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Constitutional convention conflicts and compromise
Importance of legislative branch
A summary about Constitutional Convention
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The Constitutional Convention was a gathering between delegates from different states to edit the Articles of Confederation in the year of 1787. Among many of those that attended the Constitution Conventional, George Wythe, delegate of Philadelphia, was one of the ones to show interest of modifying the Articles of Confederation. The reasoning for Wythe for not playing such a major role in the history making event because, he left the proceedings early to go home. At the time Wythe was married and his wife was sick at the time of the Convention. Wythe felt that he wife was more important and he would rather attend to her.
The main divisions at the Constitutional Convention were known as “The Virginia (Large States) Plan” and “The New Jersey (Small States) Plan.” The Virginia Plan was introduced by Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia, on May 29, 1787, at the convention and was prepared by James Madison. Madison, who was a “member of the Continental Congress” (Howard, 2008, p. 12), had faith in the Virginia Plan and thought it would be the best proposal to enforce the laws and assist the government in collecting taxes from the people (Library of Virginia, n.d.). The Virginian delegates planned to “rid the country of the Articles of Confederation, develop two houses of Congress, enact a federal judiciary, give Congress the right to elect a president, and to allow Congress the right to veto the actions of the state” (Schultz, 2010, p. 125).
The whole discussion was based on Madison's terms. Delegates took the Virginia Resolution as well as Madison's proposal as their starting point for a new start on a Constitution. Roche describes the reaction to the program of the Convection as ‘interesting', some of the delegates were surprised and others were skeptical but not one of them
This shows that there was a balance that had to be found. Some of the topics they debated on where topics such as the president 's salary and how to prevent against sectional favoritism. The largest topic, however, was on how the president should be elected. One of the first struggles the men encountered was on who should elect the president. There were two sides, the supporters of the legislative branch electing the president and the supporters of popular vote.
James Madison since the first meeting that was supposed to take had already planned on doing more than revising the Articles of Confederation. At the start of the convention Madison, being a nationalist did not feel like he should be the one to present the plan, so he had his friend Edmund Randolph present it (Barbash, 1987). The Virginia Plan, as it was called, would not only give Congress the ability to do more but it also opened up two other parts of the government. The plan was to be a two-house Congress, a lower and upper. The lower house would be elected by the people and the upper would be chosen by the house (Barbash, 1987).
One of the eighty-five essays was titled, Federalist 16. This essay was basically Hamilton stating his opinion on why America should stick with the constitution. He says that the government before
As this was one of the principle reasons for the convening of the Constitutional Convention, this issue was of great importance. The Constitution responded
Disagreement of how a president would be selected was a major disagreement at the constitutional convention, but eventually a process was established in Article II Section I. There are specific instructions outlining the process of Presidential election, yet there are areas that are not mentioned. As an example, Presidents are elected by electors chosen by each state and making up the electoral College to vote on presidential elections, not popular vote. The methods for choosing those electorates from each state are not addressed leaving each state to determine how they will chose them. While the Constitution dictates the number of electorates from each state, it does not specify how they are chosen.
He had many of the basic ideas in the Constitution. Madison argued for separate branches of government, a strong national government, and also for rights such as freedom of religion. Madison then rallied support for adoption for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When James Madison and the 56 other delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in May 1787, they intended to amend the Articles of Confederation. They ended up creating a new constitution, and Madison, representing Virginia, became the chief recorder of information.
Three of the four delegates from Massachusetts fully supported a strong national government because they had experienced firsthand the problems and conflicts that rebellions create, especially without assistance from a national government. The fourth delegate from Massachusetts also knew the issues rebellions could create and agreed that a stronger national government was needed to prevent such problems, but he argued that a bill of rights was also needed to protect the rights of the people. All of the delegates at the convention had heard stories of the events that had been occurring in Massachusetts and, fearful of similar rebellions in their own states, many changed their perspective of a strong national government, arguing that one was necessary to keep the peace. These fears are what led to such drastic changes in the powers of the national government compared to the Articles of
They were apprehensive of a government ruled by the people. “The delegates wished to represent the public through better-educated, wealthier, and more experienced leaders- men like themselves” (Morone, 58). A horrifying but true representation of what the founders had envisioned for America. The most blatant act of elitism shows in the way they organized our voting system.
The presidential primary process can be more complex than it appears. The primary process is a way for the two main parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, to select their official nominee for the general presidential election from a group of candidates. Each party has their own way of selecting their presidential nominee and their own convention, where the official nominee is announced. Each year states are holding these primary elections and caucuses sooner and sooner in hope of increasing influence in the nomination process; this has created problems and less known candidates are less likely to be nominated. All states and U.S territories hold either a primary election or caucus for both the Democratic Party and the GOP.
Every four years in our country, we the people choose the next person to lead our country, 2016 is the year that we get to choose the next President of the United States. In the presidential elections there are two main political parties, Democratic and Republican and there are also third party candidates; Green Party and Libertarian, that run for the presidential position. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, has held previous office as U.S Secretary of State, U.S. senator, and First Lady. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has held no previous office in government, however, he has produced large businesses and corporations that give him leadership experience that makes him qualified for the Presidency. Jill Stein is nominated to be
George Clinton, Samuel Adams, Luther Martin, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry who were a part of the American Revolution, rejected the Convention in Philadelphia because they did not agree with its objectives. They were convinced that it threatened the “core principles” of the revolutionary heritage. The government regulated by the new Constitution and its democracy were less likely to thrive in small towns because people would not vote directly for their senators or their president, and radical egalitarianism did not have the opportunity to develop under the enhanced central state. Anti-Federalists actually exposed a wide range of ideas and theories; some aimed at reducing federal power, while others asked for the restrictions of that
After a soundly defeat in the Colorado convention over the weekend, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump blasted Colorado's GOP leaders for running a "rigged, disgusting, dirty system." "We found out in Colorado this is not a democracy like we’re supposed to have," Trump said at Albany's Times Union Center in downtown Albany. "The system, folks, is rigged. It’s a rigged, disgusting, dirty system."
