First Amendment to the United States Constitution restrained but by despotic Governments." Eight of the other twelve states made similar pledges. However, these declarations were generally considered "mere admonitions to state legislatures", rather than enforceable provisions. After several years of comparatively weak government under the Articles of Confederation, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring among other changes a stronger chief executive. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, proposed that the Constitution include a bill of rights listing and guaranteeing civil liberties. Other delegates—including future Bill of Rights drafter James Madison—disagreed, arguing
Friends of the Constitution Friends of the Constitution Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej (in English, also variously rendered as Association of Friends of the (Governing) Constitution, Society of Friends of the Government Ordinance, Society of Friends of the Constitution, Assembly of Friends of the Government Constitution) was the first modern Polish political party (with a charter and organizational discipline), formed in May 1791, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, by the efforts of the Patriotic Party. The purpose of the Friends of the Constitution was to defend the reformed political system and to introduce further reforms. The party's leading members