Chapter 3: The Constitution Lesson 2: Creating a New Constitution

The Constitutional Convention In the Spring of 1787, delegates from the states met in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation Rhode Island was the only state which did not attend because they opposed a strong central government The convention took place at Independence Hall and began on May 25th, 1787

The Delegates 55 men were present at the Constitutional Convention 8 signed the Declaration of Independence 7 were state governors 41 were members of the Continental Congress Benjamin Franklin George Washington – 1st president James Madison – 4th president

The First Decisions George Washington was chosen to guide the convention. He was very orderly and stressed the importance of coming up with an acceptable plan of government Key Decisions Each state would have one vote Implemented a simple majority All meetings would be private Today very few written records Only James Madison kept a notebook, which was later published

Constitutional Convention The original job of the convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation Soon after the delegates realized they would need to start over with a new constitutional, which had a plan for a strong central government. Constitutional Convention: meeting of state delegates in 1787 leading to adoption of a new Constitution

Compromising for a Constitution Virginia Plan by James Madison Federal Government had a president, courts, and a congress with 2 houses The state’s population would determine how many representative each state would send for Congress Large population states loved this idea because they would have more delegates

Compromising for a Constitution New Jersey Plan by William Paterson 1 House Congress Each state would have 1 vote Congress could set taxes and regulate trade Instead of a strong president, a less powerful committee named by Congress would carry out laws Small States like this plan

Compromising for a Constitution The Great Compromise 2 Houses: Senate and House of Representatives Senate: each state would have 2 members House of Representatives: numbers of representatives from each state would be based on population

Compromising for a Constitution The Three-Fifths Compromise The question on the table was slaves and how should they be counted Northern delegates argued that enslaved persons were legally property, so they should not be counted in the population Southern delegates argued that enslaved persons should still be counted in the states population since women and children were also counted The Three-Fifths Compromise: agreement providing that enslaved persons would count as 3/5th of other persons in determining representation in Congress Every 5 slaves will be counted as 3 people when determining representation

Other Compromises Congress could not ban the slave trade before 1808 Congress could regulate trade between the states and other countries Congress could not tax exports Electoral College: a group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

Federalists and Anti-Federalists Federalists: a supporter of the Constitution Believed in Federalism Federalism: a form of government in which power is divided between the federal, or national, government and the state Believed federal laws should be supreme over state laws James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers The Federalist Papers: a series of essays written to defend the Constitution

Anti-Federalists Anti-Federalists: a person who opposed ratification of the Constitution Argued that the new constitution would destroy the liberties won in the American Revolution Would create too strong of a national government Lacked a Bill of Rights

Launching a New Nation Both Federalists and Anti- Federalists agreed that a Bill of Rights was needed and would be added In June of 1788 the Constitution officially took affect!