 Daniel Shay was a
Massachusetts veteran
from the Revolutionary
War
 Because of the debt he
owed he was facing
debtor’s prison and the loss
of his land
 He believed his financial
problems was the result of
the heavy taxation of the
Massachusetts government
 In 1787 Shay and other
farmers protested that the
courts should close
 When the courts refused
he & 1,200 farmers
marched to Spingfield
 State officials sent a militia
to stop the uprising
 If 1,200 men gathered to
fight the issue of taxes &
debt then there must be a
serious problem
 Shay’s rebellion caused
panic throughout the
states
 The national government
had no power to help the
states stop the uprisings
 This threatened to
undermine the reputation
of the new nation
 “What a triumph for our
enemies…to find we are
incapable of governing
ourselves”-George Washington
 There were many
problems and
weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation
 To find a solution, James
Madison and Alexander
Hamilton called a
meeting in 1786
 Only five states sent
representatives to
Maryland
 So they tried again for
the next year to meet in
Philadelphia
 May 1787, twelve of the
thirteen states (not Rhode
Island) sent delegates to
Philadelphia
 55 men locked themselves
in the courthouse to
discuss these issues
 First they needed a
presiding officer – they
chose George
Washington
 In the beginning the
men just wanted to
revise the Articles
 They quickly decided
that the the foundation
of the new government
was too weak
 Might as well start from
scratch!
 First issue to be revised
was the representation
from each state in the
national government
 Larger states wanted
representation base on
population
 Smaller states wanted
equal representation
 A compromise was
needed
 James Madison drafted the
Virginia Plan, favored
larger states
 Virginia Plan proposed a
bicameral legislature
 People would elect
representatives to the
lower house based on
population
 The lower house would
elect representatives to the
upper house
 This plan was unacceptable
to the smaller states
 William Paterson drafted
the New Jersey Plan
 This plane proposed a
unicameral legislature
where states would send
one representative
 Different plans meant the
delegates were in a
deadlock and a
compromise was still
needed
 Roger Sherman offered a
solution to the problem
and it took the name
The Great Compromise
 Congress should be
bicameral
 Lower house or House of Representatives, state
would send representatives based on population
 Upper house, or Senate each state would send two
representatives
 Citizens of each state would chose the members of
House of Representatives, but the state legislature
would choose the members of the Senate
 This compromise was acceptable to both sides, and
this became the structure for the national legislative
branch
 The Great Compromise
created a new problem
 If a legislative’s
representation was based
on population, they need
to know how to count
each state’s slaves
 Delegates from the
southern states wanted
to include their slave
population
 The delegates from the
northern states did not
want them to be counted
 The delegates agrees to a
Three-fifths compromise
 Allowed states to count
only three-fifths of the
states slave population
 This agreement shows the
attitude about the
country’s slaves, states that
an African slave was worth
only 60% compared to a
free, white male
 Slavery was important to
southern economies
 Delegates from southern
states did not want any power
given to the national
government that would
threaten the shipping or use
of slaves
 Congress wanted the right to
regulate foreign trade
 Southern states worried that
if congress could regulate
foreign trade, they might
prohibit slave trade
 In order to compromise,
the southern states
agreed to regulate
interstate trade if
Congress agreed not to
interfere with slave trade
for 20 years
 Time to create something
new!
 Few concepts that would
frame the government
 Limited government and
separation of powers
 Instead of a confederation
where power comes from
the individual states, the
delegates decided on
federalism
 Federalism is a form of
government where power is
shared between the
national level and the
state government
 National government
would be given power to
control foreign affairs,
provide national defense,
regulate trade between
states and coin money
 Since these powers are
specifically in the
Constitution, they are
called delegated or
enumerated powers
 Powers at the state level are
called reserved powers
 These include providing
and supervising
education, establishing
marriage laws, and
regulate trade within a
state
 Both the national and state
levels of government would
have the power to tax,
borrow money and pay
debts
 Delegates wanted to avoid





an abusive national leader
They separated the power
within the national
government by
establishing three different
branches
Legislative to make
national laws
Executive branch to
enforce laws
Judicial branch to
interpret meaning of laws
Delegates created a system
of checks and balances to
prevent one branch for
becoming more powerful
than another
 At the Constitutional
Convention, delegates
worried that the people
were unable to effectively
vote for the president
 To smooth out these
concerns, the delegates
created the electoral
college
 Instead of tabulating the
votes in a popular election
(man with most votes
wins), the Electoral
College would vote for the
general population
 Each state would choose a
number of electors (equal
to number of
representatives and
senators) & those electors
would cast their vote for
president
 After the debates, arguments
and compromises were over,
the Constitutional
Convention adjourned
September 17, 1787
 Now the states had to decide
if it was an effective and fair
form of government
 Each state legislature received
a copy and it was their turn
to debate the ideas of
government
 Country waited anxiously
while the thirteen colonies
decided whether or not to
submit their approval