Editing Caleb Strong (section)

==Philadelphia Convention and United States Senator==
Strong was elected as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the 1787 Constitution.<ref>Lodge, p. 296.</ref> A committed Federalist, Strong opposed the idea of the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] as a means of electing the president, instead supporting the idea that the legislature should choose him.<ref name=Lodge297>Lodge, p. 297.</ref> Although he initially opposed proposals that the number of senators should be equal for all states, he eventually changed his mind, enabling passage of the [[Connecticut Compromise]].<ref>Zelizer, p. 16.</ref> To temper the power of the states, he introduced language requiring tax legislation to originate in the House of Representatives.<ref>Morton, p. 281.</ref> Illness of his wife forced him to return to Massachusetts before the work was completed, so he did not sign the document.<ref name=Lodge297/><ref>Graham, p. 34.</ref> He was a vocal supporter of its adoption by the state's ratifying convention.<ref name=Lodge297/>

When the Constitution came into force in 1789, Strong was chosen by the state legislature to serve in the United States Senate.<ref>Bradford, p. 16.</ref> As what is now known as a [[Classes of United States senators|Class 2 Senator]] he came up for reelection in 1792, when he was again chosen.<ref>Lodge, pp. 298–299.</ref> He was one of the principal drafters of the [[Judiciary Act of 1789]], which established the federal courts. He was also instrumental in 1793 and 1794 in the development and passage by Congress of the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution.<ref>Wheeler and Harrison, p. 3.</ref> This measure was enacted in response to ''[[Chisholm v. Georgia]]'', a Supreme Court decision in which a private individual sued the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. The amendment expanded the [[sovereign immunity]] of states to limit suits against them by private individuals from other states.<ref>Marcus, p. 597.</ref>

Strong was also one of a small group of senators who convinced President [[George Washington]] in 1794 that a special envoy should be sent to Britain in order to avert war, and who convinced [[John Jay]] to accept that role.<ref>Elkins and McKitrick, pp. 389–395.</ref>  Jay ended up negotiating what became known as the [[Jay Treaty]], which resolved a number of issues between the two nations but also angered the leadership of [[French First Republic|Revolutionary France]] and was widely disliked, criticized, and opposed by Republicans.<ref>Elkins and McKitrick, pp. 406–426, 502.</ref> Strong resigned his seat in 1796 and returned to private life in Northampton.<ref>Trumbull, p. 598.</ref>