the frontier or backcountry farmers by the merchants and planters of the tidewater area and by the local politicians and lawyers.

By protest had become confrontation, and a large group of mostly unarmed westerners gathered to clash with North Carolina militia units at the "battle" of the Alamance. The uneven fight ended in total victory for the militia, although most of the Regulator's demands for political representation and economic relief eventually would be met by the state legislature.

More immediately, one of Few's abrahams baldwin and william few biography — James Few — was hanged for his part in the uprising, and the Few family farm just east of Hillsborough was ransacked by Tryon's militia troops. The rest of the family fled to Wrightsboro, Georgia, leaving Few behind to settle their affairs and sell their property.

These antagonisms within North Carolina began to evaporate as American opinion turned against the imperial measures instituted by Great Britain in the s. Both the eastern planters and the new settlers found new taxes and restrictions on western expansion at odds with their idea of self-government, and Patriot leaders were able to unite the state against what they could portray as a threat to the liberties of all parties.

Few participated in this training as one of the first men to enlist in the volunteer militia or "minute men" company formed in Hillsborough. Typically, Few's unit received its tactical instruction from a veteran of the colonial wars, in this case a former corporal in the British Army who was hired by the company as its drill sergeant.

Citing the press of family business, Few rejected the offer of a captaincy in one of the first units North Carolina raised for the Continental Army in the summer of But when he finally settled the family's accounts the next year and joined his relatives in Georgia, where he opened a law office, he quickly placed his newly acquired military knowledge at the service of the Patriot cause in his new state.

Georgia organized its citizen-soldiers on a geographical basis, forming local companies into a regiment in each county. Few joined the Richmond County Regiment, which his older brother, Benjamin, commanded. For the next two years Few's military duties consisted of attending military assemblies where he instructed his friends and neighbors in the skills he had acquired in the North Carolina militia.

Only inwhen Georgia faced the threat of invasion by a force of Loyalist militia and British regulars based in Florida, was Few finally called to active duty. The Georgians' first military campaign ended in disaster. A force of state and Continental units successfully combined to repulse an enemy raid on Sunbury near the states southeastern border, but a counterattack orchestrated by Major General Robert Howe of the Continental Army and Governor John Houstoun bogged down before the Patriots could reach St.

Few, now in command of a company of Georgia Militia, watched the collapse of the campaign's logistical support and then the disintegration of the force itself, as senior officers bickered among themselves and as disease began to decimate the units. Only half of the American soldiers survived to return home. At the end of the year a sudden amphibious invasion by British forces resulted in the capture of Savannah, Georgia, and the destruction of the rest of the Continental units under Howe and most of the eastern militia formations.

Armed resistance to the British continued in the western part of the state, led by the Richmond County Regiment. Throughout the regiment, with Few now second in command, frequently turned out to skirmish with probing British units, eventually forcing the enemy to abandon Augusta, which the British had captured soon after the fall of Savannah.

The success of the citizen-soldiers in defending their own homes began to reverse the fortunes of war in Georgia, prompting the new Continental commander in the region, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, to take the offensive. Lincoln combined his continentals and militia units from Georgia and South Carolina with a French force newly arrived from the Caribbean to lay siege to Savannah.

He immediately encountered difficulty, however, in coordinating the efforts of his diverse forces. The French, under pressure to terminate operations quickly in order to move on to other assignments, persuaded Lincoln to launch a full frontal attack. The result was a bloody defeat, but Few's militiamen participated in a successful rear-guard action that shielded the retreat of the American units.

In the aftermath of the battle his regiment was posted to the frontier where the Creek Indians, interpreting the defeat before Savannah as proof of the Georgians' weakness, had taken to the field in support of British forces. Enemy operations in Georgia in were part of a new "southern strategy" by which the British planned to use the state as a base for conquering the rebellious colonies in a sweep up from the south.

Few's military service in the later years of the war proved critical both in frustrating this strategy and in enhancing his credentials as a state leader. The western forces, in which Few's regiment played a prominent role, kept the British from consolidating their position. The area never developed into a secure Loyalist base, and British troops needed for subsequent operations against the Carolinas and Virginia had to be diverted to counter the threat posed by the frontier militia units.

Few emerged as a gifted administrator and logistician in this demanding and difficult effort to maintain a viable military force in Georgia. He also turned into a bold, innovative partisan commander. Experience and innate common sense enabled him to develop patience, preserve his forces for key attacks, and then pick his time and place to defeat small enemy parties without unduly risking the safety of his men.

Most important, he displayed the raw physical stamina required to survive the serious hardships of guerrilla warfare. Military success went hand in hand with political service. During the late s Few also won election to the House of Representatives in the Georgia General Assembly, sat on the state's Executive Council, acted as state surveyor-general, represented Georgia in negotiations with the Indians that succeeded in minimizing the danger of frontier attacks, and served as Richmond County's senior magistrate.

Few's growing political prominence and undisputed talent for leadership prompted the state legislature in to appoint him to represent Georgia in the Continental Congress. Few served in Congress less than a year when, in the wake of General Nathanael Greene's successful effort to drive the British out of most of Georgia, Congress sent him home to help reassemble Georgia's scattered government.

This task accomplished, Few returned to Congress inwhere he remained to serve throughout most of the decade. While a member of that body, Few was asked by his state to serve concurrently in the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in This dual responsibility caused him to split his time between the two bodies and therefore to miss portions of the constitutional proceedings.

Nevertheless, Few firmly supported the effort to create a strong national union and worked hard to secure the Continental Congress' approval of the new instrument of government. He also participated in the Georgia convention in that ratified the document. Georgia promptly selected Few to serve as one of its original United States senators. Planning to retire from politics at the expiration of his term inhe bowed instead to the wishes of his neighbors and served yet another term in the state legislature.

In the Georgia Assembly appointed him as a circuit court judge. During this three-year appointment he not only consolidated his reputation as a practical, fair jurist but became a prominent supporter of public education. Few's efforts to establish UGA as the first state-chartered university in the United States indicated the importance this self-educated man gave to formal instruction.

Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American Founding Father and politician — For his nephew, see Abraham Dudley Baldwin. Not to be confused with Adam Baldwin. Early life, education and career [ edit ]. Move to Georgia [ edit ]. Politics [ edit ]. Death and legacy [ edit ].

Bibliography [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Archived from the original on April 13, The Journal of Military History. ISSN S2CID ISBN Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, OCLC Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution. Washington D. LCCN CMH Pub Archived from the original on May 13, Retrieved June 8, Southern Historical Press.

January 27, Few participated in this training as one of the first men to enlist in the volunteer militia or "minute men" company formed in Hillsborough. Typically, Few's unit received its tactical instruction from a veteran of the French and Indian Warsin this case a former British Army corporal who was hired by the company as its drill sergeant.

Citing the press of family business, Few rejected the offer of a captaincy in one of the first units North Carolina raised for the Continental Army in the summer of But when he finally settled the family's accounts the next year and joined his relatives in Georgia, where he opened a law office, he quickly placed his newly acquired military knowledge at the service of the Patriot cause in his new state.

Georgia organized its citizen-soldiers on a geographical basis, forming local companies into a regiment in each county. Few joined the Richmond County Regiment, which his older brother Benjamin commanded. For the next two years, Few's military duties consisted of attending military assemblies where he instructed his friends and neighbors in the skills he had acquired in the North Carolina militia.

Few was called to active duty inwhen Georgia was faced the threat of invasion by British and Loyalist troops based in Florida. The Georgians' first military campaign ended in disaster. A force of state and Continental Army units successfully combined to repulse a British raid on Sunbury near the states southeastern border, but an American counterattack orchestrated by Major-General Robert Howe and Governor John Houstoun bogged down before they could reach St.

Augustine, Florida. Few, in command of a company of Georgia Militiawatched the collapse of the campaign's logistical support and then the disintegration of the American invaders, as senior officers bickered among themselves and as disease began to decimate the units. Only half of the American soldiers of the campaign survived to return home. At the end of the year a sudden amphibious invasion by British forces resulted in the capture of Savannah, Georgiaand the annihilation of the rest of the Continental Army troops under Howe's command and most of the eastern militia units.

Armed resistance to the British continued in the western part of the state, led by the Richmond County Regiment. Throughout the regiment, with Few as second in command, frequently turned out to skirmish with probing British units, eventually forcing them to abandon Augusta, which the British had captured soon after the fall of Savannah.

American successes began to reverse the fortunes of war in Georgia, prompting the recently appointed Continental Army commander in the region, Major General Benjamin Lincolnto take the offensive. Lincoln combined his continentals and militia abrahams baldwin and william few biography from Georgia and South Carolina with French forces that had arrived from the Caribbean to lay siege to Savannah.

He immediately encountered difficulty, however, in coordinating the efforts of his diverse forces. The French, under pressure to terminate operations quickly in order to move on to other assignments, persuaded Lincoln to launch a full frontal attack against the British. The result was a bloody defeat for the Franco-American attackers, but Few's militiamen participated in a successful rear-guard action that shielded the retreat of the American units.

In the aftermath of the battle his regiment was posted to the frontier where the Muscogeeinterpreting the defeat before Savannah as proof of the Georgians' weakness, had attacked the Americans in concert with British forces. British operations in Georgia in were part of a new "southern strategy" by which they planned to use the state as a base for conquering the rebellious colonies in a sweep up from the south.

Few's military service in the later years of the war proved critical both in frustrating this strategy and in enhancing his credentials as a state leader. The area never developed into a secure Loyalist base, and British troops needed for subsequent operations in the Carolinas and Virginia had to be diverted to counter the threat posed by the American militiamen on the frontier.

Few emerged as a gifted administrator and logistics expert in this demanding and difficult effort to maintain a viable military force in Georgia. He also turned into a bold, innovative partisan commander. Experience and innate common sense enabled him to develop patience, preserve his forces for key attacks, and then pick his time and place to engage small enemy parties without unduly risking the safety of his men.

Most importantly, he displayed the raw physical stamina required to survive the serious hardships of guerrilla warfare. Military was a success that went hand in hand with political service. During the late s Few won election to the House of Representatives in the Georgia General Assemblysat on the state's Executive Council, acted as state surveyor-general, represented Georgia in negotiations with the Indians that succeeded in minimizing the danger of frontier attacks, [ 6 ] and served as Richmond County's senior magistrate.

Few's growing political prominence and undisputed talent for leadership prompted the state legislature in to appoint him to represent Georgia in the Continental Congress, which became the Congress of the Confederation after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation a year later. Few served in Congress less than a year when, in the wake of General Nathanael Greene 's successful effort to drive the British out of most of Georgia, Congress sent him home to help reassemble Georgia's scattered government.

This task accomplished, Few returned to Congress inwhere he remained to serve throughout most of the decade. While a member of that body, Few was asked by his state to serve concurrently in the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in Moving after the war, Baldwin lived in Wilkes County. He was practicing law and was working very hard to establish the University of Georgia.

In Baldwin served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. While Georgia had other delegates to attend, it was Abraham Baldwin and William Few who stayed through all of the debate and signed the constitution. The delegates represented different states and had different visions about how the states should work together to form one federal government.

A major concern was deciding how the states should be represented in Congress. Larger states wanted representation based on population, while smaller states wanted equal representation. Smaller states were concerned that their interests would be trampled by states with a significantly greater population.