1. Constitutional Convention
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 25 – September 17, 1787

2. Declaration of Independence
What was the purpose of declaring independence from Great Britain?

3. Timeline 1776 - 1789 1776 Declaration of Independence
1777 Articles of Confederation created
1781 Articles of Confederation ratified
1783 Treaty of Paris
1787 Constitutional Convention
1789 George Washington inaugurated as first President of the United States

4. Articles of Confederation
Branches of Government
Confederation Congress
No Judicial Branch
No Executive Branch

5. Articles of Confederation
Powers Granted to Congress
Conduct Foreign Affairs
Declare war and make peace
Issue and borrow money
Run postal service
Powers Denied to Congress
Establish executive branch
Enforce national laws
Enact and collect taxes
Regulate trade
Establish federal courts
Amend the Articles

6. James Madison Delegate from Virginia
Believed that revising the Articles of Confederation would not be enough
Wanted a strong central government
The Virginia Plan
“Father of the Constitution”
Took detailed notes during the Convention

7. The Virginia Plan Three Branches of Government Congress Legislative
President
Federal Courts
Legislative
Makes the Law
Executive
Enforces the Law
Judicial
Interprets the Law

8. The Virginia Plan Legislative Branch Who disagrees? Why?
Bicameral – Two houses
Upper House and Lower House
Proportional Representation - Number of representatives is based on state’s population
Power to make laws “in all cases to which the separate states are incompetent [unable].”
Who disagrees? Why?
Small states want equal representation

9. The New Jersey Plan Unicameral Legislature
One House
Equal Representation - Each state has the same number of representatives in Congress
Supported by small states. Opposed by large states.

10. How can we solve this problem?
Large states support the Virginia Plan
Proportional Representation
Small states support the New Jersey Plan
Equal Representation

11. The Great Compromise
“That the proportion of suffrage in the first branch should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants, and that in the second branch or Senate, each State should have one vote and no more.”
-Roger Sherman, June 11, 1787

12. The Great Compromise Congress
House of Representatives
Proportional Representation – number of representatives based on a state’s population
Senate
Equal Representation – every state has two senators no matter what its population

13. House of Representatives
Who do we count as part of the population?
Northern states say free citizens only
Southern states say everyone including slaves

14. Three-Fifths Compromise
Art. 1, Sec. 2, Clause 3: “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons.”

15. Three-Fifths Compromise
Art. 1, Sec. 2, Clause 3: “Representatives ... shall be apportioned...according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons...three-fifths of all other Persons.”
3/5

16. Slavery Slavery banned in many northern states
Southern states will not support Constitution if it bans slavery
Compromise: Congress will not ban the slave trade until 1808
Art. 1, Sec. 9, Clause 1: “The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight...”

17. September 17, 1787 Delegates vote and pass the Constitution.
39 of the 42 delegates that were present signed the Constitution
Three delegates did not sign:
Edmund Randolph - wait for Virginia to vote
George Mason – no Bill of Rights
Elbridge Gerry – no Bill of Rights

19. “Whilst the last members were signing it, Doctr
“Whilst the last members were signing it, Doctr. Franklin looking towards the President’s chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. I have, said he, often and 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 that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”
James Madison, in The Records of the Federal Convention

21. What’s next?
Thirty nine delegates signed the Constitution. Does that mean that it becomes law?
Why would someone oppose ratifying the Constitution? What’s missing?

22. The Bill of Rights