Creating A
Constitution
Constitution = a document
stating the rules under which
a government will operate
Creating a Constitution
Targets
• I can determine the strengths and
weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
• I can evaluate and debate why the
Constitutional Convention decided to create
an entirely new framework of government.
• I can describe what shaped the outcome of
the Constitutional Convention in 1787
• I can explain how compromises solved crises
in the Constitutional Convention.
Constitutional Convention of 1787
Virginia Plan
• strong central government
• Three branches of government:
– Executive
– Legislative
– Judicial
• Legislature divided into two houses
• Representation based on population
• Small states objected to the plan because the more
people a state had, the more seats it would have.
(which means more VOTES)
Population of the 13 original states
from the official census of 1790
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Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Virginia
237,946
59,096
82,548
319,728
378,787
141,885
184,139
340,120
393,751
434,373
68,825
249,073
691,737
Constitutional Convention of 1787
New Jersey Plan
• Single house (s) in Congress
• Equal representation for each state
• Expanded powers of Congress to raise
money and regulate commerce
Constitutional Convention of 1787
The Great Compromise
Two houses of Congress
• Lower house: House of Representatives
– Representation based on population
• Upper house: Senate
– Each state had two seats
Slave population-1790 census
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Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Virginia
237,946
59,096
82,548
319,728
378,787
141,885
184,139
340,120
393,751
434,373
68,825
249,073
691,737
2,764
8,887
29,264
103,036
0
158
11,423
21,324
100,572
3,737
948
107,094
292,627
1%
15%
35%
32%
0%
<1%
6%
6%
25%
<1%
1%
43%
42%
1790 Census
Free African Americans = 1.5%
Slave= 17.9%
White population= 80%
Constitutional Convention of 1787
The Three-Fifths Compromise
• Southerners said that enslaved people
should be counted in calculating how many
representatives a state should have in
Congress.
Northerners objected because enslaved people
were not allowed to vote
• As a compromise each enslaved person was
counted as three fifths of a person (for taxes
and representation)
Chart
• Who proposed the plan?
• What was included in the plan?
• Who supported the plan?
• Virginia Plan page 213-214 (read through The
Great Compromise)
• New Jersey Plan page 214
• Great Compromise page 214-215 (Terms of
Compromise)
Virginia Plan
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Proposed by Edmund Randolph
Wanted a new, stronger central government
James Madison was the main author
Called for 3 separate branches
– Legislative-congress
– Executive – enforce laws
– Judicial – interpret laws
• Congress would have 2 parts
– Lower house
– Upper house
• Representation based on population (more people a state
had, the more seats it would get)
• Supported by big states (like Virginia, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts)
New Jersey Plan
 Introduced by William Paterson
 Single house of congress
 Equal representation for each state
 Expanded power of Congress to
raise money and regulate trade
 Supported by smaller states
Great Compromise
 Roger Sherman worked out the
compromise
 Created 2 house Congress
 Lower house called House of
Representatives-based on populationsupported by large states
 Upper house called Senate – each
state has two seats (equal for all
states)– supported by smaller states
US Debt
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1791
$75,463,476.52
Lowest= 1834
$33,733.05
1850-1861
Stead decline
Then Civil War-HUGE increase
US Debt
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Thousand (3 zeros)
Million (6 zeros)
Billion (9 zeros)
Trillion (12 zeros)
Quadrillion (15 zeros)
Quintillion (18 zeros)
US Debt
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1st time over billion
1862
1st time over trillion
1982
US Debt
• National Debt Clock
Who do we owe the $$$$ to?