Carter Coleman Amber Towsend Joseph Fitzwater Unit Two: How Did the Framers Create the Constitution?

What Were The Articles Of Confederation, and Why Did Some Founders Want to Change Them?

The Articles of Confederation Created to give unity Franklin submitted first draft of Articles in July 1775, but it did not succeed Richard Lee introduced two resolutions to Congress on June 1776: independence and a government

Problems the Articles Addressed Fear of strong government Fear that large states would dominate small states in central government

Achievements by the Government under the Articles Revolutionary War Departments of administration were created Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Articles Make Congress Weak Congress: I. Had no power to tax II. Could make foreign agreements, but could not force state governments to abide by these agreements III. Could not regulate trade among the states IV. Could not regulate laws over the behavior of citizens

Trying to Solve Article’s Problems Members of Congress fought to give Congress greater powers These attempts failed because of Article XIII An attempt was made for representatives of each state to discuss changes in 1786, but low turnout Madison, Hamilton, and others asked to meet in Philadelphia for another try at change

Shay’s Rebellion Daniel Shay and hundreds of famers tried to capture an arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts because the government would not pay them their Revolutionary War wages. The fears caused by this convinced Americans that a stronger national government was needed for the nation

How Was the Philadelphia Convention Organized?

Attendees of the Philadelphia Convention 55 people in total attended the convention AKA The Framers of the Constitiution Some leaders that did NOT attend the Convention included Jefferson, Adams, Henry, Hancock, and Lee Rhode Island refused to send delegates to the convention

The Virginia Plan New government would be composed of three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches The number of representatives in the House and Senate would be determined through population proportional representation

Why Was Representation A Major Issue at the Philadelphia Convention?

Virginia Plan Controversy: Representation House Representation: Madison believed in population proportional representation, while others believed in equal representation of states; The delegates believed one thing: If the national government has two chambers, then at least 1 should be based upon proportional representation Since a compromise had not been met, the delegates from the smaller states asked for time for them to come up with an alternative to the Virginia Plan.

The New Jersey Plan In June 1787, Paterson presented the New Jersey Plan In the plan, Congress has only one house but Congress itself gains many powers The executive branch is made up of many officials to appoint other officials The Supreme Court is appointed by officials of the executive branch The New Jersey plan had the national government represent and act on the states New Jersey was supported by small states only The failure of this plan ended any ideas of a unicameral legislature

Voting for Equal Representation In July 1787, the framers voted on whether there should be equal representation in both houses of Congress The result was a tie and neither side would compromise, so another committee was created, comprised of 1 delegate representing each state

The Great Compromise The result of the committee’s work was the Great Compromise, which had two major points: The lower house should be elected by the people and should run by proportional representation, and that the upper house would have two elected officials from each state Also, the lower house has the power to develop every bill of taxation and government spending

The 3/5 Compromise The South argued over representation via slaves. They believed that because a large part of the population of the South was slaves, they should count towards their population. The North saw no reason for this For proportional representation, the very first census was held and would be held every ten years. Finally, and agreement was made that each slave would count as 3/5 a person

Northwest Ordinance Delegates realized that new states could form The Northwest Ordinance mandated that new states be admitted on the same terms as the original 13 colonies