Convention Key Delegates and Terms
Key Delegates – The following people played major roles at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
- George Washington – Delegate form Virginia; elected President of the Convention
- Edmund Randolph – Presenter of the Virginia Plan for the Large States
- William Paterson – Presenter of the New Jersey Plan for the Small States
- Alexander Hamilton – Wanted a strong central government, headed by a King
- Roger Sherman – Author of The Great Compromise between the large and Small States
- James Madison – Argued vigorously for a strong central government; kept detailed notes of the daily
events of the Convention; later called the “Father of the Constitution”
- Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – Vocal advocate of the Southern position on slavery
- James Wilson – Author of the 3/5 compromise dealing with whether slaves should be counted as part
of the population for purposed of representation and taxation
Convention Vocabulary
- delegate – representative
- legislative branch – branch of government that makes the laws. Congress is the group that makes up
the legislative branch.
- executive branch – branch of government that enforces the laws. The President is the head of the
executive branch.
4.judicial branch – branch of government that interprets the laws. The court system is part of the branch.
5.compromise – a settlement in which each side gives up part of what it wants
- representation – a system in which people elect representatives to pass their laws
- commerce – the buying and selling of goods; trade
- impeach – to accuse a federal official of wrongdoing
- federal government – national government; government that conducts the business of the nation
- state government – government that conducts the business of the state
- Congress – the legislative branch of the government. Both the House of Representatives and the
Senate make up the Congress.
- Senate – upper house of Congress. Each state has an equal number of Senators (2).
- House of Representatives – lower house of Congress. The number of Representatives from each
state is determined by the population of the state.
- Chief Executive – highest official of the executive branch; the President
- justices – judges of the Supreme Court
- Chief Justice – highest official of the Supreme Court
- Supreme Court – the judicial branch of the government
- term – a set period of time; the period (length of time) for holding office
- electors – selected people from each state who choose the President