Unit 6: The Constitution Lesson 2: The Constitutional Convention

What did we learn from Shays’ Rebellion & the economic depression? The Articles of Confederation needed to be revised The biggest problem with the Articles of Confederation was that it gave too much power to the state govt’s, and not enough power to… the national/federal gov’t

Philadelphia, the most modern city in the country, would host what came to be known as the… Constitutional Convention

Important Info: A constitution is a document that explains how a gov’t works It’s like a for the

Why watch this clip? So that you will never forget which state didn't attend the Constitutional Convention In May, 1787, 12 of the 13 states sent delegates to Philadelphia Your next question is probably… Which state didn’t go? Clue: Rhode Island’s leaders wanted nothing to do with creating a stronger central gov’t

Who were the delegates that went? 55 white men attended one or more sessions of the convention, which lasted from May through September Many of them were among the best political leaders in the country They had helped write their state constitutions, and more than half had been in the Continental Congress

James Madison of Virginia George Washington was chosen unanimously to lead the convention Another very important member was James Madison of Virginia Instead of revising the Articles, he favored writing a completely new constitution

Madison arrived at the convention with a draft for the new gov’t framework, & many of his ideas became part of the Constitution His contributions were so important that he earned the nickname “Father of the Constitution”

It didn’t take long for the delegates to realize that Madison was right The Articles left the central gov’t far too weak to hold a nation together Rather than trying to amend the old document, an entirely new one had to be written

The Virginia Plan legislative, executive, & judicial Madison’s proposal for the new constitution became known as the Virginia Plan It called for a strong national gov’t with 3 branches: legislative, executive, & judicial

determines if the laws are carried out fairly Legislative branch: makes laws Executive branch: carries out the laws Judicial branch: determines if the laws are carried out fairly

The Virginia Plan The plan called for a 2-house legislature In both houses, the # of members from each state would be based on population Who would prefer this plan- large states or small states? Large population Large population Small population Small population

The New Jersey Plan Like the Virginia Plan, it provided for 3 branches of gov’t It differed in that it kept the 1-house Congress that had been established under the Articles No matter how large, each state would have one vote

mostly favored large states & a strong central gov’t Overall, the Virginia Plan mostly favored large states & a strong central gov’t So the New Jersey Plan was better for small states & those who wanted the states to keep a lot of power (weak central gov’t)

There was bitter debate over these plans for 2 weeks Because neither side could find a middle ground, the Constitutional Convention almost collapsed Ben Franklin actually proposed that each session be opened with a prayer, asking God to guide them in finding a compromise

The Great Compromise On July 2, the convention chose one delegate from each state to form a “grand committee” that would work toward a solution What they came up with was called “The Great Compromise”

The Great Compromise Congress would be a bicameral legislature (made up of 2 houses) Upper house =the Senate Each state, large or small, would have 2 senators The senators would be chosen by state legislatures Who do you think liked this part of the Compromise- small states or large states?

The Great Compromise House of Representatives population The large states liked the 2nd part of the plan Lower House of Congress = the… House of Representatives # of representatives from each state was based on population The representatives would be chosen directly by the voters in each state

The Great Compromise The Great Compromise was passed in a very close vote on July 16, 1787

Now for another problem (oh jeez, what now?) If a state’s population would determine the # of votes it had in the House of Representatives, could slaves be counted as part of that population?

The North said no Their economy was mostly based on manufacturing & trade, and workers were mostly free men & women. No slaves In the South, where the economy was based on farming, there were many African American men & women working on plantations

If the South could count slaves as part of their population, they could have more representatives in Congress At the same time, though, they didn’t want to count slaves as a basis for paying taxes (their slaves were assets that would make their taxes higher)

So the South thought slaves should be counted for representation, but not for tax purposes The North thought just the opposite- that the South should have to pay higher taxes because of their slaves, but they wouldn’t count toward representation

The solution that Congress finally agreed upon was called the Three-Fifths Compromise Only 3/5 of the enslaved people in the South would be counted for both representation & taxation

Other Compromises on Slavery Northerners also agreed that : Congress couldn’t outlaw the slave trade for 20 years No state could stop an escaped slave from being returned to his owner

Although not everyone liked these compromises, they wanted the Constitution finished so they’d finally have an effective national gov’t Their desire for a stable gov’t outweighed their desire to act against slavery

On September 17, 1787, after 4 months of hard work, 39 delegates signed the Constitution It would then go to the states, where 9 out of 13 had to ratify (approve) it before it became law

Whatever It Takes to Fix the Gov’t Although no one seemed completely happy with the new Constitution, most agreed that it was a major improvement over the Articles of Confederation they hoped it would replace