Argonaut Social Studies
Chapter 5, Section 1 Study Guide
The Constitutional Convention
Pages 112-118
Introduction~
What was a major problem of our new government under the Articles of Confederation?
Congress was weak and unable to deal with colonial problems.
Agreement and
In 1787, Congress approved the idea that a convention should meet "with the sole and
Disagreement~
express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation."
What two things did the delegates to that convention agree upon??
a. a strong national government was needed
b. the Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced
What did the delegates worry about??
that a strong central government could become too powerful and abuse the peeps
How did they propose to solve this problem??
Separation of the branches
What was another important question that the delegates had to deal with??
In Congress, how many representatives would each state be given
Getting Organized~
Where did the Constitutional Convention meet to discuss our new government??
Philadelphia
Washington is
What was the first thing the convention decided??
Selected~
George Washington is selected to preside over the convention
Setting the Rules~
What was the basic rule of the Constitutional Convention??
Convention delegates must keep the happenings secret
Madison's Plan~
What did the delegates decide to do about the failboat Articles of Confederation?
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That it should be scrapped and a new constitution be written
Who had a definite plan for the new constitution??
James Madison of Virginia
Describe the James Madison (of Virginia) plan.
a. The new government would have a STRONG national government.
b. The national government would have legislative, judicial
and executive branches.
c. The legislative branches would have two parts or "houses" the Senate
and the House of Representatives.
d. The people would select representatives to the House of Representatives directly.
e. The number of representatives in both the House and Senate would be based upon
the population of each state.
Madison's plan became known as the Virginia Plan.
Sharing Power~
What fear did many delegates have of the Virginia Plan's strong national government??
that the strong national government might abuse the state governments
To solve this, what did the delegates decide to do??
the delegates decided to specify what powers the national govt and the state govt had
What did the northern states desire??
to regulate state trade and outlaw the slavery
What did southern states desire??
Southern state obviously opposed outlawing slavery….it would wipe out their economy
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Define Compromise~ when two sides give up something they want to reach a common
goal
How did the northern and southern states compromise over the slave issue??
The new govt could regulate trade but could not ban slavery until a later time.
Reaching Compromise~
What was another important compromise that needed to be made??
How should the government be organized
Virginia and New
Describe how many representatives would be selected under the Virginia Plan??
Jersey Plans~
Each state’s population would determine how many Congressmen it had
Why did smaller states object to this??
smaller states would have fewer Congressmen and would not be fairly represented
Describe William Paterson's (of New Jersey) idea of representation in the legislature.
A one house legislature in which all states would have an equal number of votes
Describe the Great Compromise in the chart below:
The Virginia Plan
The New Jersey Plan
Two House legislature with representatives
in both houses based on population.
A one house legislature with
representation equal to all states.
The Great Compromise
A two house legislature,
House of Reps.=population
Senate=2 Senators per state
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Compare The Articles of Confederation to our US Constitution
Articles of Confederation
The U.S. Constitution
States a more like independent
countries in a loose alliance
A strong national government, weaker
state governments
A one house legislature with very little
power
A two house, bicameral legislature
No executive or judicial branches
Three branches, Legislature, Executive
and Judicial Branches
Congress has very little power
Congress given the power to tax and
raise money
States may coin (create) money
Only the national government may coin
money
No regulation of trade between the
states
The national government may regulate
trade between the states
States hold most power
Power is shared by national and state
governments
The Great Compromise~
Describe Roger Sherman's (of Connecticut) idea that became known as the Great
Compromise.
A Bicameral legislature was created. House of Reps-----would be based on
population
Senate-------2 senators per state…….always
Define Bicameral~
A two part legislature.
The Three-Fifths
A new problem rose............how to count "people" when determining a state's
Compromise~
number of representatives in the House of Representatives.
What did southern states want to do??
They wanted slaves to be counted as citizens……oh the irony!!!
What was the "Three-Fifths Compromise??"
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Slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a person for purposes of voting.
so…….100 slaves=60 people, 3/5=.6 100X.6=60
Executive and Judicial
What had the Articles of Confederation lacked?
Branches~
Executive and Judicial branches
Who would led the executive branch??
A President
What would the presidents' job be??
to enforce any laws passed by Congress……a bit like a policeman
What would led the judicial branch??
The Supreme Court and lesser courts
What would the Supreme Court's job be??
to judge law breakers, to judge the laws themselves
A Government by the
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention argued over who would
People??
select the president.
Some believed the average citizen would not be "informed" and would not make a
good decision as to who should be president.
Voting and Elections~
All white men who owned property
would vote for members of
the House of Representatives. Today, all eligible voters (Citizens over the age of 18)
vote for Representatives to the House.
State legislatures would vote for Senators.
Today,
the 17th Amendment to the Constitution changed that..........all eligible voters may
vote for senators.
An Electoral College
would select the president. Today........it is
still the same!!!
What happened on September 17, 1787??
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