The Constitutional Convention (1787) was a gathering of delegates in Philadelphia intended to revise the system of government established under the Articles of Confederation. The delegates, including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, elected George Washington as President of the convention before changing course from a revision of the Articles of Confederation to a complete overhaul of the United States government and the creation of a new Constitution. After debating over the merits of James Madison's Virginia Plan and William Paterson's New Jersey Plan, delegates agreed on the former, which proposed a centralized government made up of three branches and argued for a bicameral legislature. After deliberating for a period over the Connecticut Compromise, delegates composed a draft of the Constitution which was refined and resubmitted in September to be signed by thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates. Ratified the following year, The Constitution of the United States is the single most important document in American political history.