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The Evolution Of The Constitutional Convention Of 1787

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What does it mean to be an American? In the textbook, it says: “How one understands the Revolution often dictates how one defines what it means to be American.” (Pg 138-137 ywap ) I want to take this idea and relate it to all American history. It is understanding events such as the laws and events that built the idea of being an American. Especially today when topics such as these that our founding fathers built are constantly being contested and discussed. For example, the 14th amendment and the conversation around it and the current upcoming election. Therefore it is important as an American, and a duty of being an American, to be knowledgeable about the foundations of our government and history. The evolution of the United States from colonies …show more content…

The rebellion in Massachusetts raised questions about building a stronger central government. Therefore, leading to the constitutional convention. At first, this convention was thought to revise the Articles of Confederation, although most delegates agreed to create an entirely new document and government. This is the birth of the constitution, yet there is some disagreement among some of the smaller states. The smaller states wanted equal representation, along with the larger states. After months of deliberation came the 3/5th compromise, and states in the South gained more power in the government. I also feel it is important to note that slavery was a catalyst for the American government, it provided money to fuel the new American colonies. This compromise gave slave states in the South power. This does not exclude the northern colonies from participating in slavery. Cotton produced from slave labor was transported to textile factories in the north. Slavery is engrained in the economic system and is reflected in the policies placed in the making of the Constitution. The two most important plans of this convention are the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. Madison's Virginia plan called for states with larger populations to have more representation in the government. William Paterson's New Jersey Plan called for equal representation for every state, no matter what the population. Then came a compromise that was a bicameral system, Under the compromise, all states were represented equally in the Senate. Bringing it back to the conventions tied to Shay's rebellion, some were afraid to give people the power to elect their officials for representation. Hammering this point down is an article from 1849 on the Constitutional Convention: “all officers shall be elected by the people”. The day

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Some of these include the Great (Connecticut) Compromise and the Trade Compromise, among others. The Great Compromise dealt with the subject of representation in Congress and was the product of a dispute between small states versus big states. After much discussion, a delegate from Connecticut came up with the idea to combine the basis of the Virginia Plan, proposed by E. Randolph, with the New Jersey plan. This resulted in a bicameral legislature with one house based on population while another with two envoys per state.

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This despised action caused a turning point in government at the time because of Shay’s rebellion. Thanks to Daniel Shays, whom was one of many fed up with the weak articles, they finally came to an end during the constitutional convention which was composed of representatives from each state except Rhode Island. The convention, for the most part, was all for giving the power back to the national government so the issues of taxation and foreign commerce could be better handled. This newfound power the government was about to have was going to be based off the newly written fundamental laws called the constitution. First, the convention had to decipher between two ideas about representation, the Virginia Plan or the New Jersey plan.

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The founding fathers of the nation Compromised on writing the constitution, producing a union of thirteen sovereign and independent states, the structure of the legislature, the election procedure of Congressmen, the powers of each branch of government and the existence of slavery. Years down the line, however, the strength of the union almost came apart when Missouri applied for admission into the union as a slave state. The Northerners were for slavery while the Southerners were for its abolition and this was exposed quite plainly by the debates carried out on the floor of Congress. This came on the backdrop of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which saved the country from Civil war and secession but did nothing to address the issue of slavery in their midst. Between 1820 and 1850, a number of slaves revolted seeking to gain their freedom.

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1. The Constitution of 1787 attempted to resolve agreements on regulating trade, taxing, protecting private property, and several other weaknesses the Articles of Confederation did not fixate on. Another controversial topic in the Constitutional Convention was the question on representation. Two different plans were presented: the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan wanted representation to depend on the population within a state, a national government with three branches, and one house that would elect the people in a second house.

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The Compromise of 1820 was about the issue of slavery in new territories. Initially Missouri wanted to be admitted to the Union as a slave state, but this would interfere with the balance between free states and slave states. If Missouri were to be admitted as a slave state the South would have more power in the Senate than the North. During the next session of congress Maine applied to the Union as a free state. By adding Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state the Senate’s equilibrium would be established again.

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The slaves were not allowed to vote but they counted towards the population of the states they resided in. Northerns were still against this but realized that this would be the closest they would come to compromise and without it, they would never agree to a new government. According to Lowi, Etal (2014), “This political significance of the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths compromise was to reinforce the unity of those who sought the creation of a new government.” The Great Compromise reassured those who believed their location would lessen their impact on the newly formed government. The Three-Fifths Compromise would disband the tensions between the north and the south to finally come to an agreement.

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Having more land meant having more political power, because there would be more people to vote. For the South, they argued they had less political power, because the people who were only allowed to vote were males above the age of 21. The “3/5th Compromise” was put in, which meant that slaves now counted as 3/5ths of the population. With the addition of the whole western territory, the North and the South tried to divide the land evenly; for every state the South claimed it turned into a slave state, and the North would claim a free state. Although the North and the South disagreed on the topic of slavery, the heart of the argument was based on whether the South had more power to decide which state was to be admitted to their region, or whether the North had power to claim the states as their own.

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States started to print their own money behind the laws back, they participated in foreign trade negotiations, and they organized their own armed forces. All of these issues led to the Constitutional Convention. Delegates wanted to divide power in the federal government. They refused to let the powers be taken over by just one man or group. They were scared

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One issue they faced concerned how they would count slaves for legislative purposes. The free North states thought slaves shouldn’t be counted at all because it would give the slave states an unfair representation due to the high slave population. However, the South disagreed for they feared the Northern states would have a substantial population advantage if the slaves were not counted. They worried that the Northern states would use such an advantage against them to regulate or even abolish slavery. To appease the slavery states they enacted the Three-Fifths Compromise.

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This played in the Souths favor, because this allowed them a fighting chance in persuading more states to convert to slave states. Congress assumed that letting the people decide which state should be free and which should be proslavery would potentially help get the states back to even amounts. However this lead to fighting and the North and the South growing farther

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The Framers anticipated that the U.S. Constitution would need to be amended from time to time, what James Madison referred to as “to originate the amendment of errors.” he 55 Framers who met in Philadelphia during the spring and summer of 1787 understood that they were drafting a Constitution to last a very long time. “We are not forming plans for a Day Month Year or Age,” delegate John Dickinson wrote, “but for Eternity.” Of course, a document designed to last a very long time must include a method of amendment. In crafting their amendment procedures, the Framers resorted to two mechanisms widely employed at the time: legislatures and conventions.

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The northern states did not want slavery and the Southern states did. Due to the civil War there was hundreds of thousands wounded fighting for what they believed. That issue caused a divide that still affects the country till this day. The 13th amendment freed the black slaves, but did not give them citizenship. That is why they put the 14th amendment in place to give blacks citizenship

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In the 1840 slavery would become a great debate among the United States due to territorial growth. The United States was gaining growth and many areas were not officially established as part of the United States yet. So settles were eager to start growth is these new lands, but the question would be if slavery would be allowed. The southern regions held their power from the political power they held. Their economy was based on slave based Plantation and the southerners feared that their economy would collapse without it.

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One of the compromises made in the Constitutional Convention is the three-fifths compromise. In this compromise, the southerners wanted to add slaves to the population of the state they lived in. If slaves were included in their state’s population, that state would be able to add more representatives in the House of Representatives. Northerners did not agree with that statement because slaves did not have the right to vote. After the delegates compromised, they agreed that only three-fifths of the slave’s population would be counted into the state’s population.

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During the time of the writing of the constitution, most of the southern colonies were dependent on slave labor to produce cash crops, while primarily northern colonies wished to end slavery. This difference caused contention between the colonies when determining slavery in the constitution. A compromise reached, the constitution did not outright address its stance on slavery when it created the ⅗ clause, determined the importation laws of slaves, and the creation of the fugitive slave clause, the constitution continued to allow slavery in the United States. While the constitution neither promoted nor abolished slavery, the ⅗ clause in the Constitution integrated the counting of slaves as a part of representation in government.

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