Essential Question What were the major challenges facing the delegates at the Constitutional Convention?

Challenges of the Convention Chapter 8 Section 2 (Pt II)

The Convention Opens On May 25, 1787 the Const. Convention opened – The 1 st order of business was to nominate a President – Every delegate voted to nominate GW Delegates did not want outside pressure to affect the amendment process – They decided that their debates would remain secret No members of the public would be allowed to attend Delegates were sworn not to discuss the content of the sessions

The “Father of the Constitution” Most of what is known about this “secret” meeting comes from the writings of James Madison – Through these writings we know that Madison made huge contributions to the convention Therefore, he is popularly known as “The Father of the Constitution”

The Virginia Plan As the Convention began, 2 rival plans emerged regarding the structure of the new govt. – The first proposal, written by James Madison, was known as the Virginia Plan This proposal, introduced by Edmund Randolph, involved 3 branches of govt: 1.Executive – would enforce the nation’s laws 2.Legislative – would create the nation’s laws 3.Judicial – would interpret the nation’s laws

Checks & Balances The VA plan called for the legislature to have two houses: An Upper House & a Lower House Representation in each house would be based on a state’s pop. B/c of this, the VA Plan was favored by the larger states The final part of the VA Plan was a proposed system of “Checks & Balances” This system would allow each branch to “check” the power of the other two, which would ensure a balance of power btwn the 3 branches

The New Jersey Plan Delegates from the smaller states strongly objected to parts of the VA Plan – They especially objected to representation being based on pop. This gave an inherent advantage to the larger states – In response, delegates from the smaller states made their own proposal, the New Jersey Plan This plan, presented by William Paterson of NJ, included 3 branches of govt., but proposed a single- house legislature w/ 1 vote per state This idea of “equal representation” caused the small states to back the NJ Plan

Summary/Test Question The smaller states wanted to base the national government on the ________? a.Virginia Plan b.New Jersey Plan c.Articles of Confederation d.Three-Fifths Compromise

The Great Compromise Emotions ran high as debates over the two rival plans continued – The major problem was the issue of representation in the legislature – In early July, a committee led by Roger Sherman proposed a deal – They offered a compromise involving a two house legislature: – Senate – based on equal representation (2 votes per state) – House of Representatives – representation based on population – Both sides accepted this proposal, so the “Great Compromise” was passed on July 16, 1787

Slavery Issues Representation based on pop. raised the question of whether slaves should be counted – Southerners wanted the slaves to be counted for purposes of representation, but not taxation Northerners argued that slaves were not citizens and should not count for representation, but should be taxed This disagreement, also called for a compromise in order to push the Constitution forward

The 3/5 Compromise – The solution became known as the 3/5 Compromise This agreement entailed several decisions 1.3/5 of the slave pop. would count for representation & tax 2.Congress would not ban the slave trade until at least 1808 After this series of compromises, the delegates finally passed the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787 – All but 3 delegates signed the Const., then it was sent to the states for approval