1776-May 24， 1787<br > A lively city in ordinary times， Philadelphia was touched by<br >a special aura of suspense that May of 1787. Even the rain<br >clouds that darkened the skies for much of the month did<br >nothing to dampen a sense of expectancy that was almost pal-<br >pable. For once again， as so often in the recent past， this at-<br >tractive， well-ordered city seemed to its citizens to be at the<br >absolute center of things. Critical decisions were again to be<br >made here， decisions that would surely affect the lives of<br >Americans still unborn. And if there was hope in the general<br >air of anticipation， it was a hope tinged with fear.<br > That all event of such moment should be taking place in<br >Philadelphia， however， seemed only natural. It had， after all，<br >been here that the First Continental Congress had met in 1774，<br >just thirteen years earlier， in the crisis that followed the British<br >closing of the port of Boston. It was here that the Second Con-<br >tinental Congress， meeting in 1775 after the fighting at Lexing-<br >ton and Concord， had named George Washington commander<br >of a new Continental Army. And it was most emphatically<br >