1. Creating the Constitution
Chapter 8, Section 2

2. A Constitutional Convention is Called
What events encouraged leaders to call a Constitutional Convention?
Delegates from 5 states met in Annapolis, MD
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?
Trade, trade laws
Strengthen national government
Taxes

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

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

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

6. 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

7. 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
How did the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan differ?
Why did the issue of representation in Congress divide the large states from the smaller states?

8. The Great Compromise Delegates could not come to an agreement
A special committee was chosen to work out a compromise
How did the Great (Connecticut/Sherman) Compromise satisfy the concerns of the large and the smaller states?

10. 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

11. The Three-Fifths Compromise
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
How did the states compromise over the issue of slave trade?
Congress could not ban the slave trade until 1808

13. Regulating Trade
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

14. The Constitution
Constitutional Convention approves the Constitution on Saturday, September 15, 1787.

15. 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