Road to the Constitution
Why did the Articles of Confederation
fail?
• State governments were too powerful
• Had the power to: tax, regulate trade, dictate
policy to the national gov., & raise a militia
• Large states taking advantage of small states
What event showed things needed to
change?
• Shay’s Rebellion – farmers protesting the
unfair taxation of the states
Where was the Constitutional
Convention held?
• Philadelphia
Who was in charge?
• George Washington
What was needed for an issue to pass?
• A majority vote
What were major issues needing to be
addressed?
• Small and large states could not agree on
representation
• Northern and Southern states could not agree
on the issue of slavery and commerce
• Federalist & Anti-Federalists could not agree
on the power of the National Government
What are the key parts to the Virginia
Plan?
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Proposed by Edmund Randolf
Bicameral (two houses)
Both houses based on state’s population
Equal number of representatives in each house
3 branches (president, legislature, & court system)
The chief executive chosen by the legislature and the
courts
• Favored by large states
What are the key parts to the New
Jersey Plan?
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Proposed by William Patterson
Unicameral (1 house)
Representation would be equal for all states
Same as Articles of Confederation but
Congress could tax and regulate trade
What was the Great Compromise?
• Proposed by Roger Sherman
• Bicameral legislature (2 houses)
• House of Representatives – based on
population & elected by the people
• Senate – equal for all states (2 & elected by
the state legislatures)
What was the Commerce
Compromise?
• Allowed Congress to regulate interstate and
foreign trade
• Tax imports (not exports)
• Could not restrict importing slaves but could
tax it
• Slaves were not considered free if they ran
away – they had to be returned
What was the Three-Fifths
Compromise?
• Southern states wanted slaves counted as
population but not for taxation purposes
• Northern states thought it was wrong to count
for one and not the other
• Finally – every 5 slaves would be counted as 3
free persons for both taxation and population
What are some of problems that still
existed & how did they solve them?
• Anti-Federalist – needed more protection for
the rights of individuals
• Same ones that were mentioned in the
Declaration of Independence
• Wanted the Bill of Rights added
• 9 or 13 states needed to approve it before it
would take affect
What did the Federalists do to get it
ratified?
• Wrote the Federalist Papers to convince
people to support the Constitution
When did the new government begin?
• March 4, 1789