Constitutional Convention
Blue Print for American
Government
Characteristics Of The
Delegates
55 white male
College educated
Relatively young (avg. age early 40’s)
Wealthier than average American
Lawyers, familiar with law and politics
Wrote their state constitutions
Presiding Office
Delegates voted and
unanimously elected
chairperson:
George Washington
They voted to conduct
their meetings in
secret and say
nothing to the public
Revolutionary Leaders Not in
Attendance
John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, John
Adams, and Thomas Paine were on
diplomatic business
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were
not chosen as delegates
Patrick Henry opposed growth in federal
power refused to take part.
“I smell a rat”
Issues
Change the Articles or draft an entirely
new document?
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Nationalists – Madison and Hamilton took
control of the convention – favored a
strong central government
System of Checks and Balances (one
branch of gov’t having power to check the
others)
Issues cont.
Representation

Madison’s Proposal – The Virginia Plan
 Favored large states
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New Jersey Plan
 Favored small states

Connecticut Plan – The Great Compromise
 Provided a two-house congress
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Equal representation in the Senate
Representation based on population in the House of
Representatives
Slavery
“Great as the evil is, a
dismemberment of the Union
would be worse.”
--James Madison
How were slaves going to be counted?
Were the slave trade and slavery itself to be
allowed under the Constitution?

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3/5 Compromise: counted each slave as 3/5 of a
person for the purpose of determining a state’s
level of taxation and population
Slaves could be imported for 20 years (until
1808), at which time Congress could vote to
abolish the practice
Trade
Northern states wanted Central government
to regulate interstate commerce and foreign
trade.
South was afraid taxes would be placed on
agricultural products i.e. tobacco & rice
Commercial Compromise – Congress regulate
interstate and foreign commerce, including
tariffs on imports, but prohibited taxes on
exports
Powers and Election of
President
How long? How?
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Some argued that
President should hold
office for life
President’s term – 4
years but set no limit to
the number of terms
Electoral College –feared
too much democracy
might lead to mob rule
Powers


Veto acts of
Congress
May appoint federal
judges who serve for
life
Electoral College
Election of the President was yet another
compromise – Here is how it works

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People from each state would choose electors –
based on population-each state would decide how
to choose its electors
Meet as one body and vote for President; vote for
two people – most votes President the second
most votes vice-President
If no one received the majority – House of
Representatives would select President, based on
majority vote
Ratification of the Constitution
After 17 weeks of debate, the convention
approved a draft of the constitution
9 out of 13 states would be required for
ratification
Ratification was fiercely debated for almost a
year
Supporters – Federalists
Opponents – Anti-Federalists
Slide 15
The Convention Ends
 42 delegated remained by August, 1787
 Many debates had ensued, but
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compromise prevailed
39 signed the document (Mason refused
because of lack of Bill of Rights)
Article VII: “The ratification of the
Conventions of nine states shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this
Constitution between the states so
ratifying the same.”
New Hampshire was the 9th state – June
21, 1788
Constitution now supreme law of the
land
Slide 17
Federalist Papers
 Penned by Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay
and James Madison
under the name of
Publius, these were a
series of 85 essays,
printed in
newspapers,
explaining the
Constitution and
trying to convince
people to ratify the
Constitution.
 It worked!
Ratification of the Constitution
Struggle for Ratification
Supporters recognized the
Constitution went beyond the
Convention’s mandate
Phrase “We the People” makes
Constitution a government of
the people, not the states
Succeed in winning ratification
in 11 states by June 1788
North Carolina ratifies
November 1789
Rhode Island ratifies May 1790
Americans close ranks behind
the Constitution
Slide 1
Bill of Rights
 The addition of a
Bill of Rights was
promised through
an amendment to
be added to the
Constitution if it
was ratified
 The Bill of Rights,
the first ten
amendments to
the Constitution,
was added in
1791.
Slide 19
What did they Ratify?
 A federal government- a government
that shares powers between the national
and state governments
 Three branches: Legislative (laws),
Executive (executes laws) and Judicial
(interprets laws)
 Each branch has its separate powers
 System of checks and balances – each
branch can check the other two in order
to keep any branch from assuming too
much power.