May, 1787
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
~Independence Hall~
Leader: George Washington
Purpose of the Constitutional
Convention
The goal was
Articles of Confederation
to revise the
Articles of
Confederation
. It was
quickly
decided to
replace it.
Articles of Confederation
CREATING A NEW GOVERNMENT
• The 55 delegates at the
Constitutional Convention realized
the need to strengthen the central
government
• Rhode Island was absent
• Elected George Washingtonchairman
• They soon decided to create an
entirely new Constitution instead
of amending the Articles
• Articles were scraped
• Peaceful overthrow of U.S. govt.
“Compromise”
DECISIONS MADE
- Feared a strong central
government
-1 vote per state
-keep meeting a secret
•Speak freely without public
influence
In spite of the sweltering heat, the windows were
tightly sealed to prevent outsiders from
eavesdropping on the discussions. The delegates
wanted to feel free to speak their minds without
causing alarm or opposition among the general
public. They agreed to keep whatever was said in
the meeting room a secret until their work was
done.
-majority rules
•Delegates divided on where
power should come from - people
or states?
Father of the Constitution
• James Madison
• National Principlenational govt. stronger
than states
• Power came from people
not states- Popular
Sovereignty
• Federalism
• Separation of PowersBaron de Montesquieu
• Checks and Balances
ISSUES AT DEBATE
-representation
•Should representation be equal
or based on population?
large states
•Want rep. based on population
small states
•Want equal rep. from each state
-slavery
•Should the U.S. keep it?
•Do slaves count in population?
Key Issue: Should states with more people have more
representatives, or should every state be represented
equally? What about slaves? Do they count?
The Virginia Plan
• Drafted by Madison
• Edmund Randolph
• Powerful national government
– Impose laws on states
– Levy taxes
– Regulate commerce
Virginia Plan Structure
• Three Branches
- Single Executive
-National Court
- Bicameral Legislature
(2 Houses)
Virginia Plan Structure
• Bicameral Legislature
- Lower house chosen directly by the
people
- State Legislature nominate candidates for
the upper house
- lower house elects upper house from the
candidates
Virginia Plan Structure
• Representation would be based on population
or financial contributions
• Favored by the large states
Virginia Plan
Proposed by big states
Lawmaking body:
Bicameral (2 Houses)
Elected by
the people
Based on
Population
Elected by the
1st house
# of Congressmen determined by state population
The New Jersey Plan
• William Paterson (NJ)
• Small states plan
• Modify the Articles
– Unicameral Congress
– Equal representation
– New powers to levy
taxes and to regulate
trade
– Multi-person executive
PLANS PROPOSED
-New Jersey Plan
-small state plan
•3 branches, 1 house Congress
-equal voting
•Keep small states from being
taken over by large states
-promoted state’s rights
William Paterson proposed the New Jersey Plan, which
promoted states rights for the small states.
New Jersey Plan
Supported by smaller states
Lawmaking body:
Unicameral (1 House)
Based on
Equality
Each state would
have the same
number of
Representatives or
votes
The Great Compromise
• Benjamin Franklin
• Roger Sherman (CT)
– Connecticut
Compromise
• Bicameral legislature
– House of
Representatives
• Based on population
• Directly elected
• Every tax bill would
originate in the House
– Senate
• Each state equally
represented
• Senators selected by the
state legislature
“Mankind may hereafter, from
this unfortunate instance, despair
of establishing governments by
human wisdom, and leave it to
chance, war, and conquest”
~ Benjamin Franklin ~
The Great Compromise
This was a combination of both plans…
Lawmaking body:
Bicameral Congress (2 Houses)
House of
Representatives
# of reps. would depend
on populations
Senate
Each state gets 2
representatives
THREE-FIFTHS COMPROMISE
• Next difficult issue: Slavery
• South- Slaves should count
as parts of population
• North- slaves should not
count
• North- If slaves count,
should also count for tax
purposes
• Compromise- Every five
enslaved persons would
count as three free persons
for representation and
taxation purposes
Commerce Compromises
• Southern fears
– If national government
controls trade, it can
• Ban slave trade
• Tax exports
• Compromise
– Exports cannot be taxed
– Slave trade cannot be
banned for 20 years
• North very willing to
compromise
– Necessity
– Slavery a dying
institution
NEW GOV’T
-much stronger than Articles
of Confederation
-power to tax
•Congress and states
-regulate trade
•Congress controls interstate
trade
-strong executive
•Called a President
•1 term = 4 years
-needed 9 of 13 to ratify
•Pass/approve
September 17, 1787, delegates at the
Constitutional Convention declared the new
constitution complete. Now it would be sent to
the states for ratification.
Presidential Powers
•
•
•
•
Military commander-in-chief
Control foreign policy
Veto power over legislation
Enforce the law
The Executive
• Issues:
• Chosen by legislature or
– Single or multiple? independently elected?
– How is he to be
– Both!
chosen?
– Electoral College
• Single executive
“The British
– Alexander
government forms
Hamilton
the best model the
world has ever
– George Washington
produced.”
~ Alexander
Hamilton ~
Electoral College
• Electors chosen by the states
• Electors would cast vote based on the popular
vote
• Safety system in case the people make a
mistake
• No winner House of Reps chooses President
• VP will be runner up in Electoral CollegeSenate will choose
Federal System
• Authority is divided between a federal
government and a regional government
• - both act directly on the people
- both are supreme within the sphere of
authority
Why Federalism
• Compromise between advocates of strong
national government and state rights
supporters
• States traditions and local power could be
retained
• Common problems national in scope could be
dealt with a central government with more
authority
Powers of the Federal Government
• Enumerated powers- powers belonging to
federal govt.
• Implied powers- Elastic Clause(necessary and
Proper Clause
- provides flexibility by giving Congress
powers reasonably inferred but not
stated in Constitution
Powers of the States
• 10th Amendment- powers not delegated to
national govt. nor prohibited to the states are
reserved powers
• Examples- state militia, police power, marriage
license, education, traffic laws
Concurrent Powers
• Powers held by both the federal government
and the states.
• Levy taxes, borrow $, establish courts, charter
banks and corporations
SEPARATION OF POWERS
Checks and Balances
• Prevents any one branch from becoming too
powerful
- President- veto, appointing judges
- Congress- override, impeach, reject
appointments
- Judicial- declare a law unconstitutional
RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION
• The Constitutional
Convention adjourned in
September of 1787
• Nine of thirteen states had
to ratify the Constitution
• Supporters of the
Constitution were
Federalists. Those opposed
were Anti-Federalist
Federalists vs. Anti Federalists
... Let the Battle Begin...
Federalists: Supporters of the New Constitution
George Washington
Ben Franklin
James Madison
Alexander Hamilton
John Jay
Anti Federalists: Opposed ratification of the new Constitution
1. Would take away liberties
2. Create a strong central government
**Wanted the gov. close to
3. Ignore the will of the people
the people
4. Favor the wealthy
Thomas Paine
Patrick Henry
FEDERALIST
• Led by Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison and John
Jay, Federalist believed that
while the Constitution was
not perfect, it was far
superior to the Articles of
Confederation
• They favored a strong
central government
James
Madison
“Father of the
Constitution”
ANTI-FEDERALIST
• The Anti-Federalist view
was that the Constitution
did not guarantee the rights
of the people of the states
• Lacked a list of specific
rights for the people
• Led by Patrick Henry,
George Mason, and Richard
Henry Lee, the AntiFederalists wanted a Bill of
Rights to off-set the strong
central government
Lee penned his views in the
widely read, Letters from the
Federal Farmers
The Federalist Papers
• New York
– Gov. George Clinton
• 85 essays to support
Constitution
• Publius
• Federalist 10:
– Control of factions
– “Pluralism”
• Federalist 51:
– Separation of powers
– Alexander Hamilton
“The influence of factious
leaders may kindle a flame
– James Madison
within their particular States,
– John Jay
“Ambition must be made but will be unable to spread a
to counteract ambition.” general conflagration through
the other States”
Map
~ Federalist 51 ~
~ Federalist 10 ~
Chart
ADOPTION OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS
• To satisfy the States-Rights
advocates, a Bill of Rights
was added to the
Constitution to guarantee
individual rights
• The Bill of Rights was
ratified in December of
1791- three years after the
Constitution was ratified
First Ten Amendments
Amendments
Before any of the
states would sign the
Constitution, the
delegates wanted a
way to amend the
Constitution in order
for it to grow with the
times and the
country.
Bill of Rights
1st Amendment
2nd Amendment
3rd Amendment
Signing the
Constitution
39 delegates signed
before leaving
Philadelphia. Each
state planned to have
its own convention to
vote on the adoption.
Nine states were needed
to ratify.
December 7, 1787
Ratification
June 21, 1788
New Hampshire, the 9th state signed the constitution putting
into effect the new government.
There were still states that had not ratified. This threatened
the outcome of the new Gov.
The four remaining states signed by May of 1790!
Go USA!!
George Washington was
elected the first President
of the U.S.
John Adams was elected
the first Vice President of
the U.S.
OLDEST LIVING CONSTITUTION
• The U.S. Constitution is the
oldest written national
constitution in the world
• Constitution- Supreme Law
of the Land
• Elastic Clause key to
flexibility
• Also ability to change, or
“amend” the Constitution
helps preserve it
• 27 Amendments have been
added