<P> Another contentious slavery - related question was whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation of the states in the Congress, or would instead be considered property and as such not be considered for purposes of representation . Delegates from states with a large population of slaves argued that slaves should be considered persons in determining representation, but as property if the new government were to levy taxes on the states on the basis of population . Delegates from states where slavery had become rare argued that slaves should be included in taxation, but not in determining representation . Finally, delegate James Wilson proposed the Three - Fifths Compromise . This was eventually adopted by the Convention . </P> <P> The states had originally appointed seventy representatives to the Convention, but a number of the appointees did not accept or could not attend, leaving fifty - five delegates who would ultimately craft the Constitution . </P> <P> Almost all of the fifty - five delegates had taken part in the Revolution, with at least twenty - nine having served in the Continental forces, most in positions of command . All but two or three had served in colonial or state government during their careers . The vast majority (about 75%) of the delegates were or had been members of the Confederation Congress, and many had been members of the Continental Congress during the Revolution . Several had been state governors . Just two delegates, Roger Sherman and Robert Morris, would be signatories to all three of the nation's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution . </P> <P> More than half of the delegates had trained as lawyers (several had even been judges), although only about a quarter had practiced law as their principal means of business . There were also merchants, manufacturers, shippers, land speculators, bankers or financiers, two or three physicians, a minister, and several small farmers . Of the twenty - five who owned slaves, sixteen depended on slave labor to run the plantations or other businesses that formed the mainstay of their income . Most of the delegates were landowners with substantial holdings, and most, with the possible exception of Roger Sherman and William Few, were very comfortably wealthy . George Washington and Robert Morris were among the wealthiest men in the entire country . </P>

Who were the delegates that attended the constitutional convention