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George Washington's Ideas At The Constitutional Convention In 1787

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In the early government of the states, under the Articles of the Confederation, there was a unicameral system in place. The articles provided for an annual appointment of delegates to the congress. After much research, James Madison wanted to make a change to this system. He believed that a good government was only possible under a strong central government. He planned to sell his ideas at the annual convention in 1787. He rallied his supporters and made many attempts at getting George Washington to the meeting, after being told by George Mason that his plan was only to succeed with Washington’s help. The constitutional convention was held in the summer of 1787. It lasted 4 months from May 25th to September 17th. George Washington was persuaded …show more content…

The smaller states refused to lose votes while the bigger states got more votes. James Wilson of Pennsylvania, who was the most democratic minded at the convention, argued for direct election by the people in all forms of the government. An agreement finally decided that the senators would be decided by the state legislators. Wilson found this to be a defeat. Madison met with Wilson, he told him that some of the delegation thought that he had too much confidence in the people. Wilson then responded “Do you want this nation to remain secure in it’s liberty? Leave it in the hands of the people” Paterson Plan, or the New Jersey Plan was talked about after delegates refused to come to an agreement on representation. It was a unicameral legislature with one state, one vote basis. The Paterson plan was defeated as most just saw it as a way of government that they already had in The Articles. New York delegation, with the largest population, then walks away from the convention. The Great Compromise finally came when Roger Sherman from Connecticut proposed a bicameral structure with the higher senate getting one vote per state and the lower legislation represented by population. Washington urges Madison to compromise for harmony on the senate

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The two plans put forth were the, “Virginia Plan” (which favored big states), and the “New Jersey Plan.” (which favored small states) Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed the Virginia plan. The plan laid out a system in which states would be represented in the national legislature based on their population and/or by how much revenue

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The state representatives often failed to see the big picture, and think with the nation’s best interests first and foremost. Fortunately compromise was found and Roger Sherman brought together the Connecticut Compromise, which focused on settling the large and small state dispute. Only after three fifths and trade compromises could be agreed upon over the major arguments was the constitution made a viable option, and then

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In May 25, 1787, a convention was called in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to express the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. However, the intention from many delegates was to draft a new constitution; create a new government rather than fix the existing one. Rhode Island was the only one of the 13 original states to refuse to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, the first issues they had to address was the representation in Congress.

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• A president needed to be elected • Many Americans thought that the government was the main threat to their rights • James Madison wrote that the government had to be powerful enough to protect people’s rights, but not so strong that it could control rights of people • By May 25th, the convention was officially underway • George Washington was very admired by most Americans • Delegates decided on the rules for the next convention

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The Convention met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 14 to September 17. As said before, Washington had to be persuaded to be a part of the convention. James Madison and General Henry Knox were the ones who were able to convince Washington to be a part of the convention. Both Madison and Knox believed that Washington needed to play a significant role because of the honorable respect and trust he had gathered throughout the war. George Washington, after the war, was a firm believer of building or creating a stronger national government for the country.

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In the creating of the US Constitution, the creators hit many roadblocks. It was difficult for the state delegates to decide on much, especially because they were biased and in favor of their own states. The New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan were two examples of the disagreement of representation within the states in the legislative branch. The New Jersey Plan was in favor of equal representation throughout the states. The Virginia Plan was in favor of population representation, meaning the larger states would have more representation than the smaller states.

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The Great Compromise was Roger Sherman’s plan, and was an attempt to resolve the conflicts between the smaller states and larger states, settling the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral

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Following the American victory against Britain in the American Revolution, the Americans found themselves in need of a new government that would not repeat the mistakes of their oppressors, and their answer could only be found in a compromise between two brilliant but conflicting ideas. Fifty-Five men all gathered to represent each of the states except Rhode Island, with one goal in mind; to make a new, functional government that would not oppress or burden the people of their nation in any way. Two main ideas were proposed, The Virginia plan and a plan created by William Paterson. These two plans conflicted in many ways and caused heated debates among the state representatives.

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This, later know as the Great Compromise, was an idea by Roger Sherman from CT. At the time, this was called the CT Compromise, as they likely did not understand how big of a deal this would become. It was simply a combination of both the Virginia and New Jersey plans. It took the two houses from the Virginia plan, but they decided the Senate would be equal, pleasing the small states, and then House of Representatives would then be based off population, satisfying the larger states. This is so important because they created a government we would continue to use for hundreds of years to come, including

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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

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The Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison favored the larger states for a two-house Congress to be based on each state’s population. This, of course, was argued about because small states felt as if they would not have enough voice. In disapproval to the Virginia Plan came the New Jersey Plan. This plan argued for a one house Congress, with equal representation. This meant that each state would have the same number of members.

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small states also known as The Great Compromise which means the compromise between the desires of the large states and small states. Large states wanted more representation in the House and Senate but the small states disagreed because it was a biased proposal. As a result, the delegates specifically Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth from the Connecticut delegation suggested that representatives should be elected by the people based on the population of the state and senators would be chosen by the state legislatures with the limit of two per state. The Great Compromise protects against tyranny because it does not give excessive power to the larger states by giving them more representation in both the House and

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Obviously, smaller states were not pleased with that plan. They thought that larger states could easily overrule them in congress. So William Paterson created a plan called the New Jersey Plan. It as well had the same three branches but, the plan provided legislators to have only one house. Each state would only one vote in the legislator, regardless of the population.

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The delegates that were included in the convention are well-known figures of American history, such as George Washington. Washington was among the first people to recognize the weakness in the Articles of Confederation. His involvements in the revolution war had convinced him that, the government was unable to feed, accommodate, supply, or pay the army, which was more than enough to convince him that the central government needed more power to raise money and essential to maintain such an extended nation. Therefore, George Washington believed in a central

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George Washington, fearing that he would be asked to lead the convention and possibly the nation, originally avoided attending (William P. Kladky). However, after convincing him to come, he did not participate much except for the occasional yes or no voting (William P. Kladky). Even so, because of the trust and military recognition George Washington received, he was unanimously voted to be the nation’s leader, as there was no other man for the job (William P. Kladky)

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