The Constitutional Convention

1. The Constitutional Convention Chapter 5 Section 1

2. Convention Begins • Important people showed up: 7 had been governors, 8 had signed the Declaration of Independence, and 39 had served on the Confederate Congress. • Stand outs: G. Washington, Ben Franklin were the two biggies.

3. Convention Begins • Gouverneur Morris wrote the Constitution. • James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution” because most of the frame work came from him.

4. Organization of the Convention • Washington presided over the meetings. • Each state had one vote. • Majority wins. • No meeting unless 7 of the 13 states were present.

5. Key Agreements • 1st they agreed to abandon the old form of government and start over. • 2nd they agreed on a limited representative government. • 3rd Stronger national government.

6. Key Agreements • 4th the national government would be divided between the 3 branches of government. • What are they? • 5th coining money would be left to the federal government.

7. Decisions and Compromises • The debates didn’t come over the fundaments of the plan, but how they would be executed. • A representative from Virginia surprised everyone with a plan for a strong national government. • This plan was called the Virginia Plan. • They had 3 basic principles.

8. Virginia Plan • 1st a strong national legislator with 2 chambers. The lower to be chosen by the people and the upper chosen by the lower. The leg. could overturn any state laws if found unconstitutional. 2nd is a strong executive to choice by the national legislature. 3rd a national judiciary to be appointed by the legislation.

9. The New Jersey Plan • Because the Virginia plan would give more power to the larger states, the smaller states had a counterproposal called the New Jersey Plan. • This plan wanted a Unicameral system. • Have we seen this before? • The difference was Congress could impose taxes and regulate trade, a weak judicial system, and a weak executive branch.

10. The Connecticut Compromise • The convention was in a deadlock. The days were HOT, really HOT, Smelly HOT. • After the special committee met, they decided on the Connecticut Compromise. • 1st the House of Representatives would be based on the states population. All revenue laws would be in the house. (Taxes and spending)

11. The Connecticut Compromise • 2nd a senate w/ 2 members from each state, and they would be elected by the state. • A second compromise settled a disagreement over how to determine how many representatives each state would have in the house.

12. The 3/5th’s Compromise • Almost 1/3 of the people in the south were slaves. (African Americans) • The south wanted the slaves to count the same as free people but the north did not. • But at the same time the south didn’t want to pay the taxes for the slaves. • Why would they want to count them the same as free people?

13. The 3/5th’s Compromise • The north and south came to a compromise. • The slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person. This would count towards taxes and population.

14. Other Compromises • The Electoral College system. How we elect our President. • The 4 year terms of the President. • On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed. Big Ben Franklin had to be helped to the table to sign. • 39 delegates signed the Constitution.

15. Ratifying the Constitution • The reason the Constitution was signed was because it was promised that a Bill of Rights would be part of the package. • George Washington became the U.S.’s 1st President and John Adams became the Vice Pres April 30, 1789. • 1791 the Bill of Rights was passed.