"After the Declaration of Independence each state assembly busied
itself with drafting new constitutions and laws to take the place of
the old. The Pennsylvania assembly passed two or three months in such
business, but at the end of the time the delegates were no closer to
agreeing on a new form of government than they had been when they
started. The citizens of Pennsylvania, on the other hand, had gone
quietly about their daily lives, and affairs in the state had run
pretty smoothly without the benefit of a new constitution. Franklin
pointed out to his fellow delegates the dangers of this situation:
'Gentlemen, you see we have been living under anarchy, yet the
business of living has gone on as usual. Be careful; if our debates
last too much longer, people may come to see that they can get along
very well without us'." --Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes

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