The document summarizes the origins and creation of the US Constitution. It describes how the Articles of Confederation failed to effectively govern the new nation, leading to calls for a new governing document. 55 delegates met at the Philadelphia Convention to draft the Constitution, debating issues of representation, slavery, economic powers, and individual rights. The Madisonian model of separated and checked powers was incorporated. The Constitution was then ratified after the Federalist Papers defended it, and a Bill of Rights was later added.