The Micronesian Constitutional Convention opened at the Whitesand Hotel, Saipan, with Truk’s Tosiwo Nakayama as president.

Black-and-white photograph of delegates seated close together along a table covered in papers, several writing with pens; men in island-print shirts and glasses lean over documents, with more desks and stacked papers behind them. — Members of the Micronesian Constitutional Convention in session at the White Sands Hotel, Saipan, 1975. Photo by Sam McPhetres.

Photo by Sam McPhetres, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Department of Public Affairs, photo N-2. Trust Territory Archives, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library.

Public domain in the US (US Department of the Interior work, per Wikimedia Commons) Source record

What happened

The convention sat until 8 November 1975 and drafted a constitution with 16 articles and a single-chamber congress. Each state was to elect one four-year member, from among whom the president and vice president would be chosen, plus two-year members by population. On a bill’s final reading, each state delegation would cast one vote, protecting the smaller states.