The Road to the Constitution

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The Road to the Constitution
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Quick Review

• Declaration of Independence
• Second Continental Congress
• Approved July 4, 1776
• The Articles of Confederation
• 1777, our first constitution
• Weak federal government
• Shays Rebellion, 1786-1787

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Strengthening the National Government

• 1787
• Problems with the Articles of Confederation
• States sent delegates to Philadelphia to fix the
  A.O.C.
• Rhode Island did not gothey did not want a
  stronger central government

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The Constitutional Convention

• May 25, 1787
• Independence Hall, Philadelphia
• An extraordinary group of men
• 55 men
• Well-educated
• Lawyers, merchants, college presidents, doctors,
  generals, governors, and planters with
  considerable political experience

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Who was there? Who missed it?

• Benjamin Franklin
• 81, oldest delegate
• George Washington James Madison
• Both would become president
• Thomas Jefferson John Adams
• Both were in Europe
• Patrick Henry
• Prominent Virginian
• He was invited but did not attend he was against
  the convention

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George Washington

• Respected for his leadership during the Rev. War
• Chosen to preside over the convention.

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Procedures of the Convention

• Each state was only allowed one vote
• Majority votes from all states made decisions
• All discussions were a secret! Why?
• This way, delegates could speak freely, without
  worry about how the public would react

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What happened to the

• Articles of Confederation???
• The throw it away, decided to write a new
  constitution

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Two Opposing Plans

• VS.

Virginia vs. New Jersey
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Two Opposing Plans

• The Virginia Plan
• James Madison
• 3 branches of government
• Bicameral legislature (2 houses), determined by
  population
• Favored big states

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Two Opposing Plans

• The New Jersey Plan
• William Patterson
• 3 branches of government
• Unicameral legislature (1 house) with equal
  representation
• Favored smaller states

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Two Opposing Plans

• What was the big issue?
• How representation in Congress would be decided
• Larger states wanted more power, smaller states
  wanted equal power

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The Great Compromise

• Roger Sherman Connecticut
• Lower House
• House of Representatives
• Determined by population
• 2 year terms
• Favored larger states
• Upper House
• Senate
• Equal representation
• 6 year terms
• Favored smaller states

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More arguing? What now?

• Controversy over counting slaves as a part of the
  population
• At this time, there were 550,000 enslaved African
  Americans, mostly in the South

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More arguing? What now?

• Southern states said part of the population
  more representatives for southern states
• Northern states said slaves cannot vote or
  participate in government, they should not give
  the south more representatives

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The Three-Fifths Compromise

• Three-Fifths Compromise
• Every 5 enslaved persons would count as 3 free
  people
• Used for representation in Congress figuring
  taxes

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Another compromise

• How to elect a president?
• Some say Let Congress pick!
• Others say Let the people choose!
• The compromise

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Electoral College

• A group of people would be chosen by each state
  to choose the President
• Each state given a certain number of votes,
  determined by their representation in Congress

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One last compromise

• Conflicts over commerce the slave trade
• Congress could regulate (control) trade between
  states other countries
• However, they could NOT tax exports or interfere
  with the slave trade for 20 years

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Finishedfinally!

• September 17, 1787, finished up the Constitution
• Delegates signed it, said the Constitution would
  become the law of the land when
• 9 out of 13 states ratified (approved) it

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• So everyone in the entire United States of
  America loved the Constitution and every state
  ratified it immediately and we all had a big
  party and we all lived happily ever after, right?

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Wrong!
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A Divided Public

• Federalists supporters of the new constitution
  a strong federal government
• Federalism A form of government in which power
  is divided between the federal (national)
  government and the states

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A Divided Public

• Some Federalists wrote papers to rally support
  for the Constitution
• They were called the Federalist Papers
• Who wrote them?
• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay

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A Divided Public

• Anti-Federalists People opposed to the
  constitution a strong federal government
• Dont forget individual rights!

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Reaching an Agreement

• Anti-Federalists wanted to add
• The Bill of Rights
• The Federalists promised to do so, and did
• New Hampshire, 9th state to ratify
• June 21, 1788
• The Constitution went into effect
• The last state to ratify?
• Rhode Island, 1790