1.Northwest Ordinance of 1787- The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 layer out the governmental rules for the Northwest Territory. It stated that three to five states would be formed out of the existing Northwest Territory. The Ordinance contained three stages that the territory would go through in order to form the states. In the first step of the Ordinance the region was completely controlled by the government. The second stage stated that once a region reached a population of 5,000 not including any slaves, it became a Territory. The citizens of the Territory were then allowed to have a representative in Congress and elect a legislature. In the third stage once the population reached 60,000, it could write its own state constitution and join the Union equally.
2.The Annapolis Convention- The Annapolis Convention
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Constitutional Convention(1787)- Twelve states participated in the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia the summer of 1787. The first thing accomplished at the Convention was the election of George Washington as Convention president. The delegates agreed upon a structure for their government consisting of a Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branch. The next topic tackled was how would the states be represented with the smaller states on one side of the argument and the larger states on the other side. This argument led James Madison to propose the Virginia Plan.
4. Virginia Plan- The Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral(two-house) Congress. The number of representatives allowed for each state would be determined by the population of the state. The first of the two houses would be called the House of Representatives. This men in this house would be elected using the popular vote for each state. The second house would be called the Senate. The men in the House of Representatives would elect members for this house.This proposal favored the larger, more populous states. The smaller states reacted by proposing their own plan, the New Jersey