BellRingerImagine you have graduated and are now

setting up your own apartment for the first time. As part of your independence you decide to live with a few of your friends who are doing the same thing. Would you want to set up some rules for sharing living space? How would you decide which rules were fair to everyone? Would you need a leader to move things along? Would you want to limit the power the leader has?

Convention: Issues & Compromise

A Call for ChangePolitical leaders were divided

on the type of gov’t the country should have:

• One group wanted to remain with a system of independent state gov’ts

• Another group wanted to create a strong national gov’t Called for reform of the Articles

of Confederation

James Madison & Alexander Hamilton were proponents

Meeting CalledHamilton proposed calling a

meeting in Philadelphia to discuss trade issues & possible changes to the Articles of Confederation

George Washington finally agreed to attend the convention; was not enthusiastic about revising the Articles of Confederation at first

• Presence lent greater significance to the meeting

The Constitutional ConventionMay 1787-Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia

• Consisted of 55 delegates

• Native American, African American, & women were not included in the political process

Several leaders stood out:

• George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Wilson

• James Madison-“Father of the Constitution”; authored the basic plan of gov’t that was adopted

Washington In ChargeGeorge Washington

presided

Basic rules were:

• each state had one vote on all issues

• a majority vote was needed to finalize decisions

• delegates from at least 7 of the 13 states were required for meetings to be held

• delegates met behind closed doors so they could talk freely

BellRinger

Define compromise. Describe situations in everyday life when compromise is necessary.

The Virginia PlanTwo plans of gov’t were proposed––the Virginia

Plan & New Jersey Plan

Virginia Plan-proposed by Edmund Randolph from VA, called for a two house legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, & a court system

• People would elect members of the lower house

• Lower house would choose members of the upper house

• Both houses-number of representatives would be proportional to the population of each state

State with a smaller population would have fewer representatives than a state with a larger population

The New Jersey PlanNew Jersey Plan-proposed by

William Paterson; modified the Articles of Confederation:

• Kept the one-house legislature with one vote for each state (small state equal to large states)

• Congress would now have the powers to set taxes & regulate trade

• Congress would elect a weak executive branch with more than one person

Compromise Wins Out Decided revising the Articles of

Confederation would not solve the problems

Voted to plan a national government based on the Virginia Plan; had to work out several issues:

• how the members of Congress were to be elected

• how state representation would be determined in both houses

• whether or not enslaved people were to be counted as part of the population; would affect the number of representatives

• whether or not to ban slavery

The Great CompromiseGreat Compromise-resolved the representation issues

Roger Sherman of CT proposed the plan; said that:

• Would be a two-house legislature:

Lower house, or House of Representatives-number of seats for each state would vary according to the state’s population

Upper house, or Senate-each state would have two members

More CompromisesWay to count enslaved people would be

determined by the Three-Fifths Compromise:

• Every five enslaved people would equal three free people

Another compromise on slavery-Congress would not interfere with the slave trade for 20 years

• After 20 years-could limit the slave trade if chose to

• Northerners that wanted to abolish slavery throughout the nation compromised with the Southern states that considered slavery essential to their economies

U.S. Constitution Signed September 17, 1787-after four months of discussion and

planning, the delegates met to sign the document

• All but three delegates signed

• Convention sent the approved draft for state approval

• Nine of the thirteen states were needed for the Constitution to be approved