The Philadelphia (Constitutional)
Convention of 1787

 May 25, 1787: 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 States
(Rhode Island did not send a representative) met in
Philadelphia
 Purpose: To revise (edit/change) the Articles of
Confederation
 5 days into the convention, they decided to throw
out the Articles of Confederation and start all over
with a new government
 For 89 of the 116 days from May 25-September 17,
they met in secret and eventually wrote what we
know as our Constitution.
The Constitution:
“A Bundle of Compromises”

 Compromise: settling a conflict by each side giving
up part of their demands in order to meet in the
middle (come to an agreement).
 The Constitution has been described as a “bundle of
compromises” because lots of people had different
opinions on how the government should run, and
everyone had to give in a little bit along the way.
 The biggest compromises had to do with
representation in Congress and with slavery
1. The Connecticut
Compromise

 Established that our legislature (Congress) would be
bicameral
 Also called “The Great Compromise”
 The conflict: Big States vs. Small States
 Virginia Plan (favored big States): Congress should be
bicameral (2 houses). Representation is based on wealth
and population of each State
 New Jersey Plan (favored small States): Congress should
be unicameral (1 house). Every State sends the same
number of representatives, no matter how big the State is.

The compromise: Congress is bicameral (2
houses):
 Senate: Every State send 2 representatives, no
matter how big the State
 House of Representatives: The number of reps.
each State sends depends on how many people are
in the State (the population)
 1 representative for every 650,000 people who live in the
State
 Georgia currently sends 14 reps. to the House. Montana
only sends 1.
2. The 3/5 Compromise

 The conflict: Southern States vs. Northern States
 Southern States:
 Wanted to count slaves as part of their population so they would be
able to send more representatives to the House of Representatives
 Otherwise, the Southern States would always be outvoted on things
in Congress
 Northern States:
 Thought that slaves shouldn’t count toward Southern
representation in Congress, because they weren’t counted as
citizens
 The compromise: 3 out of every 5 slaves would be counted toward
the population of each State.
3. Slave Trade
Compromise

 The conflict: Northern States vs. Southern States (round 2!)
 Northern States:
 Wanted to end the slave trade (the actual shipping of slaves from Africa
to the US)
 Worried that southern States would just ship in more slaves so they
could increase their populations and control Congress
 Southern States:
 Their economy was based on farming/agriculture – large plantations
where slaves did the work for free
 Wanted to continue to have access to slaves
 The compromise:
1. Slaves could continue to be imported (brought in to the country from
Africa) until 1808 – about 20 more years
2. Congress would not have the power to tax exports (goods shipped out of
the country to other countries)
Obj. 2: Ratifying the
Constitution

Sept 17, 1787 – The Constitutional
Convention approves the Constitution and 39
members sign
Needed 9 states to approve for new govt to
go into effect
Sept 28, 1787: copies of the Constitution were
sent out to the states for approval
Two sides emerge:

Federalists
Anti-Federalists
 Favored ratification
 Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison
 Supported a stronger
national government, with
states giving up some
powers
 Supported having a single
head executive (president)
 Loose interpretation of
Constitution
 Opposed ratification
 Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams,
John Hancock
 Supported states having most
of the power (weak national
govt)
 Feared a single executive would
turn into a king/tyrant
 Strict interpretation of
Constitution – If it doesn’t say
it, the national govt can’t do it!
 **Demanded a Bill of Rights to
protect civil liberties**
Ratification

Votes on ratification were close in many
states
1st state to ratify - Delaware (Dec 7, 1787)
June 21, 1788 – New Hampshire is the 9th
state to ratify
BUT, Virginia and New York, the two largest,
wealthiest states, had not ratified.
Ratification
 Washington and Madison 
were able to convince Thomas
Jefferson to ratify
 Virginia ratifies June 25, 1788
 NY went through heated
debates
 The Federalist Papers – a
collection of 85 essays
supporting the Constitution
 Authors: Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison, John Jay
 Considered first campaign
document in the US – it
greatly influenced NY’s
decision to ratify
 NY finally ratifies July 26, 1788
A New Government

 Sept 13, 1788 – Constitution officially goes into effect
 New York chosen as the temporary capital
 March 4, 1789 – First Congress meets in NY
 Did not have a quorum (majority), so electoral votes
for Pres/VP could not be counted until…
 April 6:
 President = George Washington
 John Adams = Vice President
 April 30, 1789 – GW sworn in as 1st Pres of US
Obj. 3: Fundamental principles of the
US Constitution

 Functions of the
Constitution (What does
it do?)
1. It is the highest form of
law in the US
2. Lays out the
framework and
procedures of our govt
3. Sets limits on govt
power
6 Basic Principles of the
Constitution

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Limited Government
Popular Sovereignty
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Judicial Review
Federalism
6 Basic Principles of the
Constitution

1. Limited Government
 NO government is all powerful
 Government can only do the things that people have
given it the power to do
 Aka constitutionalism – the government MUST be
conducted according to constitutional principles
 Includes the Rule of Law:
 NO person is above the law
 Everyone, even government officials, MUST follow the
laws of the land

2. Popular Sovereignty
 All political power is
with the people
 Government can only
rule with the consent
of the people
 Expressed in 1st words
of Constitution: “We
the people…”
3. Separation of Powers

 All of the basic powers of the American government are
distributed among 3 branches of government
 The executive, legislative, and judicial branches are
completely separate bodies/groups of people
 Each branch has its own set of responsibilities:
 Legislative Branch: makes/passes the laws
 Executive Branch: executes, enforces, administers the law
 Judicial Branch: interprets and applies the laws
 Why?
 The framers wanted a stronger central government, but…
 didn’t want too much power in the hands of any one person
or group

4. Checks and Balances
 Even though the 3
branches have separate
powers, they still have
to work together to get
things done
 Each branch is subject to
limits by the other
branches
 And each branch also
has powers that limit
other branches
 Facts of Congress:
Checks/Balances

Checks and Balances: Examples
 Executive Branch

 The President is the Commander-in-Chief (head) of the
military…
 ….but only Congress can declare war and vote on
funds/troops (legislative limits the executive)
 Legislative Branch
 Congress has the power to make (write, discuss, and vote
on) laws…
 the President can veto those laws (executive limits the
legislative)
 …but Congress can override the Presidential veto with a
2/3 majority vote (legislative limits the executive)

 Judicial Branch
 Is limited by the Executive and Legislative Branches…
 The President chooses (appoints) all Supreme Court
judges….
 but the Senate must vote to approve the President’s
choices.
 Congress can also vote to impeach and remove Federal
judges
 But the Judicial Branch also limits the Executive and
Legislative Branches…
 With the power of judicial review
5. Judicial Review

 Courts have the power to
determine constitutionality
of all laws and government
actions
 In other words, courts can
declare illegal, null and
void any government action
that violates any part of the
Constitution
 Extends to all governments
in US – national, state, and
local
Judicial review was established in
1803 with the Marbury vs. Madison
court case.
6. Federalism

 The national government is not all-powerful.
Government powers/duties are divided between:
 The National/Federal government (based in
Washington, D.C.)
 The States’ governments (like GA)
 The framers chose this system as a compromise
between those who wanted sovereign
(independent) states and those who wanted a
stronger national government
 Facts of Congress: Federalism