Constitutional Convention Who What Where When Why and

Constitutional Convention Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How? The Big Debates

What was it? The constitutional convention was a meeting of delegates from across the country in Philadelphia that was called to “revise the Articles of Confederation. ” Why was it called? A number of issues had shown that the Articles of Confederation were too weak. Shays’ Rebellion proved to Congress that a stronger central government was needed.

Recapping weaknesses & results of Articles of Confederation

When? Summer of 1787. It was HOT!

Where was it? Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Who attended? 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states (Rhode Island refused to sent delegates) Many of the delegates were quite young, some in the twenties (founding fathers, eh? ) Many owned slaves. What were their real motives? More on this later.

George Washington: Home State: Virginia Chosen to be the presiding officer. Well respected war hero.

James Madison Home State: Virginia Wealthy planter. Member of Virginia Assembly. Firmly believed a strong central government was needed. Recorded much of what went on at the convention.

Alexander Hamilton Home State: New York Another proponent of a stronger federal government. One of the people who organized the convention.

Benjamin Franklin Home State: Pennsylvania 81 years old experienced leader

Significant People who WERE NOT at the convention. Thomas Jefferson John Adams Both were in Europe at the time.

The Plans

The Virginia Plan • Completely scrap the Articles of Confederation • Create a STRONG federal government that could impose taxes and regulate trade, and had a way of ENFORCING it. • Wanted to divide government into three branches. • Legislative – Makes Laws • Executive – Enforces Laws • Judicial – Interprets Laws Legislature would be divided into two houses. Each state would be represented by the proportion of its population. First house would be elected by state voters Second house would be elected by first house This plan was mostly the work of James Madison

The New Jersey Plan • Wanted to MODIFY the Articles of Confederation • Still wanted a strong central government, and still wanted three different branches. Wanted ONE house in Legislature. Representation would be equal for every state. Congress would move forward with the Virginia plan (two houses) but eventually a compromise was needed.

The Connecticut Compromise Also known as: The Great Compromise Keep the 2 House Legislature Lower House: House of Representatives – Representation Based on Population – Elected by state voters Upper House: Senate: Equal Representation for Each State – Elected by state legislatures

The Three/Fifths Compromise The problem: Southern states wanted to count slaves as a part of their regular population when determining how many representatives they should have. Northern states, which had far fewer slaves, disagreed because slaves could not vote and were considered property. The Compromise: A slave would count as 3/5 of a person when determining a states representation.

Your text identifies three key principles of the US Constitution. I have four of them. What do you think they are?

Key Principles of the Constitution: 1) Federalism: The division of power between the national government and the state governments

Key Principles of the Constitution 2) Separation of Powers: A way of dividing power among three branches of government. The House of Representatives, Senate, President, and Federal courts are selected and responsible to different constituencies.

Key Principles of the Constitution 3) Checks and Balances: The three branches are able to limit each other through specific powers, state and national governments check each other.

Key Principles of the Constitution: 4) Republicanism - not classical democracy, but based on representation, calibrated popular input