Chapter 7 Section 2
“Here comes the Constitution”
A New Government
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The Constitutional Convention
opened in May of 1787. Its goal was
to revise the Articles of
Confederation. Every state except
Rhode Island sent delegates.
The convention had 55 delegates.
Eight of the men had signed the
Declaration of Independence. Many of
the other men were young men (in
their 30’s)
When the convention began, the men
decided to keep the debates secret.
They closed all the windows and
barred all the doors. The convention
took place in the middle of the
summer, so it was extremely hot.
Soon after the Constitutional
Convention began, the delegates
realized they would have to throw out
the Articles of Confederation and start
fresh with a totally new government.
James Madison
• James Madison was
the most prepared
delegate at the
Constitutional
Convention.
• He had ideas on how
to structure the
government.
• He is known as the
Father of the
Constitution.
Two Rival Plans
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Virginia Plan
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New Jersey Plan
Two plans were proposed. The Virginia
Plan was the first. It called for three
branches of government
Legislative Branch – would make the laws
Executive Branch – would carry out the
laws
Judicial Branch – the court system that
would interpret the laws
The Virginia Plan also had a plan for the
legislature (law making body). Under this
plan, the legislature would have two
houses. The number of representatives
that each state got would be based of
population. The bigger states would have
the power in the legislature under this plan.
Small states did not like this plan.
The New Jersey Plan was the apposing
plan. It was basically the same, but every
state would get the same number of
representatives regardless of population
size. The fighting between these two plans
went on and on and on. There was going
to have to be a compromise.
Great Compromise
Virginia Plan
• Strong National
Government
• 3 branches
• Legislative branch
would have 2
houses with big
states get more
votes
New Jersey Plan
• Strong National
Government
• 3 Branches
• Legislative
branch with 1
house and each
state gets one
vote
The Great
Compromise
Virginia Plan
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Strong National
Government
3 branches
Legislative
branch would
have 2 houses
with states with
more people
getting more
votes.
• Strong National
Government
• 3 branches
• 2 house legislature
• One house based on
population (The House of
Representatives)
• One house based on
equal representation
(Senate)
New Jersey Plan
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Strong National
Government
3 Branches
Legislative branch
with 1 house and
each state gets
one vote
The Great Compromise
• The compromise was
this: One house (the
House of
Representatives) would
be based on population,
and in the other house
(the Senate) every state
would get two senators
no matter what the
population was. This
narrowly passed the
Constitutional Convention
and is known as the
Great Compromise.
The Three-Fifths Compromise
I wonder if this means we
only have to do threefifths of the work
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But what about slaves? Would
they be counted as part of the
state’s population. Northern
states said no and southern states
said yes. The result was the
Three-Fifths Compromise. It
said that three-fifths of all slave
would be counted as part of the
population.
Over the last months of the
convention, the delegates tackled
issues like the court system,
regulation of trade, the executive
branch, and the raising of taxes.
At last, in September of 1787, the
delegates signed the Constitution.
This was not the end, though.
Now, at least nine states had to
vote to ratify (accept) this new
constitution.
Review Questions
• What did the Virginia and New Jersey
plans have in common?
• How were they different?
• Why did small states oppose the Virginia
plan?
• How was the conflict resolved?
• Explain the compromise reached between
the north and south?
• What year was the Constitution signed?
Quick Write
• (Thomas Jefferson/James Madison) had a
bigger impact on our country because..