1. Creating the Constitution
Chapter 26, section 1
The constitutional convention

2. Bell Ringer
Read pages and answer the following questions on page 46 of your social studies binder.
Where did the Constitutional Convention take place?
Who was elected president of the meeting?
Name 3 rules the members set.
What do you think it would be like to follow those rules in summer? Remember that colonial men and women wore wool suits and dresses.
The convention was called to revise or FIX the Articles of Confederation, what was the conventions first act?

3. Agreement and Disagreement
Even before the convention began, most delegates agreed that a national government was needed.
Also, they recognized the need to guard against abuse of power.
Many delegates agreed with Montesquieu’s principles of separation of powers among three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial.
They also agreed that the government’s power must be limited by dividing power between the states and the national government.

4. Questions to Answer at the Convention
They had to decide many things at the convention.
How many representatives should each state have in the national government?
How much power should the national government be given?
As the delegates left for Philadelphia, they braced themselves for a long convention.

5. Getting Organized
The Constitutional Convention in 1787 took place at the Pennsylvania State House, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
On Friday, May 25, 1787, the convention began with the unanimous selection of George Washington as the presiding officer.
Next, the delegates had to come up with clear rules to limit confusion.

6. Setting the Rules
Several of the rules adopted by the convention delegates were aimed at keeping the discussions secret.
So, the decided that no one should remove notes from the meeting room.
They also agreed that conversations about the convention should take place only inside the State House.
All the doors and windows were to be kept shut.

7. Other Rules
The delegates established other rules for voting procedures and behavior during meetings.
Each state had one vote, regardless of its number of delegates.
The debate rules allowed for each person’s opinion to be heard. No one was to whisper, pass notes, or read while another delegate was speaking.
The delegates met six days a week from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm, without stopping for a meal.
They also met with one another before and after the formal sessions.
Although some of the 55 delegates left Philadelphia for brief times, an average of 40 were present on any given day.

8. Quick Write
We have mentioned a few rules they had at the Constitutional Convention.
What do you think was the most important rule and why?
Do you think there should have been more or less rules and why?

9. Madison’s Plan
One person who did have some definite ideas about how to organize the government was Virginia’s James Madison.
Madison proposed a strong national government with legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
The legislative branch would have two parts: a House of Representatives and a Senate.
The people would elect members of the House directly. Members of the House would choose the senators.
The number of seats in the House and the Senate would be based on each state’s population.

10. Reaching a Compromise
Some delegates were fearful of Madison’s plan which created a strong national government.
William Paterson of New Jersey had another plan that called for a one-house legislature in which each state would have an equal number of votes.
As supporters of each plan argued back and forth, tempers flared in the June heat.
The convention seemed to be going nowhere.

11. The Great Compromise
Realizing that they were making no progress, the delegates considered a plan that was proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
Like the Virginia Plan, it called for a bicameral, or two-house, legislature.
The House of Representatives would be elected on the basis of the state population.
In the Senate each state would have two senators, regardless of its population.
This plan gave the larger states more power in the House of Representatives, but each state had equal power in the Senate.

12. Quick Write
Do you think they made a good choice in choosing Sherman’s plan? Why or why not?
Do you think Madison’s or Paterson’s plans would have been better? Why?

13. Executive and Judicial Branches
The delegates decided that one President, rather than a committee of leaders, should be given executive power.
They broadly defined the powers and duties of the President.
In establishing the judicial branch, they created a Supreme Court that would have authority to interpret laws.
It would be able to settle conflicts between states.

14. Voting and Elections
As part of the Great Compromise, the delegates decided that all eligible citizens– that is, white men with property– would elect members of the House.
State legislatures would select senators.
A group of electors known as the Electoral College would select the President.
Why have an Electoral College?
Each state legislature could determine how that state’s electors would be chosen.

15. The Signing
Through the hot Philadelphia summer, the delegates took up resolution after resolution.
Finally, a committee put the Constitution into its final form.
The convention drew to a close, with 39 delegates signing the Constitution on September 17,

16. Group Assignment
We will be working with the “We the People” book for the activity.
Your problem to solve: How many representatives in Congress should each state have?
This activity is located on pages
You will answer all of the questions on one sheet of paper. Your chart will be on the back of the sheet of paper.
All answers must be in complete sentences.