V) The Constitutional Convention

A)      When? * B)      Where (mainly)? * C)     Why (originally)? *

1) 74 people were invited, only *55 came D) Who? 1) 74 people were invited, only *55 came

D) Who (cont.) 2) Statistics a) 30 were Revolutionary War veterans b)  39 were members of the Confederation Congress c)  7 were state governors d)  8 were signers of the Declaration of Ind. e)  2 had signed the Articles of Confederation f)   2 would become US presidents (1would become a vice-president) g)    Average age – 42 

D) Who? (cont.) 3) Who was there and who wasn’t? a)    there – George Washington, Ben Franklin (who was 81 at the time), Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison (the “father” of the Constitution)

b)    not there- Samuel Adams and John Hancock (not chosen to be there), Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (out of the country at the time), Patrick Henry (refused the invitation), and any delegate from Rhode Island

c) also not there 1) the public 2) the press 3) Why?

E) The “What” of the Convention

1) Organization a) President of the convention? – * b)    To have a quorum they needed seven states – What is a quorum?  c)     Each state had one vote d)    A simple majority would have the final say e) Sessions were to be kept? *

1) Organization cont. f) The changing of the purpose f1)  Edmund Randolph proposed that the convention disregard the Articles and instead write a new document f2)  the convention agrees and started work on the Constitution

Organization cont. g) the delegates wanted: 1) a limited government – one in which the executive (or monarch) has limited powers – as found in what country? 2) representative government – one where the people elect representatives

h) they also wanted a separate legislative, executive, and judicial branch as opposed to one branch as under the Articles of Conf. i) they wanted to take away from the states the power to print money – as opposed to what was found under what document?

2) The question of representation – How to make a fair legislative branch?

a) Virginia Plan 1) authors – Edmund Randolph and James Madison

Virginia Plan 2) provisions – called for 3 branches a) 2 houses in the legislative branch – a lower house chosen by the people and an upper house chosen by the lower b) the legislative branch could also force states to obey national law c) an executive branch chosen by the legislature d) a judicial branch chosen by the legislature e) # of members from each state in the legislature would be determined by population f)  members of both the executive and judicial could veto the legislative

3) What type of states did this favor? Virginia Plan 3) What type of states did this favor?

b)    New Jersey Plan 1)     author – William Patterson

New Jersey Plan 2) provisions a)    one house legislature with one vote for each state to make sure all the states were equal

b) Congress (not the states) would have the power to tax and regulate trade c) It would have an executive branch with more than one main leader (all of whom are chosen by the legislature)

New Jersey Plan d) Judicial branch is chosen by the executive e) Wanted to alter the Articles of Confederation not make the Constitution

New Jersey Plan 3)     Who did this favor?

Connecticut Compromise c)    Finally there came the Connecticut Compromise 1)     author – Roger Sherman

Connecticut Compromise 2)     provisions a)    two house legislature

1) the House of Representatives a) would be elected by the people b) # of members from each state would be determined by state population c) all spending and taxing bills would originate in this house d)What states would have the advantage?

Connecticut Compromise 2)    Senate a) elected by the state legislatures b) 2 members per state c) What states’ rights would be protected here?

3) The Slavery problems a) Is a slave worth the same as white man?

1)    problem – how to determine how slaves were to be regarded in terms of the population of the US 2)     Why is this a problem? a)    representation – if the slaves are regarded as full blown people they can effect the # of representatives in the House

The Slavery problems b)    if slaves were regarded the same as a voter in terms of population, who would this benefit?  c)     The other problem - taxation – more people = more taxes d)    If slaves were regarded the same as a voter in terms of taxes who would this benefit?

The Slavery problems 3) solution – slaves are to be counted as 3/5 of a person for both taxes and representation (this became known as the 3/5 compromise)

The Slavery problems 4) Note: when the 13th amendment that outlawed slavery was passed the 3/5 Compromise became null and void

b) Slave trade 1) problem – north wanted government to have control over trade – the south was worried that the north would eventually outlaw all slave trade 2) solution – Congress would control interstate (meaning between state) and foreign trade and promise not to outlaw slave trade until 1808

c) slavery in general 1) Problem a) several northern states had taken steps to stop slavery or at least the slave trade (like Mass., Del., Conn., RI., and Penn.) b) meanwhile southern states desperately needed it – Why?

slavery in general 2)    solution – chose not to include it in the Constitution

The president problem 4) The president problem – after arguing whether the legislature, the states, or the people directly should elect the president, they decided on an independent group to be in charge of the election – this group is called what?

5) There was only one problem though … there already was an elected president – his name …

F) Finally on Sept. 17th, 1787 (after 89 days of meetings) the Constitution was signed originally by 39 delegates (some of the original 55 had gone home – 3 including George Mason refused to sign it)

G)    Even though the Constitution was signed the fights weren’t over yet…