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What Was The Purpose Of The Constitutional Convention Between 1786 And 1787

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The United States Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25th to September 17th, 1787. Delegates from each state—except Rhode Island—gathered in the Pennsylvania State House. The purpose of the Convention was to originally revise the Articles of Confederation. The Articles had been in act for ten years, but did not support a strong national government. What finally made the delegates realize they needed to meet was Shay’s Rebellion, and the overall government organization. Shay’s Rebellion was a series of protest in 1786 and 1787 by farmers for tax collections and discernment of debt. After the rebellion, people started to question the power of the national government; they realized they needed a stronger national government …show more content…

It is originally made up of two plans that large and small states argued upon. The New Jersey Plan was written by William Paterson. The structure of government included each state getting the same amount of representatives. Small states favored this plan because larger states would over power and get more seats in the house. Contradicting the small states, The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison, and included three branches of government. It included the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Branches. Most delegates favored this plan because their state would get more seats in the house, having more of a say. Resolving the argument, Roger Sherman came up with The Great Compromise also known as The Connecticut Plan. The government incorporated, two house legislature, containing a Senate and a House of Representatives. The senate would have an equal number of representatives from each state, which fulfilled the New Jersey Plan. To fulfill the Virginia Plan, the House of Representatives would have one representative for every thirty-thousand people in a …show more content…

The Government included of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches. The purpose of having these branches it so they could each check and balance each other. Also, to split powers evenly, we need three branches. Each branch is unique and helps the nation have a stable and firm Government system. The Executive branch is going to be made up of a President, Cabinet, and Vice president. The powers this branch has includes, but are not limited to, vetoing laws, proposing laws, and negotiating foreign treaties. The Legislative Branch creates bills and laws. It is made up of The Congress, House of Representatives, and The Senate. This branch can override the President’s veto, approve treaties, and declare war. The Judicial Branch interprets laws, and is made up of the Supreme Court and other Federal Courts. They have the ability to interpret laws unconstitutional and can declare executive actions unconstitutional. Having three branches of government will give the United States a powerful national government with split equality in terms of

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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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One of the crucial points when making the constitution was limiting the power of of the government. The solution was formed by creating three branches of government, therefore there was a separation of powers. One branch established was the legislative branch which included Congress with the two houses of representation and population. Their made job was to create laws and the executive branch, included the president and the vice president, would the enforce laws. Lastly the judicial branch which is made up of court, interprets the laws.

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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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The Virginia Plan proposed getting rid of the articles all together which would give congress the power to legislate with a two house legislature and would be votes would be based off the population of the state. The New Jersey plan on the other hand wanted to tweak the articles, wanted only a one house legislature, and only allowed each state one vote. Between the two, a compromise was made known simply as the Great Compromise. The issue of representation was solved because a two house legislature was decided upon, the senate would represent the states and the house of representative would be responsible for representing the people equally. Now that the government

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The upper house would be elected by the lower house, thus ensuring that there is always at least one representative in the upper house. The New Jersey Plan preserved an existing unicameral legislature, in which each state would have equal representation. The compromise that was made called for a bicameral legislature, like the 1 Virginia Plan. However, the lower house number of representatives was determined by the size of the state, and the upper house each state had equal representation. This was just part of the Great Compromise, the subject of slavery had divided the Northern and the Southern states.

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A constitutional convention was held in May of 1787, when 55 delegates from 12 out of the 13 states met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In James Madison’s words, a tyrant is “a government with an absolute ruler like a king, or a dictator.” King George III was known as a tyrant. King George III was an unfit ruler who led the colonists to break away from Great Britain because of reasons including (but are not limited to) unruly taxes, lowering prices for Britain’s tea only, and putting soldiers at the Appalachian Mountains unnecessarily. After a failed attempt at government, a constitution needed to be created.

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It was written by William Patterson. The New Jersey plan favored giving control of the federal government to the states, not the people through their representatives. They proposed a unicameral legislature of only one house. This called for equal representation in which each state had the same number of representatives. The New Jersey Plan also called for Separation of Powers consisting of legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

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At that time congress had no real power because of the Articles of Confederation the US had adopted in 1777. Congress had to rely on contributions from the existing states. Needing and knowing that a change was needed the delegates from different states met to form a new plan of action. One that would give congress more power, equal representation for each state, form a new structure of government and the way it would run to benefit the United States of America. This is why the convention of 1778 was announced, during this convention two different plans were presented.

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The first is the Executive; this includes the president and vice president with powers to veto the Senate of establishing laws, appoints judges and other officials, and ensures all laws are carried out. The second is the Legislative branch; this includes the House and Senate with powers to pass all laws, establish lower federal courts, and can impeach the President. Lastly, there is the Judicial branch; this includes the federal courts and Supreme Court with powers to interpret laws of the nation and declare any law or executive act unconstitutional. It was created this way to prevent anyone branch from becoming too powerful and dominate the government (U.S. Constitution,

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However, William Paterson proposed the New Jersey plan, which received an equal amount of support from the smaller states. This conflict nearly tore the convention apart, but Roger Sherman came up with the Great Compromise, or the Connecticut Compromise. The compromise proposed of having two houses, one of which would be based on proportional representation, and the other being of equal

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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

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There were two short-term events that precipitated the Constitutional Convention. The text, Experience History, by Davidson, DeLay, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff (2013), states that the first crisis, which was international, happened in 1785 because southwesterners were having difficulty navigating the Mississippi River. They were also still threatening to withdraw from the union and add their territory to the Spanish American empire (Davidson, DeLay, Heyrman, Lytle, Stoff, 2013, p. 195). In the text it mentions that in order to prevent the southwesterners from breaking ties with the union, Congress sent John Jay, the secretary of foreign affairs, to negotiate an agreement with Spain. This agreement was to give Americans the right to navigate the

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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.

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The Renaissance was a period of revival that spanned from the 14th to the 17th century. It is known as a bridge between the medieval and modern periods and is characterized by a renewed interest in classical learning and the arts, humanism, and the rise of nation-states. However, it is also the starting of our modern era, and the technology and ideas we see today. The renaissance was a bridge to modern society because of the cultural, intellectual, and scientific advancements of the time period.

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The Judicial branch composes of the court judges whether actions violate laws and where laws violate constitution" This shows that the separation of powers allows for the branches to constantly check each other and to ensure a fair and equal government. In conclusion, the separation of powers helps control the government and prevent them from breaking the rules of the constitution and how they should govern. The Separation of powers allows for each of the branches of the government to check each other and ensure they all follow the rules and laws set by the constitution. Separation of powers is a key factor in our government

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