The Constitutional Convention Ch. 7 Section 2

The Delegates to the Convention Constitutional Convention – May 25th, 1787 Goal was to revise Articles An Amazing Assembly – 55 delegates 8 Delegates were signers of the Declaration Washington was President of the Convention Many of the delegates represented a new generation of American leaders

The Delegates to the Convention (cont.) James Madison Best prepared delegate, and very shy Ideas about how to structure a democratic gov’t influenced many Today he is considered the Father of the Constitution Secret Debates Delegates wanted to keep their talks secret Wanted to speak freely and explore ideas without pressures from outside

Two Rival Plans The Virginia Plan – By James Madison, called for strong central gov’t with three branches Legislative – pass laws, Executive – carry out the law, Judicial – system of courts that determined fairness of laws The legislature would be based on two houses Each house would have representation based on Population

Two Rival Plans (cont.) Small states opposed the Virginia plan Knew that they would always get outvoted in Congress The New Jersey Plan – By William Paterson Also had three Branches of Gov’t The legislature only had one house Each state, regardless of population, would have one vote in the legislature

The Great Compromise Compromise – a settlement in which each side gives up some of its demands in order to reach an agreement Roger Sherman of CT finally worked out compromise to satisfy both small and large states Two house legislature – Upper and Lower houses Lower – House of Representatives, chosen by population, appealed to large states Upper – Senate, equal representation, appealed to small states This became known as The Great Compromise

Northern and Southern States Compromise Disagreements between North and South as well Would slaves count toward population? Would the slave trade continue? The Three-fifths compromise South wanted slaves to count toward population North said that they couldn't’t vote, so they should not be counted when assigning representatives Agreed that 3/5’s of the slaves in a state would count 5000 slaves = 3000 counting towards pop.

Northern and Southern States Compromise The Slave Trade Some northern states had banned the slave trade, and tried to ban the trade all together Southern states said that would ruin their economy Compromise – Congress could not outlaw slave trade for at lease 20 years After that, Congress could regulate the slave trade if it wished North also agreed that no state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to an owner who claimed that slave

Signing the Constitution Finally on September 17th, 1787 the constitution was ready to be signed. Benjamin Franklin urged delegates to sign, stating that a better constitution could not have been written All but three delegates signed the document, fearing that it gave the federal gov’t too much power After signing, each state needed to hold a convention to approve or reject the plan for new gov’t Once nine states approved it, it would go into effect