1 / 24

Creating A Lasting Government

Creating A Lasting Government. The Constitutional Convention- A Great Debate. Key Concepts. Discuss the debate among delegates over the kind of national government that was needed . Understand the compromises made as the national government was created.

gita
Download Presentation

Creating A Lasting Government

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Creating A Lasting Government The Constitutional Convention- A Great Debate

  2. Key Concepts • Discuss the debate among delegates over the kind of national government that was needed. • Understand the compromises made as the national government was created. • Describe the powers granted to the executive and judicial branches.

  3. Key terms bicameral unicameral James Madison The Virginia Plan The New Jersey Plan abolish compromise The Great Compromise Three-Fifths Compromise

  4. The Constitutional Convention – A Great Debate • Agreement and Disagreement • Getting Organized • Virginia Plan vs. New Jersey Plan • The Great Compromise • Sharing Power • The Slave Trade • Reaching Compromise • Executive and Judicial Branches • The Signing of the Constitution

  5. A Great Debate-Agreement and Disagreement • As with any debate there are agreements and disagreements. • What most delegates agreed on: • A need for a national government, not just an alliance of states. • A need to guard against abuse of power (Montesquieu’s principle of separation of powers) • A need for divided power between the states and the national government • What delegates sharply disagreed on: • How much power the national government should be given • The number of representatives each state should have in a national government • Slavery – How would slaves be counted? Would the slave trade continue?

  6. A Great Debate-Getting Organized • The Setting: • Who-Delegates • What-Constitutional Convention • Where-Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, PA • When-1787 • Why-”…for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.”

  7. A Great Debate-Getting Organized • On Friday, May 25, 1787, the convention began with the unanimous selection of George Washington as the presiding officer. • Along with a presiding officer, clear rules were needed to avoid confusion. • Several rules were adapted to keep the discussions secret. • No one was allowed to remove notes from meeting room. • Conversations about the proceedings could only took place in the State House. • Doors and windows were to be kept shut.

  8. George Washington (standing to the right) presiding over the delegates

  9. A Great Debate-Getting Organized • Other rules for voting and behavior: • Each state had one vote regardless of its number of delegates. • Debate rules allowed for each person’s opinion to be heard. • No one was to whisper, pass notes, or read while another delegate was speaking. • The delegates met six days a week from 10:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M., without stopping for a meal. • Even though there were 55 delegates, an average of 40 delegates were present on any given day.

  10. Checkpoint Questions • On what issues did most delegates to the convention agree? • A need for a national government, not just an alliance of states. • A need to guard against abuse of power (Montesquieu’s principle of separation of powers) • A need for divided power between the states and the national government • What decisions did the delegates make about secrecy at the convention? • No one was allowed to remove notes from meeting room. • Conversations about the proceedings could only took place in the State House. • Doors and windows were to be kept shut.

  11. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • As one of their first acts, the delegates voted not to revise the Articles of Confederation. • Most of the delegates believed that government under the Articles was so weak that a new plan was needed. • Few delegates, believe it or not, had specific ideas about how to organize the new government. • One person who did have some definite ideas was James Madison of Virginia.

  12. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • The Virginia Plan-Proposed by James Madison of Virginia (called for a strong national government to replace the alliance of states) • Three branches of government • Two house legislature • Representation based on each state’s population

  13. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • The New Jersey Plan-Proposed by William Patterson of New Jersey • Three branches of government • One house legislature • Representation equal for all states

  14. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • The Great Compromise-Proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut • Three branches of government • Like the Virginia Plan, it called for a bicameral, or two-house legislature. • The House of Representatives would be elected based on state population. • In the Senate, each state would have two senators regardless of population. • This plan gave larger states more power in the House of Representatives but equal power in the Senate. • This plan became known as the Great Compromise because each side gave up part of what it wanted in order to benefit all. • If both sides would have been unwilling to give and take, the convention probably would have failed.

  15. What’s the Plan? The Great Compromise of 1787

  16. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • Sharing Power • Many Delegates feared that a strong government might abuse its power, treating the states much like England treated the colonies. • Eventually, the delegates would decide which powers would be given to the national government, which would be kept by the states, and which the national and state government would share.

  17. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • Slave Trade • One issue was whether each state would have the power to either protect or abolish slave trade. • Several northern states wanted the national government to regulate all trade and to outlaw slavery. • The southern states opposed this idea because their plantations depended upon slave labor. • Because of the urgent need to form a new government, the delegates compromised. • The agreement was that the national government could regulate trade in general but it could not interfere with the slave trade until 1808.

  18. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • The Question of How to count the state populations when determining representation in the House • Although slaves were treated as property, the southern states wanted t count each slave as a person when figuring state population. • Of course, the northern states objected that this would give the southern states more members in the House. • What did the delegates do? They compromised.

  19. This compromise counted each slave as three-fifths of a person when a state’s population was calculated.

  20. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • The Executive and Judicial Branches • The delegates felt that the executive branch and judicial branch were needed to provide for separation of powers. • One president should be given executive power and a supreme court would have authority to interpret the laws and settle conflicts between states. • The delegates generally agreed on the functions of each branch of government. • They argued, however, about who should elect the President and the Congress.

  21. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • The Question: Should all the citizens vote in a direct election or just the members of the state legislatures? • Some delegates argued for direct elections because it would take into account the pinions of a wide variety of people. • Others distrusted the people’s judgment. • Roger Sherman stated that the average citizens “will never be sufficiently informed.”

  22. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan? • Voting and Elections • As part of the Great Compromise, the delegates decided that all eligible citizens-that is, white men with property-would elect members of the House. • State legislatures would select senators. • A group of electors know as the Electoral College would select the President. • Each state legislature could determine how that state’s electors would be chosen.

  23. A Great Debate-What’s the Plan?The U.S. Constitution • The Signing • Throughout the summer of 1787, the delegates took up resolution after resolution. • Finally, a committee put the Constitution into its final form. • September 17, 1787, the convention drew to a close with 39 delegates signing the Constitution. • The delegates to the Constitutional Convention are often called “the Framers” because they framed, or shaped, our form of government. • Over the years, changes have been made in the Constitution. • If “the Framers” could see their work today, they would still recognize the basic plan of government they created during that hot summer in 1787.

  24. Questions

More Related