Do Now! Alexander Hamilton: A conservative supporting a government modeled after British Constitution Great Compromise: Bicameral Legislature (House based on state population and each state has equal Senate representation) Three-Fifth Compromise: Every slave counted as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of representation and taxation

EQ: Why did the founding fathers need to write the Constitution? The students will be able to recall, interpret, translate, analyze, diagnose, and evaluate the framers of The Constitution, plans of government, and compromise.

Ch 5 Sec 2: Drafting the Constitution By 1787, it was clear that the Articles of Confederation needed major changes. Most agreed that Congress should have the power to regulate interstate and international commerce and to tax the people. So, at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was written. To draft amendments to the Articles, 12 of the 13 states send delegates to a convention in Philadelphia. Two of the convention’s leading thinkers were Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

James Madison Alexander Hamilton

During the subsequent weeks and months, delegates debated a number of proposals for the new constitution. Most of the delegates favored a scheme proposed by Madison called the Virginia Plan. The plan proposed creating a government that divided power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The plan would establish a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives and a Senate. In both houses, representation would be based on population. The Virginia Plan also called for a strong President and gave the Congress power to veto any state law. However, critics of the Virginia Plan worried that a strong President would gain kinglike power.

The New Jersey Plan proposed only modest changes and was favored by small states. This plan gave the Congress the powers to regulate commerce and to tax, but it kept the three chief principles of the Articles: a unicameral legislature representing the states as equals, an executive committee rather than a President, and a sovereignty for the states in most areas.

VIRGINIA PLAN = BIG STATES LIKED IT – BIGGER STATES HAVE MORE OF A SAY THAN THE SMALL STATES Each state would have a different number of representatives based on the state's population.

NEW JERSEY PLAN = SMALL STATES LIKED IT – ALL STATES ARE EQUAL The number of representatives would be the same for each state.

Led by Roger Sherman, the delegates worked out a compromise between the Virginia and the New Jersey plans, known as the Great Compromise. The Senate would equally represent every state by allowing two senators per state. The House of Representatives would represent states based on population, granting more power the more populous states.

The delegates supported a system known as federalism, which shared government power between the national and state governments.

During the debates, the delegates discovered that slavery was their greatest division. A compromise known as the Three-Fifths Compromise counted each slave as three fifths of a person to be added to a state’s population in allocating representatives to the House of Representatives and electoral college votes and required that all states return fugitive slaves to their owners.

Alexander Hamilton Rap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE

EXIT SLIP At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, supporters of the Virginia Plan and supporters of the New Jersey Plan differed over the method for A) determining congressional representation B) selecting the president's cabinet C) adopting the amendment process D) giving powers to the executive branch

EXIT SLIP At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, supporters of the Virginia Plan and supporters of the New Jersey Plan differed over the method for A) determining congressional representation B) selecting the president's cabinet C) adopting the amendment process D) giving powers to the executive branch

EXIT SLIP Delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 agreed to the Three-fifths Compromise to solve a dispute directly related to A) the power of the presidency B) representation in Congress C) a decision by the Supreme Court D) the addition of a bill of rights

EXIT SLIP Delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 agreed to the Three-fifths Compromise to solve a dispute directly related to A) the power of the presidency B) representation in Congress C) a decision by the Supreme Court D) the addition of a bill of rights