<P> Rhode Island Rhode Island did not send delegates to the Convention . </P> <P> (*) Did not sign the final draft of the U.S. Constitution . Randolph, Mason, and Gerry were the only three present in Philadelphia at the time who refused to sign . </P> <P> Several prominent Founders are notable for not participating in the Constitutional Convention . Thomas Jefferson was abroad, serving as the minister to France (nonetheless, Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams, would describe the delegates approvingly as a gathering of "demi - gods"). John Adams was in Britain, serving as minister to that country, but he wrote home to encourage the delegates . Patrick Henry refused to participate because he "smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy ." Also absent were John Hancock and Samuel Adams . Many of the states' older and more experienced leaders may have simply been too busy with the local affairs of their states to attend the Convention, which had originally been planned to strengthen the existing Articles of Confederation, not to write a constitution for a completely new national government . </P>

Unable to attend the constitutional convention because he was serving as american minister to france