Convention Key Delegates and Terms

Key Delegates – The following people played major roles at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

  1. George Washington – Delegate form Virginia; elected President of the Convention
  2. Edmund Randolph – Presenter of the Virginia Plan for the Large States
  3. William Paterson – Presenter of the New Jersey Plan for the Small States
  4. Alexander Hamilton – Wanted a strong central government, headed by a King
  5. Roger Sherman – Author of The Great Compromise between the large and Small States
  6. 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”

  1. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – Vocal advocate of the Southern position on slavery
  2. 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

  1. delegate – representative
  2. legislative branch – branch of government that makes the laws. Congress is the group that makes up

the legislative branch.

  1. 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

  1. representation – a system in which people elect representatives to pass their laws
  2. commerce – the buying and selling of goods; trade
  3. impeach – to accuse a federal official of wrongdoing
  4. federal government – national government; government that conducts the business of the nation
  5. state government – government that conducts the business of the state
  6. Congress – the legislative branch of the government. Both the House of Representatives and the

Senate make up the Congress.

  1. Senate – upper house of Congress. Each state has an equal number of Senators (2).
  2. House of Representatives – lower house of Congress. The number of Representatives from each

state is determined by the population of the state.

  1. Chief Executive – highest official of the executive branch; the President
  2. justices – judges of the Supreme Court
  3. Chief Justice – highest official of the Supreme Court
  4. Supreme Court – the judicial branch of the government
  5. term – a set period of time; the period (length of time) for holding office
  6. electors – selected people from each state who choose the President