1. The Constitutional Convention
Ch. 7 Section 2

2. The Delegates to the Convention
Constitutional Convention – May 25th, 1787
Goal was to revise Articles
An Amazing Assembly – 55 delegates
8 Delegates were signers of the Declaration
Washington was President of the Convention
Many of the delegates represented a new generation of American leaders

3. The Delegates to the Convention (cont.)
James Madison
Best prepared delegate, and very shy
Ideas about how to structure a democratic gov’t influenced many
Today he is considered the Father of the Constitution
Secret Debates
Delegates wanted to keep their talks secret
Wanted to speak freely and explore ideas without pressures from outside

4. Two Rival Plans
The Virginia Plan – By James Madison, called for strong central gov’t with three branches
Legislative – pass laws, Executive – carry out the law, Judicial – system of courts that determined fairness of laws
The legislature would be based on two houses
Each house would have representation based on Population

5. Two Rival Plans (cont.) Small states opposed the Virginia plan
Knew that they would always get outvoted in Congress
The New Jersey Plan – By William Paterson
Also had three Branches of Gov’t
The legislature only had one house
Each state, regardless of population, would have one vote in the legislature

6. The Great Compromise
Compromise – a settlement in which each side gives up some of its demands in order to reach an agreement
Roger Sherman of CT finally worked out compromise to satisfy both small and large states
Two house legislature – Upper and Lower houses
Lower – House of Representatives, chosen by population, appealed to large states
Upper – Senate, equal representation, appealed to small states
This became known as The Great Compromise

7. Northern and Southern States Compromise
Disagreements between North and South as well
Would slaves count toward population? Would the slave trade continue?
The Three-fifths compromise
South wanted slaves to count toward population
North said that they couldn't’t vote, so they should not be counted when assigning representatives
Agreed that 3/5’s of the slaves in a state would count
5000 slaves = 3000 counting towards pop.

8. Northern and Southern States Compromise
The Slave Trade
Some northern states had banned the slave trade, and tried to ban the trade all together
Southern states said that would ruin their economy
Compromise – Congress could not outlaw slave trade for at lease 20 years
After that, Congress could regulate the slave trade if it wished
North also agreed that no state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to an owner who claimed that slave

9. Signing the Constitution
Finally on September 17th, 1787 the constitution was ready to be signed.
Benjamin Franklin urged delegates to sign, stating that a better constitution could not have been written
All but three delegates signed the document, fearing that it gave the federal gov’t too much power
After signing, each state needed to hold a convention to approve or reject the plan for new gov’t
Once nine states approved it, it would go into effect