Changing our National Government The Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention It began on May 24, 1787 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. A total of 55 delegates attended from every state except Rhode Island. The Chairman of the Constitutional Convention was George Washington of Virginia. James Madison of Virginia took detailed notes of the convention.

There Was Group Agreement on Four Basic Principles The revised or new government should have a written constitution. State governments should continue to exist. A republic needed to be formed. We needed a separation of powers, or 3 separate branches of government

Compromise at the Convention The major disagreement was over representation

There were two sides The Virginia Plan- was proposed by Edmund Randolph of Virginia. This plan favored a congress with 2 houses. Representation would be based on population. This plan was favored by the larger states. The New Jersey Plan- was proposed by William Patterson of NJ. This plan called for a congress of 1 house with representation being based on equality. Each state would get one vote in congress. This plan was favored by the smaller states.

Compromise at the Convention The Great Compromise- also called the Connecticut Plan. This plan proposed a congress of 2 houses. The lower house, or The House of Representatives would be based on population, the larger the state population, the more representation you would get. The upper house, or the Senate would give each state 2 Senators. This plan made large and small states happy.

Choosing the President Some states wanted a direct election of the President. Some states wanted the President to be selected by a committee. They compromised and came up with the Electoral College system. Under this system, the people indirectly elect the president.

3/5 compromise This satisfied the slave states that wanted to count all slaves towards their population. This would allow the slave states to get more representatives. The non-slave states did not want slaves to count. The compromise said that for every 5 slaves, 3 would count to the population. It also called for the ending of all slave trade in 1800.

The Fight For Ratification The Federalists There were a series of articles published in New York urging ratification. These are known as the Federalist Papers, and they were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Federalists supported a strong central government. They felt that the states had too much power under the Articles of Confederation. They wanted to limit individual freedoms.

The Anti-Federalists Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry led the Anti-federalists. They did not want to ratify because there was not a bill of rights in the Constitution. Anti-Federalists supported individual rights. They also wanted more power to the state governments.

Ratification Ratification in NC- North Carolina became the 12th State to ratify on November 21, 1789. We did not want a Constitution without a Bill of Rights. The first state to ratify was Delaware The 9th state to ratify was New Hampshire. This made the Constitution the law of the land. The last state to ratify was Rhode Island

Finally……… Approval of The Constitution- on September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed by the delegates. It would go into effect when3/4 of the states ratified, or passed it (9/13). James Madison became known as the father of the Constitution