Debates at the Constitutional Convention

National VS Local Government

• National control – Gives full control to the central government in the United States – supported by Hamilton, Franklin, Madison. National Government would make laws in all cases they can veto all laws passed by individual states that contradict or violate the constitution

• Local Control – National government should make laws binding on the people of the US only in cases that clearly concern the common interests of the country, but should not interfere otherwise. – supported by Martin, Mason, Gerry)

• There is also a position that would require a combination of both side between national and local control – supported by Sherman, Brearly, and Ellsworth

Representation – Population or state?• Population – Each state has representation based on the size of their

population – supported by Madison, Wilson, Morris (Washington and Hamilton also agreed)• State – All states are given one vote for equality – supported by

Martin, Paterson, Dickinson• Shared – Each state in Congress has two votes in a senate and votes in

a second branch in proportion to their population – supported by Franklin, Sherman, and Gorham

The Virginia Plan

• Proposed a bicameral (two house), legislature and the membership was based on the states population• Voters would elect members of the lower house and these members

would then elect members of the upper house. Both of these houses would then vote for the country’s president and judges• Written by Madison

The New Jersey Plan

• Delegates from the small states rejected the Virginia Plan because it gave too much power to the states with a large population• Proposed a single house congress in which each state had one vote• It would then give control of Congress to the seven smallest state if

they had voted together. (However, these seven small states only made up 25% of the population)• Proposed by William Patterson

The Great Compromise

• Delegates tempers’ flared and the debate became deadlocked.• Eventually, Roger Sherman suggested what became known as The Great

Compromise.• It offered a two house congress which would satisfy both small and big state.

Each state would have equal representation in the Senate and the size of the population of each state would determine how many representatives were in the House of Representatives. Voters of each state would choose members of the House and the state legislatures would choose members of the Senate• This satisfied those who favored government by the people because it allowed

voters to participate directly in choosing representatives. It also satisfied those who defended states’ rights because it preserve the power of the state legislature

Majority Rule vs Checks and Balances• Democratic Approach – All men over 18 should be allowed to vote, the

President, Senators, and Representatives are elected by the voters and should be eligible for re-election – supported by Franklin, Martin and Wilson• Aristocratic Approach (Majority Rule) – Only male freeholders of age 21 or

older can vote and the president should be elected by electors appointed by the state and serve a 10 year term. Senators would be elected by the state as well serving a 7 year term and representatives would be elected by the voters and serve unlimited terms. – supported by Hamilton, Madison, Morris• Compromise (unsure if this happened)– Taken from both the democratic

and Aristocratic Approach – supported by Paterson, Pierce, Washington)

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

• Pick one of these debates and write AT LEAST a minimum of a three paragraph essay• In the essay, include an introduction (with a thesis), at least one body

paragraph, and a conclusion.• YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY NEED EVIDENCE IN ORDER FOR YOUR ARGUMENT TO

BE VALID• You will be using the debate documents on the website (the one’s we have

been going over in class)• For support, use quotes and CITE them. If you have quotes, your paper will

be that much better!