Three delegates still at the Convention in September, 1787 made it clear that they did not approve the Constitution. Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts 

refused to sign the Constitution, mainly because of the scope of the powers given to the federal government. 

   However, 39 delegates approved it, and voted, with unanimous consent of all states present, to send it to the Confederation Congress and to the states for ratification. The debate continued in each state’s ratifying convention.  Some of the fiercest debate occurred in New York and was published in the form of essays in New York and Philadelphia newspapers. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, writing under the pseudonym, “Publius,” organized a vigorous campaign to write a series of essays explaining and defending the Constitution.