A Grand Convention Chapter 7 Section 2

Meeting in Philadelphia Delegates decided to meet in Philadelphia in May of 1787 in order to create a strong and enduring government. There were 55 delegates who gathered in Philadelphia. Every state except Rhode Island sent representatives. At age 81, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest. Washington was elected as the president of the Convention.

The Constitutional Convention At age 36, James Madison was one of the youngest delegates to the Constitutional Convention. He was also the best prepared. For months, Madison had secluded himself on his father’s plantation in Virginia. There, he read stacks of books on history, politics, and commerce. During the night, he would read more or write notes. He arrived in Philadelphia with a case bulging with research.

Alexander Hamilton Among the delegates was Alexander Hamilton of New York. Hamilton made no secret of his dislike for the Articles of Confederation. He wrote, “The nation is sick and wants powerful remedies.” The powerful remedy he prescribed was a strong national government.

Secrecy Delegates decided to keep their talks secret so that they could speak their minds freely. To ensure secrecy, guards stood at the door. The windows were left closed to keep passerby from overhearing the debates. The closed windows made the room very hot and the summer of 1787 was the hottest in many years.

The Virginia Plan Edmund Randolph and James Madison, both from Virginia, put forward a plan for the new government. It became known as the Virginia Plan. The plan called for a strong national government with three branches. The legislative, the executive, and the judicial. It also called or a two house legislature. Seats in both houses would be awarded to each state on the basis of population. Thus, in both houses, larger states would have more representatives.

The Objections Small states objected to the Virginia plan because they feared that the large states could easily outvote them. Supporters of the plan argued that it was only fair for a state with more people to have more representatives.

The New Jersey Plan William Patterson of New Jersey presented a plan that was supported by the smaller states called the New Jersey Plan. The New Jersey Plan also called for three branches of government. However, it provided for a legislature that had only one house. Each state, no matter what the size of its population, would have one vote in the legislature.

The Great Compromise Roger Sherman of Connecticut worked out a compromise between the large and small states. Sherman’s compromise called for a legislature with a lower and an upper house. Members of the lower house, known as the house of representatives, would be chosen by all men who could vote. Seats in the lower house would be awarded to each state according to its population. Members of the upper house, called the Senate, would be chosen by state legislatures. Each state, no matter its size, would have two senators. The Great Compromise was approved on July 16.

Compromises between North and South One of the other difficult questions left for delegates to deal with were should slaves be counted as part of the population. Southerners wanted to count slaves as part of their population even though they would not let them vote. Northerners protested. If slaves were counted, southern states would have more representatives than the northern states. The delegates compromised by agreeing that three fifths of the slaves in any state would be counted. In other words if a state had 5000 slaves, 3000 of them would be included in the states’ population count. This compromise became known as the Three-Fifths Compromise.

The Slave Trade Northerners and Southerners also disagreed over slave trade. By 1787, some northern states had banned the slave trade within their borders. They wanted the new Congress to ban the slave trade in the entire nation. Southerners warned that such a ban would ruin their economy. In the end, the two sides compromised. The Northerners agreed that Congress could outlaw the slave trade for at least 20 years. After that, Congress could regulate the trade if it wished. Northerners also agreed that no state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to an owner who claimed him.

Signing the Constitution Finally, on September 17, 1787, the Constitution was ready. Gathering for the last time in the State House, delegates came forward to sign the document. In just a few months, they set up the framework for a lasting government.