Constitutional Convention Debate
Introduction
Many people in the U.S. realized that the Articles of Confederation were not sufficient to run the
country. A group of 55 delegates from all 13 states except Rhode Island went to Philadelphia to
draft a new document. This meeting became known as the Constitutional Convention. It started
on February 21, 1787 and ended with the signing of the Constitution on September 17,
1787. The delegates came from large, small and in-between sized states. These groups had
different opinions about how the new document should be written. The following issues were
debated and you will be expected to debate these as if you were there as your assigned
delegate:
Debate Issues:
1. Anti-Federalist (strong state government) vs. Federalist (strong central
government)
2. The Virginia Plan, The New Jersey Plan, Hamilton’s Plan, and the Great
Compromise (also known as the Connecticut Compromise)
3. HOW THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE SET UP (legislative, executive, and
judicial branches, etc.)
4. Slavery (anti-slavery or pro-slavery)
5. Slave Trade (Compromise on Slave Trade)
6. Counting slaves as part of the population for representation in Congress
(3/5 Compromise)
7. Bill of Rights (protection of individual citizen’s rights)
Debate
Individual Research and Requirements: (See research information on the last page)
Research: You will choose a delegate from the Constitutional Convention and research the
following information:
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE AT THE TIME OF THE CONVENTION!
a. State you are representing
b. Age
c. Occupation, education and marital status
d. Member of the Continental Army?
e. Representative to the Continental Congress?
f. Signer of the following documents?
1. Declaration of Independence
2. Articles of Confederation
3. Constitution (At the end of the convention, you will be asked whether or not
you will sign the document)
g. What issues from the “Debate Issues” section above was your delegate involved in?
h. Of those issues, what were his thoughts/ideas/feelings?
i. Did the state or type of state that your delegate was representing have strong
feelings about the issues listed above? If so, what were they?
Requirements: (for grading information, see the evaluation section on the next page)
1. Prepare an introduction that you will verbally present at the beginning of the
convention.
 1st person and presented as if it is the first day of the convention: February 21, 1787
 Include all information for research a – f#2
 Must be memorized
2. Present “your” (your delegate’s) ideas / feelings during the convention.
 1st person presentation of ideas/feelings about the specific topic being discussed
 Portray the personality of your delegate and the passion he felt about the issues
 Try to persuade the other delegates to agree with your position
 Include all information for research g, h, and i
Group Work:
During the debate, you will be seated with other delegates from states similar to yours (large,
small, in-between). If you find out through research that your delegate worked with other
delegates to present or discuss a specific topic, you must meet with those people to decide who
will present which portion of the issue.
Debate evaluation:
Research and In-Class Participation: ( will counts as 8 hw checks. 1 per day)
This portion of your grade will be dependent on you using your time given in class wisely. This
will include all library/computer lab research time and in-class work.
Debate: (Your introduction will count as a quiz grade; your debate will count as a test grade)
Participation (Intro = 5 points; Debate = 15 points): This is a verbal debate. You must verbally
present information in order to be effective. The amount of participation required depends on
your delegate. You are required to participate in whatever portion(s) of the debate that your
delegate participated in, or had feelings about.
Knowledge (Intro = 15 points; Debate = 30 points): Your knowledge of your topic needs to be
evident during the debate. The only way I will know what you know is if you participate. I will be
looking for your knowledge of your delegate as well as knowledge of the issues being debated.
If your delegate was actually highly involved in a specific issue, I will expect your
knowledge to be particularly strong in that area. Your knowledge must reflect the strength of
your research using the websites on ProgressBook, the biography, and the books and
information available in the library.
Delivery (Intro = 10 points; Debate = 15 points): This includes voice level, inflection, eye contact,
ability to formulate your argument in a convincing but appropriate way, as well as use of facts
and evidence. During the debate portion, you may (and probably should) have out notes,
information, etc., but you should not have to rely heavily on them. Your introduction has to be
memorized. When you read directly off of a paper it takes away from the effectiveness of your
presentation. You are pretending to be a delegate from the actual convention, and I expect you
to be comfortable speaking as if you are that person.
Debate Project Calendar:
Fri. Nov. 2:
Discuss Project and choose delegate
Mon. 11/5 – Fri.11/9
and Mon. 11/13 – Wed.11/14:
Computer Lab research; Library research; In-class work
Th. 11/15 – Wed. 11/21:
DEBATE
THIS DEBATE RUNS UP TO THANKSGIVING BREAK. IF YOU WILL NOT BE HERE FOR
ONE OR MORE OF THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THIS BREAK, YOU MUST INFORM ME BY
MON. 11/5.
More Constitutional Convention Debate Help
Small States
Connecticut:
William Samuel Johnson
*Oliver Ellsworth
*Roger Sherman
Delaware:
Gunning Bedford Jr.
John Dickinson
Maryland:
*Luther Martin
New Hampshire:
John Langdon
New Jersey:
*William Paterson
William Livingston
Large States
Massachusetts:
Elbridge Gerry
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
North Carolina:
Hugh Williamson
William R. Davie
Pennsylvania:
Benjamin Franklin
*James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris
Virginia:
*James Madison
George Mason
*Edmund J. Randolph
In-Between States
Georgia:
Abraham Baldwin
William L. Pierce
New York:
*Alexander Hamilton
John Lansing, Jr.
Robert Yates
South Carolina:
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
John Rutledge
Required Research Information
 How do I figure out my delegate’s position/feelings about each of the debate topics?
Your knowledge evaluation is based on the information found in all the sources listed
below:
1. Read your biography. Obviously your biography is a good source of
information for your introduction, but it also provides information or clues
about which topic(s) your delegate felt strongly about at the convention.
2. Read pages 213-219 in your textbook! Some of the delegates are
specifically mentioned in the book. Also, it gives a great overview of most
of the debate issues and can give you a better understanding of the
overall picture.
3. Read the information on the websites on the back of this page (links
on ProgressBook). Most of the delegates are mentioned at least once on
these websites. They also provide more in-depth information about the
convention.
4. Research the books pulled out in the school library. All of the
delegates can be found in these books. They also provide more in-depth
information about the convention.
Extra Credit
1. Dress up as your delegate. Check out this website for examples of the
clothing of the time period: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1750-1795_in_fashion
Obviously all the delegates were men…..
2. Incorporate the following ideas from section 8.1 (pages 205-209) during the
debate: state constitutions; Articles of Confederation; Land Ordinance of
1785; Northwest Ordinance; Shays’s Rebellion.
Websites for Constitutional Convention Debate
(There are links on ProgressBook)
 List of delegates by state with biographies:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_founding_fathers.html
 Overview of Constitutional Convention:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention
 Overview of Constitutional Convention:
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_ccon.html
 Delegate Information listed by the documents that they signed:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/experience.html
 Overview of the Constitutional Convention:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html
 Quotes from some delegates (Hamilton, Morris, Mason, Pinckney,
Wilson, Davie, Madison, Randolph, Gerry, Sherman) about debate
topics:
http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/student-resources/playgames/madisons-notes-are-missing/
 Issue of Slavery:
http://www.academicamerican.com/revolution/documents/ConstDebate.html