Creating and Ratifying the Constitution (74-78)

Main Idea Many of the provisions of the Constitution were arrived at through a series of compromises.

I. Two Opposing Plans (74-75) A. Virginia Plan-1787 (Favored by NY, Mass, Penn, Va) 1. Created by James Madison 2. Called for government with 3 branches a. Legislative Branch (lawmakers) b. Executive Branch (carry out laws) c. Judicial Branch (interpret laws) 3. Legislature would have two houses; states would be represented based on the population of each state. ***More populated states = more power!***

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B. New Jersey Plan- 1787 (favored by NJ, Md, Del) 1. Created by William Patterson 2. Also called for 3 branches of government 3. Legislature would have one house and each state gets 1 vote. 4. This plan would give equal power to large AND small states! 5. Larger states did not like this plan!

II. Great Compromise (p. 75) A. For six weeks, delegates fiercely debated both plans. B. Sherman’s committee proposed a Senate and a House of Representatives. ***Each state would have equal representation in the Senate. Representation in the House would be based on population.***

C. The delegates accepted this plan = THE GREAT COMPROMISE

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Another disagreement ***Southern states wanted to take advantage of enslaved African Americans and count them as part of their population determining representation in the House. Northern states opposed!*** D. This led to the Three-Fifths Compromise. (550,000 slaves in south) E. 3/5 Compromise- Delegates agreed that every 5 enslaved persons would count as three free persons when determining congressional representation and taxes. (100 slaves =60 persons)

Other compromises made F. Northern states wanted Congress to be able to regulate all trade. G. Southern states feared Congress would then tax their exports and stop slave trade. H. Agreement- a. Congress regulates interstate trade but can’t tax exports b. Slave trade continues until 1808 I. Delegates disagreed on whether Congress or the voters should choose the president. The solution was called the: Electoral College.

I. Electoral College- A group of people named by each legislature to select the president and vice president. Today, voters in each state, not the legislators, choose electors.

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III. Approving the Constitution (77-78) A. Ratification required at least 9/13 states B. There were 2 main groups. 1. Federalists- Supporters of the new Constitution. They believed in Federalism. Federalism- form of government in which power is divided between the national government and the states. Federalists favored a strong national gov. and published a series of essays- The Federalists (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay)

2. Anti-Federalists- Opposed new Constitution 2. Anti-Federalists- Opposed new Constitution. Afraid the new national gov. would be too strong and wanted indiv. rights guaranteed. C. Solution: agreeing to add Bill of Rights. This promise helped lead to ratification. D. The Constitution took effect when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it! NC- 12th RI- 13th

Mini Quiz!!! The New Jersey Plan favored which states? Virginia Plan? What did both plans have in common? What was the Great Compromise? Did the 3/5 Compromise help the northern or southern states? Which group supported the new Constitution? Federalists or Anti-Federalists? The addition of this finally led the anti-federalists to approving the new constitution..