Constitutional Convention Section 5.2

Essential Question? How was the Constitution created?

Shay’s Rebellion Poor Massachusetts farmers, many former soldiers, were losing their lands due to debt, high taxes, and a lack of currency. Led by Revolution veteran Daniel Shay, these rebels began attacking banks, courthouses, and marching toward Boston. The elite of Boston hired an army that clashed with Shay, who was condemned to death (but pardoned).

Shay’s Rebellion What had gone wrong? These men who fought against tyranny a few years ago now felt it in their new republic. Was the new nation too liberal? Not liberal enough? Should a monarchy be established? Should there be a stronger central government? How strong?

1787 Recall the failures of the Articles of Confederation. By 1787, most American wanted a new federal government. Representatives from 12 states met in Philadelphia to design a new plan for government.

Structure The Virginia Plan Called for 3 branches of government (legislative, executive, judicial) Legislative branch would have one house with representation based on population. All large states liked this plan because it gave them more power in the legislative. Large states in 1787: Massachusetts, NY, Pennsylvania, Virginia

Structure The New Jersey Plan Still 3 branches Legislative would have one house with equal representation for every state. Small states like this idea because it gave them the same power as big states Small states 1787: NH, NJ, Delaware, Georgia

Structure The Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise) 3 branches 2 houses in the legislature 1 house with equal representation 1 house based on population Big and small states agree on this compromise This is the basic set-up of the federal government today

3/5ths Compromise How would representation for the population based house (House of Representatives) be decided. Census (population count) held every 10 years. Each state given a number of representatives based on how many people live there.

3/5ths Compromise Southern states had large numbers of slaves that they wanted to count in their populations. Northern states had less slaves, so they didn’t want to count them because it would give the south more power. Compromise: only 3/5ths of slaves would be counted toward representation.

Electoral College In 1787 our leaders didn’t trust the people to decide who would become the president. Each state would be given a certain amount of Electors, chosen by the state government to elect the president. A state would get 2 electors (every state has 2 Senators) in addition to the number of Representatives

Electoral College These Electors normally vote according to the popular vote, but it does present the possibility of a president coming to power with less than half of the countries approval. We still use this system today Example: NC gets 15 electoral votes (2 Senators + 13 Representatives) California = 55, Wyoming = 3

Commerce and Slave Trade Commerce between states and among foreign nations would be regulated by the federal government. The international slave trade would be prohibited after 1808.

Ratification To ratify means to approve. In order for the new Constitution to be official 9 of the 13 states had to ratify it. There was a lot of opposition to the Constitution.