Event: The Constitutional Convention

Miss Springborn

Constitution and Government

Why is this needed?

• The Articles caused many problems in the new nation

• A group of nationalist leaders emerged, advocating a STRONG Federal Government

• Congress reluctantly called for this second convention for the sole purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation

When and Where…

• Time: May-August of 1787

• Place: Philadelphia, PA. Independence Hall

• How Long: 4 months

Important People• James Madison- father of the constitution• George Washington- to be the first president• Ben Franklin- offers sound advice and

experience• George Mason- proponent of the Bill of Rights

Cause- Why this happened in the first place…

• The Articles of Confederations were failing and the states wanted a convention to fix them.

Effect: What happens because of the convention…

• The delegates threw out the Articles and decided to start all over. The new government that they wrote was called the Constitution.

Who attended??

• 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states travel to Philadelphia, PA

Debate #1Large States vs. Small States

How do we decide how many elected officials to have from each state?

Idea #1- Virginia Plan

• This plan was presented by James Madison

• It created a 3 branch government including a legislative, judicial, and executive

• Representatives to Congress were based on how many people total lived in your state

• LARGE STATE PLAN

Idea #2- New Jersey Plan

• Presented by William Patterson• Small states wanted to keep their state

sovereignty (independence)• Small states were worried that the larger

states would overpower them• Makes the upper house of congress based

on equal representation (Senate) • Small state plan

Comparing the two plans…

• One plan calls for equal representation• The other calls for it to be based on a states

population• Ben Franklin asked for a compromise so each

side would agree on the final solution• The delegates combine the two plans creating

an upper and lower house of Congress

The Great Compromise

• A compromise was offered by Roger Sherman• He said we could have a House of

Representatives based on the population of each state and a Senate where representation was equal and each state gets 2 representatives

• Small state representatives would be equal to large states in the Senate but large states have an advantage in the House of Representatives.

Debate #2What to do about the slaves??

How to count the slaves in the total population??

North/South Debate the issue…

• Because representation in the House was based on population…the South wanted to count slaves in total population

• Northerners are outraged because they Southerners always considered slaves to be property

• The delegates created an unusual compromise to solve this problem…

Three/Fifths Compromise

• For every 5 slaves only 3 would count towards the total population…hence the name three/fifths compromise

• This means that if a state had 50,000 slaves, THEN 30,000 would count towards a states population

• Also, the slave trade would end in 20 years the year 1808.

• AND…There would be no more slave trade in Washington DC

Debate #3Executive Branch

How do we elect the president??

Presidential Compromise

• Problem: The founding fathers do not trust the common man to make the right choice

• We elect our president indirectly through the Electoral College

• This system will be explained at a later date…

Who has the power to declare war?

• The CONGRESS has the power to declare war with other nations

• The President can deal with sudden attacks or emergencies but CANNOT declare war without Congress agreeing!!!

• Do we need an army??• Along with this compromise it was voted

that the United States would create a standing or permanent army

With these compromises decided we write the

Constitution….

Coming soon:

What does the Constitution actually say in it??