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The Constitutional Convention

The Framers, The Debates, The Result. The Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention. Held in the summer of 1787 Purpose was the revision of the A of C Meetings held in secret; Madison’s notes are all we have Advantages? Criticisms? Demographics of Delegates

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The Constitutional Convention

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  1. The Framers, The Debates, The Result The Constitutional Convention

  2. The Constitutional Convention • Held in the summer of 1787 • Purpose was the revision of the A of C • Meetings held in secret; Madison’s notes are all we have • Advantages? Criticisms? • Demographics of Delegates -55 delegates (none from RI) -33 Lawyers -half were college graduates -7 former governors, 7 plantation owners, 8 business leaders -age 26-81 (avg. age 43) -all male, all white • Notables who did not attend: • Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry (“smelt a rat”), Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams and, John Hancock. • How did the “problems” with certain state constitutions and Shay’s rebellion serve as a backdrop for the Convention?

  3. Major Debates/Topics at the Convention • Opening: VA Plan • How did this set the tone for the convention? • How might the “council of revision” reflect an implicit call for the power of judicial review of legislative acts? • The Response: The NJ Plan • How was more in line with the original goal of the convention? • The NY Plan? Hamilton’s “2 cents”… • The Great Compromise (and the 3/5ths)? • How did these contribute to a “spirit of accommodation?” • The Executive: major arguments? • The Judiciary: the ugly stepchild? • Questions unanswered? Why? • Slavery, judicial review, Bill of Rights

  4. The Structure of the Constitution • 7 Articles, longest is the first (legislative) • Article I, II and III: Institutions of the National Government • Article IV: Relations Among the States • Article V: AmendmentProcess • Article VI: Supremacy Clause • Article VII: Ratification Process

  5. The Ratification Debate • Document sent to states for ratification in fall of ‘87; • Why call for ratifying conventions instead of using state legislatures? • Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists • Who were they? • Why was one group more successful than the other? • The Federalist Papers • Originally drafted to influence ratification debate in NY • Authors:(Publius) Madison (26), Hamilton (51), John Jay (5) • Have become THE SOURCE of information about the Constitution, the minds of the Framers and arguments about every nook and cranny of the Constitution • Ratification in doubt without Bill of Rights; Federalists agree to propose in 1st Congress

  6. The Bill of Rights • The First 10 amendments to the Constitution • Added in 1791, under the Constitutional process for amending (2/3rds of Congress, 3/4ths of state legislatures) • Madison originally drafted and submitted 12 amendments to Congress; only 10 were proposed by Congress to the states • One of the “lost” amendments became #27 • *Interestingly, Madison was originally against the idea of a Bill of Rights for the national Constitution.

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