Confederation to Constitution, 1776-1791The Philadelphia Convention

Who attended & How was it organized ?

We the People, Lesson 11

I. Congress starts the process 

delegates: representatives sent by Congress to the convention to fix the Articles of Confederation

 

Year the convention was called: 1787

Where did they meet? Philadelphia 

Congress told the delegates at the convention to:

1. develop a plan to improve the Articles of

Confederation

  2. send the plan to Congress for approval

II. Fifty-five men: delegates to the Philadelphia Convention

all were men

average age 42

Characteristics of the delegates to

the Philadelphia Convention

most played important role in American Rev.

well educatedsome were rich,none were poor

3/4 had served in Congress

Three very important delegates 

1. George Washington: was the most _respected and honored man in America did not want to become involved in talks about the need to

strengthen national gov. went to the convention because _he did not want people to

think that he had lost his faith in a republican form of government

 2. James Madison: often called the “Father of the Constitution” brought to the convention a plan for a stronger national

government—called the Virginia Plan our knowledge of the convention is based on Madison’s

notes 

Ben Franklin:

81years old and in poor health one of the most respected men in America his primary role at the convention was

encouraging the delegates to cooperate with each other when they disagreed

he supported important compromises needed to solve disagreements btwn. delegates

III. Americans who were not at the convention

List those who did not attend and why 

1. Thomas Jefferson

was in France (ambassador)

2. Thomas Paine

was in France

3. John Adams

was in England (ambassador)

4. Patrick Henry

against formation of a

constitution to create a strong

national government

Who in the American population were not represented?

1. no women

2. no free black men

3. no slaves

4. no poor farmers

5. Rhode Island legislature refused to attend—

hostile to any idea of a new constitution

IV. The convention begins 

1. The framers decided the problems with the Articles of Confederation were too serious to try to correct them so they decided to write a new constitution. 

2. The record of what was said was kept a secret for 30 yrs. a. they wanted to feel free to express their opinions & they didn’t want people outside the convention to try to influence what they were doing.

b. they wanted to constitution to be accepted so they didn’t want people to know about the arguments that went on during its creation. 

3. Each state had one vote so that small states would cooperate—they would not feel that they were less powerful than states with larger populations.

The Framers basic beliefs about government:

the government should have limited powers (based on a constitution)

the purpose of the government was to protect basic rights & promote general welfare of its citizens.

a strong national government was needed to make sure the first two beliefs happened

a Republican form of government of elected representatives was necessary to make sure the government served the common welfare

to prevent the government from abusing its power the Framers included the separation of powers and a system of checks and balances.

 

The Constitution was written in less than 4 months.