Commentary The Constitution’s framers were familiar with a long line of Anglo-American documentary landmarks, of which the most famous was Magna Carta and the most recent were state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation. But in drafting the U.S. Constitution, the framers composed a document unique for its balance and beauty. The Constitutional Convention commenced business in late May 1787. Over the next two months it debated and adopted a series of resolutions. In late July it created a special committee to hammer the resolutions into a first draft. The committee consisted of four leading lawyers and a former president of the Confederation Congress (Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts). Its chairman was John Rutledge of South Carolina, an outstanding judge later to serve briefly as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. This group was called the Committee of Detail. The other delegates adjourned while the Committee of Detail worked. On …