DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 5, SECTION 2

What was the “biggest” problem facing the nation under the Articles of Confederation?

Answer:

Commerce between the states.Quarrels over boundries

(Close 2nd: Civil Disorder-Shays Rebellion)

EXPORTS / RELATIONS WITH EUROPEAN POWERS

General Daniel Shays, Colonel Job Shattuck, artist unknownAn anti-Shays cartoonist depicts Shays and a key supporter as bogus military officers who sought power and threatened the people's liberty. (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, New York)

General Daniel Shays, Colonel Job Shattuck, artist unknown

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

National government

Shay’s rebellion, the farmers protest, caused panic throughout the nation. Debt ridden Farmers hit with higher taxes Massachusetts January 1787

Every state was in debt, it was just a matter of time until another rebellion arose somewhere else.

Since the state governments had all the power, a new national government was needed to set things right in the United States

Call for convention

clearly a new form of gov’t was needed. Trade was one of the biggest concerns.

Interstate trade was a major problem, states often argued with each other about taxes. Annapolis (only 5 states sent reps)

September, 1786 Trade meeting

Also discussed: plans for a new gov’t May, 1787

55 Delegates from 12 states gathered in Philadelphia to “reform the Articles”

Constitutional Convention

New Generation of Leaders:Madison and Jefferson, et al.Absent: John and Sam Adams, Patrick Henry,

and Thomas Henry, other revolutionaries

Goal – Strengthen the Republic(Against enemies foreign and domestic)

James Madison by Charles Willson Peale, 1783James Madison described himself as "feeble" and "sickly" and suffered all his life from dizzy spells and stomach disorders. But this small, shy Virginia planter and lawyer won the respect of his colleagues as a brilliant political theorist during the drafting of the Constitution, and later as a genius for organizing the machinery of party politics. (Library of Congress)

James Madison by Charles Willson Peale, 1783

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Conflict State rights:

Delegates still worried about a strong national government.

however the country needed an efficient national government

Representation: Everyone in the

country had to be represented in the government.

Not just the land owners.

Two fundamental questions faced the delegation:

1. How to have a strong national government, but still have state rights.

2. Balance interests of all people.

First draft of the Constitution with wide margins for notes, August 6, 1787, folios 1 and 5In August of 1787 a first draft of the Constitution was secretly printed in Philadelphia for the use of convention members. Wide margins left room for additions and amendments, such as those made on this copy by Pierce Butler, the South Carolina delegate. Note that in this early version the preamble does not yet read "We the people of the United States," but instead begins by listing the individual states. (The Gilder Lehman Collection, on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource, New York)

First draft of the Constitution with wide margins for notes, August 6, 1787, folios 1 and 5

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Big States vs. Small States How could there be fair representation for larger states

and smaller states. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, there had to be

fair representation of a state’s size. Delegates came up with two plans to solve this

problem New Jersey Plan

William Paterson Small States

Virginia Plan James Madison Larger States

RepresentationVirginia Plan

James Madison Two-house legislature Membership based on

the population of the state.

People would vote in members of the lower house, they in turn would elect the upper house.

Legislature would elect President

Favored the larger states

New Jersey Plan

William Paterson Single house

legislature as was used in the Articles of Confederation

Each state gets one vote

Plan favored the smaller states

The Great Compromise Debate on the two plans became heated,

and then deadlocked. Finally a compromise was reached (Roger

Sherman) Two House Legislature Upper House (Senate)

Each state would have equal representation (Smaller states) Elected by State legislatures

Lower House (House of Representatives) Representation would be based on the size of

the state. (Larger states)

Slavery and Representation

The Great Compromise failed to deal with one particular issue, that of slavery and representation. The southern states, hypocritically, wanted

slave to be counted in the population of the state.

Why would this be bad for northern states? 3/5ths Compromise

Slaves would be counted as 3/5ths of the states population.

For every 5 slaves, 3 of them would be counted in the population.

CONSTITUTION =COMPROMISE

“Great Compromise” – proposed by Roger ShermanHouse of Reps for Populous States (all tax / revenue bills had to originate here)Senate for Small States

Power of govt. divided into 3 branches

“3/5ths Compromise” Compromise on counting slaves as part of population

Rule based on consent of the governed, but by means of representative, not direct, democracyDemocratic power limited by powerful federal judges and the Electoral College, only Representatives directly elected

Limited Government achieved through Checks and BalancesLIBERTY WAS BALANCED WITH ORDEROnly 3 of 41 delegates refused to sign it. Sent to states for approval

Division of Powers =Checks and Balances

EXECUTIVE

LEGISLATIVEJUDICIAL