It’s late, and I’ve been meaning to either ask or google this for days now… so I’m taking the short route and asking. Here’s my question: Does anyone know how the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were chosen when our constitution was written? Why were John Hancock and Ben Franklin and the others the ones that were there? Were they elected? Chosen by … by whom?

I thought of this question after reading the following sentence in Kalypso Nicolaidis’s essay in the current Foreign Affairs about the EU Constitution:

The EU’s original sin may be that it was not built on a democratic foundation; its citizens were not asked to vet the union’s creation.

I know she’s talking about something different than what I’m asking about our own constitutional convention, but it made me think of the question above. Any pointers would be appreciated… I’ll follow up with whatever I find whenever I get a chance if people are interested.