1. Creating the Constitution
Chapter 8, Section 2

2. Bell Ringer
These questions focus on the challenges facing the Constitutional Convention.
A Voice from the Past
Let us not be afraid to view with a steady eye the [dangers] with which we are surrounded… Are we not on the eve of [a civil] war, which is only to be prevented by the hopes from this convention?
Edmund Randolph, quoted in Edmund Randolph: A Biography
1. Read the quotation (also on page 228). What grave danger did Randolph believe the nation faced?
2. What conflicts had already occurred to make Randolph’s worries seem justified?

3. Key Terms
Constitutional Convention – a meeting held in 1787 to consider changes to the Articles of Confederation; resulted in the drafting of the Constitution
James Madison – delegate to the Constitutional Convention; known as the “Father of the Constitution;” took detailed notes
Virginia Plan – a plan proposed by Edmund Randolph, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, that proposed a government with three branches and a two-house legislature in which representation would be based on a state’s population or wealth
New Jersey Plan – a plan of government proposed at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that called for a one-house legislature in which each state would have one vote
Great Compromise – the Constitutional Convention’s agreement to establish a two-house national legislature, with all states having equal representation in one house and each state having representation based on its population in the other house
Three-Fifths Compromise – the Constitutional Convention’s agreement to count three-fifths of a state’s slaves as population for purposes of representation and taxation

4. Objectives Describe the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention.
Identify the specifics of the Virginia Plan.
Explain how the Great Compromise satisfied both large and small states.
Describe the disputes over slavery and the compromises that were reached.
Discuss the drafting of the new Constitution.

5. What role did compromise play in the creation of the United States Constitution?
In the summer of 1787, leaders from across the country met in Philadelphia to discuss the nation’s growing problems.
They agreed that the current government had many weaknesses. The question was how to fix them.

6. A Constitutional Convention is Called
Delegates from 5 states met in Annapolis, MD
Led by Alexander Hamilton
The changes they wanted required amending the Articles of Confederation
Most people didn’t think the government needed to be changed…what changed their minds?
1. What events encouraged leaders to call a Constitutional Convention?
Trade, trade laws
Strengthen national government
Taxes

7. Fifty-five delegates attended the meeting in Philadelphia
Fifty-five delegates attended the meeting in Philadelphia. They represented 12 of the states, all but Rhode Island.
The delegates included heroes of the Revolution as well as younger state leaders.
George Washington was elected the convention’s president.

8. Key Framers of the Constitution

9. The purpose of the convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Independence Hall
From the beginning, however, many delegates believed that the Articles could not be saved.

10. The Convention’s Delegates
2. Who were some of the key delegates?
There were 55, known as the Founding Fathers
Which state did not participate?
3. What groups of Americans were not represented at the Convention? Why?
Native Americans
African Americans
Women

11. The Delegates Assemble
Pre-war, people saw government as a threat to citizen’s rights.
Now how do they feel?
4. What challenges faced the delegates at the Convention?
How to set up a strong but limited federal government.

12. The Convention Begins
5. Why did the delegates select George Washington as president of the Convention?
Respected leader
6. Why did the delegates vote to make discussions at the Convention secret?
To be able to consider all options freely, without outside influences

13. On just the third day of the convention, a proposal was presented to replace the Articles with a totally new plan of government.
The plan was written largely by James Madison of Virginia and proposed by Edmund Randolph.

14. The Virginia Plan called for a strong central government with three separate branches.
Legislative
Branch
Congress
make laws
Executive
Branch
President
carry out laws
Judicial
Branch
Courts
interpret laws

15. The Virginia Plan also called for Congress to have two separate houses—an upper and a lower house.
Representation in both houses would be determined by a state’s population.

16. The Virginia Plan
Edmund Randolph presented a plan (it was developed before the Convention began), that became known as the Virginia Plan
Two-house legislature
Based on a state’s population or wealth
Three branches of government
Legislature – made the laws
Executive – enforce the laws
Judicial – interpret the laws

17. Delegates from the small states opposed the Virginia Plan
Delegates from the small states opposed the Virginia Plan. Each state, they argued, should have the same number of votes in Congress.
William Paterson of New Jersey introduced his own plan, calling for Congress to have one house, and for each state to have one vote.
New Jersey
Plan

18. The New Jersey Plan Presented by William Paterson
One-house legislature
One state, one vote
What was this similar to?
Gave power to regulate trade and tax imports

19. The New Jersey Plan
7. How did the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan differ?
VA Plan  3 branches with a 2-house legislature based on population or wealth
NJ Plan  1 house legislature with each state getting 1 vote; it lacked the broad powers proposed by the VA Plan
8. Why did the issue of representation in Congress divide the large states from the smaller states?
Smaller states were worried that the larger states would end up ruling the others
Large states liked it because they would have greater representation

20. The issue of representation in Congress nearly tore the convention apart.
Virginia Plan
More people, more votes
New Jersey Plan
One state gets
one vote

21. The Great Compromise VA Plan won and became framework
But delegates could not come to an agreement over representation
A special committee was chosen to work out a compromise

22. Finally, Roger Sherman of Connecticut introduced a compromise that gave each side part of what it wanted.
The convention approved Sherman’s compromise, which became known as the Great Compromise or Connecticut Compromise.

23. The Great Compromise Congress House of Senate Representatives
Representation
based on
population
Senate
Each state
given two
representatives

25. The Great Compromise
9. How did the Great (Connecticut/Sherman) Compromise satisfy the concerns of the large and the smaller states?
Smaller states would get equal votes in the Senate
Larger states would get representation based on state population in the House of Representatives

26. Slavery and the Constitution
Representation is to be based on population for the House of Representatives…but how, then, to determine population?
Southern states wanted slaves counted for representation but not for taxation

28. The issue of representation in Congress came up again—this time concerning slavery. Should slaves be counted as part of a state’s population?
Southern
delegates
said yes
Northern
delegates
said no
A compromise was reached. Each enslaved person would be counted as three fifths of a free person.

29. The Three-Fifths Compromise, however, did not address the issue of the slave trade itself.
Some Northern delegates wanted to completely ban the slave trade. Southern delegates argued that such a move would ruin the South’s economy.
Again, a compromise was reached.

30. Slave Trade
Compromise
Ships could bring enslaved people into the country for 20 years.
After 1808, enslaved people could not be brought into the country.
The slave trade within the country would stay the same.

31. The Three-Fifths Compromise
10. How did the states resolve the debate over representation for enslaved Americans?
Three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for taxes and to determine representation
11. How did the states compromise over the issue of slave trade?
Congress could not ban the slave trade until 1808

32. Regulating Trade
12. What did Southern states give up in debates over trade issues?
Agreed to a tax on the slave trade
Agreed to export laws by national government
13. Did the delegates do the right thing in agreeing to the Three-Fifths Compromise?

33. We the People of the United States . . .
When the last compromise was reached, the delegates finally agreed on the provisions of the new Constitution.
Gouverneur Morris wrote the Preamble, which identifies the source of the new government’s authority in its opening words.
We the People
of the United States . . .

34. After weeks of debate, the delegates stepped forward to sign the Constitution.

35. Constitutional Convention
On the final day, as the last delegates were signing the document, Ben Franklin pointed toward the sun on the back of the Convention president's chair. Observing that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising sun from a setting sun, he went on to say: "I have often ... in the course of the session ... looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising and not a setting sun."

36. The Constitution
The Constitutional Convention approved the Constitution on Saturday, September 15, 1787.