Commerce and the desire to build a canal is what led to the Constitution.
In 1785 the Patowmack Company wanted to build a canal along the Potomac river, but ran into conflict between Virginia and Maryland.
So representatives from Maryland and Virginia convened a meeting at one the Patowmack company investor’s homes, Mount Vernon. The attendees drew up the Mount Vernon Compact, granting free trade along the river.
This meeting was a success and the attendees invited all 13 states to hold another such meeting the next year, in Annapolis, to develop uniform commercial regulations for everybody.
That 1786 Annapolis Convention led to a call for a more general meeting to be held the next May, in Philadelphia.
So. George Washington wanting to build a canal ended up with the Constitution.
A man, a plan, a canal: pandemonium!