Miracle at Philadelphia

The Constitutional Convention

SOL: VUS.5b

Objective: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues involved in the creation and ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America and how the principles of limited government, consent of the governed, and the social contract are embodied in it by identifying the major compromises necessary to produce the Constitution, and the roles of James Madison and George Washington.

Essential Question # 1: Why was the Constitution written?

A)Tough Times under the Articles of Confederation

  1. weak central government
  2. one branch
  3. no judicial or executive branch
  4. each state = 1 vote
  5. no national currency
  6. Continental Congress had no power to
  7. tax
  8. settle disputes between the states
  9. domestic and foreign problems
  10. Shays’s Rebellion
  11. Conflict with Spain and England
  12. Lots of debt (can’t pay it back)

B)How can we solve these problems?

  1. amend (change) the Articles of Confederation
  2. write new Articles

C)The Constitutional Convention

  1. Meeting of delegates from all states (except Rhode Island) to create a new plan for the United States government
  2. began May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia, PA
  3. 55 delegates attended, including James Madison & George Washington

Essential Understanding: The Constitution was written to solve the problems of the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation.

Essential Question # 2: How did the delegates to the Constitutional Convention balance competing interests?

Issues / How Solved
Representation
  • Large states -- all representation should be proportional -- based on the population of each state -- Therefore states with larger populations would have more representatives in Congress
  • Small states -- all representation should be equal -- each state has the same number of delegates
/ New Jersey Plan (small states)
  • Revise articles of Confederation - give Congress power to tax & regulate commerce
Virginia Plan (large states)
  • Create a new form of government with 3 branches & proportional representation
  • creates a system of checks and balances
Great (Connecticut) Compromise
  • Two houses of Legislature
  • Senate: equal representation -- 2 votes for each state
  • House of Representatives: votes based on population

Slavery
  • How should slaves be counted? As property or as Population?
  • How should they be taxed?
/ Three-fifths Compromise
Each slave counts as 3/5 of a white man for purposes of taxation and representation
Who was more authority (power)?
  • the States -- or--
  • the National Government
/ Federalism (division of power) see diagram
Made federal law the supreme law of the land, but otherwise gave the states considerable leeway to govern themselves
Limited the powers of the federal government to those identified in the Constitution
Free Flow of Commerce among the States
  • Tariff Issue
/ Commerce Clause
  • gave Congress the power to regulate trade between the states as well as with foreign nations (Interstate Commerce)

Avoided a too-powerful central government by establishing three co-equal branches—legislative, executive, and judicial—with numerous checks and balances among them

Key Leaders

  1. George Washington, Chairman of the Convention
  2. Washington presided at the Convention and, although seldom participating in the debates, lent his enormous prestige to the proceedings.
  1. James Madison, “Father of the Constitution”
  2. Madison, a Virginian and a brilliant political philosopher, often led the debate and kept copious notes of the proceedings—the best record historians have of what transpired at the Constitutional Convention.
  3. At the Convention, Madison authored the “Virginia Plan,” which proposed a federal government of three separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial) and became the foundation for the structure of the new government.
  4. He later authored much of the Bill of Rights.

Essential Understanding:The Constitution of the United States of America established a government that shared power between the national government and state governments, protected the rights of states, and provided a system for orderly change through amendments to the Constitution itself.

Ratification-

Before the Constitution can be put into practice, it must be ratified, or approved by the states.

–Debate over Constitution -- (Federalists and Anti-federalists)

–Each state sets up a convention to approve or reject the Constitution

–Nine states must accept the Constitution for it to be ratified

Federalists -v- Anti-Federalists

Federalists (In favor of the Constitution)

–Favor a strong national government that shares power with the states

–Believed that separation of powers created checks and balances

–Believed that the individual rights of citizens were implied in the Constitution and that there was no need for a Bill of Rights

Anti-Federalists (Against the Constitution)

–Believed that a federal Government would favor the interests of the rich and powerful and ignore the rights of the poor

–Believed that one central government would be too powerful and would threaten individual rights and liberties

–And therefore believed that individual rights must be protected in a Bill of Rights

Federalists -v- Anti-Federalists

Federalists write a series of papers called the “Federalist Papers”

–actually written by: Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison

–present arguments for the Constitution

Anti-Federalists also write papers, but are not as organized

–Presented arguments against the Constitution

The Constitution is Born

•After promising a Bill of Rights will be added, states begin to ratify the Constitution. (Delaware is 1st)

•In December 1791, the Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments), written by James Madison are added to the Constitution

–guaranteed the rights of individual citizens

–these rights can not be taken away by the Federal government

–without the Bill of Rights, the Constitution could not have been ratified

The Essential Understanding

•The Constitution of the United States of America established a government that shared power between the national government and state governments, protected the rights of states, and provided a system for orderly change through amendments to the Constitution itself.