A Grand Convention

 James Madison Virginia one of the youngest delegates to the Constitutional Convention The best prepared For months he read stacks of book on history, politics, and commerce During the night he would wake to read more and write notes He had a case bulging with research when he reached Philadelphia

Madison the Historian  He kept a full and clear record of proceedings of the Constitutional Convention  He decided not to publicize his writing as long as a single delegate was alive

 The notes are published  1840, 4 years after his death Madison’s record of the constitutional Convention was printed

 Summer of 1781, 55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia  George Washington (Virginia), was immediately elected president of the convention  Alexander Hamilton (New York) disliked the Articles of Confederation in favor of a strong national government

 delegates decided to keep their talks secret so delegates could speak freely guards stood at the doors windows were kept shut

 Delegates decided to do more than revise the Articles of Confederation  They decided to write a whole new constitution

 Virginia Plan Put forth by Edmund Randolph and James Madison Called for a strong national government 3 branches  Legislative branch: passes laws  Executive branch: carries out laws  Judicial branch: system of courts; are laws being carried out fairly

 2 house legislature Seats in both houses would be awarded according to population  Larger states would have representation than smaller states  Small states object  Small states feared that the larger states could easily out vote them Virginia Plan supporters respond that it is only fair that a state with more people have more representation

 New Jersey Plan  William Patterson (New Jersey)  3 branches of government  Legislature with only one house  Each state, no matter what size, had one vote

 The Great Compromise Roger Sherman (Connecticut) Compromise: settlement in which each side agrees to give up some of its demands

 Legislature with a lower and an upper house  Lower house, House of Representatives:  elected office  seats are awarded according to population  appealed to larger states

 Upper House ; Senate Chosen by state legislatures Each state had 2 senators Appealed to smaller states

 Would slaves be counted as part of a state’s population?  Affected the number of votes a state would have in the House of Representatives

 Southerners wanted to include slaves in the population count but they could not vote  Northerners protested Since slaves can’t vote, they shouldn’t be counted

 Three-Fifths Compromise 3/5 of the slaves in any state would be counted

 By 1787 some northern states had banned slave trade within their borders They wanted the new Congress to ban the slave trade in the entire nation  Southerners warned this would ruin their economy  Northerners agreed that Congress could not outlaw slave trade for at least 20 years  No state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to an owner

 Delegates struggled with other questions How many years should a president serve? How should the courts be organized? Would members of Congress be paid?  September 17, 1787 The Constitution was signed by the delegates