In 1787 the founding fathers were busy down at the Philadelphia Convention drafting the US Constitution. This was not an uncontentious meeting, as we all know. The best record we have of the daily debates that led to the final document is James Madison’s personal journal.
This is a like more or less daily account from mid-May to mid-September. (Fun fact: they kept the windows of Independence Hall closed despite Philadelphia Summer because they were afraid of people eavesdropping from the street.)
A fun thing you can do any year is to read these in real time, every day’s entries on that day. (The length is manageable, and in any case, you can always skim?)
The fun thing about 2018 is that the days of the week line up, so if you’re reading the entry from Monday, May 28th, you’ll be reading it on Monday, May 28th.