How did the US constitution come into existence?

Question:This is what I think-
Shay's rebellion caused fear and hope that the governement was losing power. A group of people (rich, white men) got together to try and increase the powers under the Articles of Confederation. This led to the Anapolis Convention, which led to the Philadelphia convention. The major concern was the lack of central governement. These concerns spawned the Virginia plan, and the smaller states countered with the New Jersey plan. After a stalemate, both sides agreed to the Great Comprimise.
Is this correct? Am I missing anything?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: This is what I think-
Shay's rebellion caused fear and hope that the governement was losing power. A group of people (rich, white men) got together to try and increase the powers under the Articles of Confederation. This led to the Anapolis Convention, which led to the Philadelphia convention. The major concern was the lack of central governement. These concerns spawned the Virginia plan, and the smaller states countered with the New Jersey plan. After a stalemate, both sides agreed to the Great Comprimise.
Is this correct? Am I missing anything?

You're pretty much correct. Shay's Rebellion wasn't the cause of the conventions, rather it was the confirmation of a need for change. Most people already realized the Articles government was ineffective but since most people also preferred to their state to the larger Confederation, they weren't overly troubled by its weaknesses. Shay's Rebellion showed that the government was so weak that people might successfully rise up in opposition to its polices and the threat of violence was pretty sobering to Americans.

The purpose of the Philadelphia convention was to consider revising the Articles of Confederation to make the central government more powerful. However James Madison went to the convention and proposed an entirely new government which would scrap the Articles. Once people agreed with his idea then the Virginia and New Jersey plans were proposed. The Virginia plan seemed to favor the large states while the New Jersey plan essentially followed the weakness of the Articles (a single vote for each state). As you noted, the great compormise resolved the issue and the Constitution was written. That wasn't the end of the story though, after the Constitution was drafted, the process of ratification was very tricky and much of the debate over ratification set the groundwork for political parties in the US.

Probably more than you wanted, but I hope it helps.