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A summary about Constitutional Convention
A summary about Constitutional Convention
A summary about Constitutional Convention
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During the Constitutional Convention, in the summer of 1787, several divisions arose among the delegates. There were differences between the northern vs. southern states, merchants vs. farmers, free vs. slave states, large vs. small states, and east vs. west. However, the main division of the Constitutional Convention was the Virginia Plan vs. the New Jersey Plan, essentially the large states vs. small states. The primary objective of the meeting was to somehow find a balance of power without leaving any one group or person with absolute control.
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, but there was a grapple for its ratification that went on until about two decades after the ratification. Members of Congress believed that the first government of the United States or the Articles of Confederation, needed to be adjusted while others did not want anything to change. After the Revolutionary War, the people did not want a strong central government, because it reminded them too much of what they were trying to escape from. Under the Articles, each state had their own laws, and the need for a new Constitution was desired by many. The Constitution of 1787 created huge debates, arguments and splits in the nation that lasted for several year after its ratification between people who
Constitutional Convention In 1787, Washington was persuaded to attend the Constitutional Convention and was popularly chosen as president. The Convention met in Philadelphia from May 14 to September 17. Delegates gathered to correct the various problems that had come up.
Not long after the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had ended and the Constitution had been introduced to the American people for the ratification, there was a debate regarding those who supported the Constitution (Federalists) and those who opposed it (Anti-Federalists). Among those debates, one of the most central debates was whether to unite the thirteen states into a great nation or under the federal government. Perhaps, this question was the reason why some of the delegates kept their mouth shut in Philadelphia. Outstanding delegates such as James Madison and James Wilson had developed a plan that would renovate the American Union from loose independent states to a central nation that under the control of federal government but still
At the Constitutional Convention, our founding fathers met to reconstruct the Articles of Confederation, not knowing that they would create the United States Constitution, an entire new format of government. They wanted to create a government that was powerful yet restricted in certain ways, in order to create equal representation for all people. Three main compromises were made at the Constitutional Convention. These compromises were The Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.
The Virginia Plan was considered unfair to the small states and the New Jersey plan was considered unfair to the large states. Soon after, Roger Sherman from Connecticut wrote “The Great Compromise.” Many
Finally, the Small State-Large State Compromise is a framer of the constitution that helps guard against tyranny. “Representatives shall be appointed according to the population.” “The Senate of the the United States shall be composed to two senators from each state.” (Constitution of the United States of America, 1787) (Doc D) Each state had equal representation, yet the larger states had the representation the amount of people living in the state.
The Constitution was believed to be a conservative document. The Constitution will be one of the reasons why radical changes take place and will take huge shifts politically to a large extent. The Constitution took power away from the state and gave it to the federal state. This was something Hamilton believed in because he wanted a large and strong government and weak federal state. The Federalists believed in the Federalist paper which was written by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.
After the countless debates, the Great Compromise was what the convention would come into agreement with representation by population in the House of Representatives “The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative. ”(add footnote) The smaller states were pleased with equal representation in the Senate “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senates from each state and each Senator shall have one vote.”(add
This compromise had to do with the apportionment of representation in the national Congress. All small states demanded a Congress in which each state had equal representation. On the other hand, larger states, came up with
The U.S. Constitution is a product of compromise. In order for all the states to ratify the Constitution, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to reach some compromises. The states needed skillful compromises to make the new Constitution acceptable to all. A bicameral legislature was later enacted,
After no progress of which plan to go through with, Roger Sherman came up with the Great Compromise. The compromise called for two house legislator. Members of the house of representatives or the lower house would be elected by popular vote. Members of the Senate or the upper house would be chosen by the state legislators. Each state would only have two senators no matter the size, or population of the state.
The Virginia Plan was proposed in order to settle disagreements among states over the issue of representation. Due to the extreme differences in population between the states, larger states wanted representation to be based off of population, while the smaller states wanted representation to be equal for all states regardless of population. Today the U.S. government still uses population as a way of representation in parliament. In addition to the Virginia Plan, the 3/5’s Compromise was also created as a way to settle conflicts. This compromise was reached, because southern states wanted slaves to count as part of the population and order to get more representation, while the northern states did not.
James Madison wrote what we see as the Constitution today. He researched history to figure out the perfect form of government. The government he pictured completely abolished the Articles of Confederation and wanted the people to have complete say in this new government. He wanted it to be presented at the convention, where the states were planning on fixing the Articles of Confederation not abolishing the Articles. The reason why many of the states were
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 also solved major two internal conflicts within the nation. One was between Federal Government and State Government while the other was among the branches within the federal government. Because the Framers feared the national authority would grow too powerful, they designed it to be divided into three branches, which check and balance the power of each other. The establishment of the Supreme Court was a protection of the minority while two other branches utilized power from the majority population. Therefore, this could reduce the growth in power of the federal government, keeping the state government safe.
