3 2 The Road to the Constitution Mrs

3. 2 The Road to the Constitution Mrs. Shadoin Civics and Economics

The Constitutional Convention Began May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia‘s Independence Hall the only state which didn’t take part was Rhode Island

The Constitutional Convention There were 55 total delegates; they were welleducated men, eight delegates had signed the Declaration of Independence, seven had been governors of their states, and 41 were or had been members of the Continental Congress

The Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin, 81 of Pennsylvania was the oldest delegate; he was a famous diplomat, writer, inventor, and scientist

The Constitutional Convention The delegates unanimously chose George Washington to preside over the convention because of his leadership during the American Revolution

Operating Procedures Delegates agreed each state would have 1 vote, they also agreed a simple majority of 7 votes would decide any issue They also decided to keep the work of the convention secret, this made it possible for the delegates to talk freely, the meetings were closed to the public

Operating Procedures Because of this, we have no written records of the convention, the only details we have are from a notebook kept by James Madison, a delegate from Virginia

Operating Procedures Delegates agreed that changing the Articles of Confederation was not enough, they decided to dispose of them and write a new constitution

The Virginia Plan Proposed by James Madison; included a president, courts, and a congress with two houses Representation in each house of congress would be based on each state’s population, larger states would have more votes than smaller states

The New Jersey Plan Proposed by William Paterson included a onehouse congress where states would have equal representation Congress could set taxes and regulate trade

US Census 1790: Population by State State VA PA NC MA NY MD SC CT NJ NH GA RI DE Population 747, 550 433, 611 395, 00 378, 556 340, 241 319, 728 249, 073 237, 655 184, 139 141, 899 82, 548 69, 112 59, 096 Slaves 292, 627 3, 707 100, 783 0 21, 193 103, 036 107, 094 2, 648 11, 423 157 29, 264 958 8, 887 Percentage 39. 14 0. 85 25. 51 0. 00 6. 23 32. 23 43. 00 1. 11 6. 20 0. 11 35. 45 1. 39 15. 04

The Great Compromise For six weeks delegates debated the two plans, a committee headed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut came up with an answer

The Great Compromise The committee proposed congress would have two houses, a Senate and a House of Representatives Each state would have equal representation in the Senate and in the House it would be based on population Historians call Sherman’s plan the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise

The Three-Fifths Compromise Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of their populations to increase their voting power in the House, the Northern states opposed this idea

The Three-Fifths Compromise In the Three-Fifths Compromise, delegates agreed that every 5 enslaved persons would count as 3 free persons; 3/5 of the slave population in each state would be used in determining representation in Congress

US Census 1790: Population by State State VA PA NC MA NY MD SC CT NJ NH GA RI DE Population 747, 550 433, 611 395, 00 378, 556 340, 241 319, 728 249, 073 237, 655 184, 139 141, 899 82, 548 69, 112 59, 096 Slaves 292, 627 3, 707 100, 783 0 21, 193 103, 036 107, 094 2, 648 11, 423 157 29, 264 958 8, 887 Percentage 39. 14 0. 85 25. 51 0. 00 6. 23 32. 23 43. 00 1. 11 6. 20 0. 11 35. 45 1. 39 15. 04

Other Compromises Southern states agreed that Congress could regulate trade between the states as well as with other countries In exchange, the North agreed that Congress could not tax exports or interfere with the slave trade before 1808

Other Compromises Some delegates thought members of Congress should choose the president; others believed people should vote to decide, the compromise was the Electoral College= a group of people named to each state legislature to select the President and Vice President

The Electoral College Today

Other Compromises On September 17, 1787 the delegates signed the Constitution, the next step was to win ratification, or approval, of the Constitution; it would occur when 9 out of 13 states approved it and become the supreme law of the land

The Federalists Supporters of the Constitution were called Federalists they chose this name to emphasize the Constitution would create a system of federalism, where power is divided between the federal (national) government and the states

The Federalists wanted a strong national government In a series of essays known as The Federalist Papers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay defended the Constitution and tried to get support for it

Federalists Federalist leaders- Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

Anti-Federalists Those who opposed the Constitution were called Anti-Federalists their main argument was the Constitution would take away liberties Americans won from Britain Their strongest criticism was that the Constitution lacked a Bill of Rights to protect individual freedoms

Anti-Federalists Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Richard Henry Lee

Anti-Federalists eventually agreed a bill of rights was necessary, they promised if the Constitution was adopted they would add one to it On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution and it took effect

Anti-Federalists The four remaining states ratified the Constitution, the last being Rhode Island in 1790; the 13 states were now one nation, the United States of America