Convention and Compromise

1. Confederation to Constitution Convention and Compromise

2. A Call for Change • Reasons for change • boundary disputes between the states. • poor foreign relations • unpaid debts from the Revolutionary War • falling crop prices left farmers impoverished • Shay’s Rebellion (1786) – Farmers in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays rebelled against high taxes. The rebellion was crushed, but caused people to realize the need for a more effective national government. • The Constitutional Convention – Philadelphia, May 1787 • Leaders such as James Madison & Alexander Hamilton began to realize the need for a strong national government & called for a meeting in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. • Consisted of 55 delegates from twelve states. • Average delegate was in his early 40s, three were under 30 & one, Ben Franklin, was over 80. • In 1787 less than 1 in a 1,000 men went to college. 26 out of 55 delegates had college degrees. • George Washington was unanimously chosen to lead the convention. • Each state received one vote & only a simple majority was required to make decisions.

3. A Call for Change (continued) • The Plans • The Virginia Plan (Large States Plan) • Proposed by Edmund Randolph suggested creating a new stronger national government instead of revising the Articles of Confederation. • Largely the work of James Madison, it called for a two-house legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, and a court system. • Members of the lower house of the legislature would be chosen by the people & the upper house would be chosen by the lower house. • Representation in both houses would be based on population. • Delegates from small states such as Rhode Island, Delaware, & New Jersey objected because it gave too much power to the large states. • The New Jersey Plan (small states plan) • called for a one-house legislature with one vote for each state. • Congress could set taxes & regulate trade. • Congress would elect a weak executive branch consisting of more than one person.

4. A Call for Change(continued) • The Compromises • The Great Compromise – Proposed by Roger Sherman • Proposed a two-house legislature; a states representation in the House of Representatives would be based on its population. • In the Senate each state would have two members • 3/5ths Compromise – Proposed by James Wilson • Northern states objected to slaves counting towards population since technically they were “property.” They also wanted the South to pay taxes on them. • Southern states wanted to count them so that they would receive more representation in Congress, but didn’t want to pay taxes on them. • The decision was made that every five enslaved people would equal three free people for purposes of taxation & representation.