The First Illinois Constitutional Convention was held in August 1818 as a precondition for Illinois statehood. The 33 delegates elected from Illinois' 15 counties met in a tavern in Kaskaskia, the territorial capital on the first Monday in August 1818. Before the month was out, they had produced the Illinois Constitution of 1818. The convention's work paved the way for statehood and governed the law of Illinois for the state's first 30 years.