Chapter 7 Section 2 The Constitutional Convention

The Delegates to the Convention The Constitutional Convention opened on May 25, Goal: revise the Articles of Confederation W/i the group, 8 had signed the Declaration Included were Ben Franklin, Geo Washington, Alex Hamilton Also, James Madison of VA, now called the “Father of the Constitution.”

Two Rival Plans The Virginia Plan was proposed by Edmund Randolph & Jas Madison. This plan called for a strong nat’l govt w/3 branches called: –Legislative –Executive –Judicial Seats awarded by state population Two houses in Congress

The New Jersey Plan Small states opposed the VA plan. Large states had an advantage Called for 3 branches Only 1 house in Congress Each state would only have 1 vote—to appeal to small states

The Great Compromise A compromise, which is a settlement where each side gives up some of its demands in order to reach an agreement, was made by Roger Sherman, CT. Proposed was a 2 house legislature: House of Rep elected by popular vote; and an Upper House, called the Senate would be chosen by state legislature. Each state would have Rep based on population & 2 Senators regardless of size The Great Compromise passed on July 16

Northern & Southern States Compromise Slaves: part of the population? 3/5ths compromise, which allowed southern to count slaves as part of one vote. What was the concern of the northern states about one vote for each slave? Congress was not allowed slavery for 20 years Fugitive slaves could be returned w/o interference from the north

Signing the Constitution The new constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 Preamble opened with “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…” Several members refused to sign. Why? Now, each state had to hold a convention to approve or reject