Plan B….
• The Constitutional Convention
IV.The Constitutional Convention May 25, 1787 to
Sept. 17, 1787
A. Who attended
1. 55 delegates from 12 states
a. all white
b. All male
c. Average age—42
d. ¾ of the delegates had been
members of the Confederation
Congress
f. For the most part all were rich
B. Major Players
1. George Washington
1732-1799
Presided over Constitutional
Convention
George Mason
1725-1792
Bill of Rights
Ben Franklin
1706-1790
William Paterson
1745-1806
The New Jersey
Plan
James Madison
1751-1836
Father of the
Constitution
Drafted Virginia
Plan
Edmund Randolph
1753-1813
Introduced Virginia
Plan
Luther Martin
1740-1826
Helped
formulate NJ
Plan
Alexander
Hamilton
1755-1804
The British Plan
Charles Pinckney
1757-1824
Pinckney’s Plan
Introduced
Fugitive Slave
Clause
Gouverneur
Morris
1752-1816
Wrote the
Constitution
Preamble
Roger Sherman
1721-1793
Connecticut Plan
“The Great
Compromise”
V. The Conflict over Representation or in other words,
how to make a fair Congress
A.Conflict between Big States and Small States
1. Small states were afraid Big states would control the
new Congress. Small states wanted equal representation.
a. The New Jersey Plan—Small states wanted one
house where each state had one vote.
2. Big States thought it unfair that small states had so
much power. Big states wanted proportional
representation.
a. The Virginia Plan—Big states wanted two houses
where representation was determined by population..
B.The Great Compromise (Connecticut Plan)
1. Congress would have two houses. Bills had to
pass both houses to become law
a. The House of Representatives (Lower
House)
i. Elected by the people
ii. Based on proportional representation
iii. The House of representatives had
sole authority to start tax or spending laws.
b. The Senate (Upper House)
i. Appointed by the states (then)
ii. Equal representation—two
senators for each state
iii. The Senate would confirm all
judges and ambassadors and approve
treaties
VI Passing the Constitution
A. State Conventions
1. Madison’s Plan:
a. Each State had to approve the
Constitution by calling a state wide
convention. Madison believed that
this would allow the most people to vote
on the Constitution. The State
legislatures would not vote on the
Constitution
b. 9 out of 13 states had to approve the
Constitution before it became law.
3 Major Issues Debated:
•Representation
•Slavery
•Tariffs
Tariffs
(Tax on imported goods)
• Northern states- thought it was
important for economy
• Southern states- felt it would hurt
their businesses. Didn’t want Nat'l
Gov’t to have control over trade
• Result of debate….?
Slavery
• Northern states agreed to the demand
of slavery. Constitution states that
slavery would not end before 1808.
• Also agreed to the Fugitive Slave Clause
• Then passed the 3/5 Clause
3/5 Clause
• Helped determine the number of
representatives a state would have.
• Slaves were considered property so
they would be counted as 3/5 a person.
Types of Desired Government
Confederation-
States are
independent and have control of
anything that effects their citizens
and territory
Federalism- Dividing and
sharing of powers between the
central and local governments
with some power left to the
people.
Who is for and who is against the Constitution
Federalists- Supported the Constitution
Wanted a strong government
Anti-Federalists- Opposed ratifying the
Constitution. Wanted a weak government
Read the fine print: The Necessary and Proper
Clause and the General Welfare Clause
The Necessary and Proper
Clause (Article 1)
“The Congress shall have Power - To make
all Laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into Execution the
foregoing Powers, and all other Powers
vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States, or in
any Department or Officer thereof.”
Issues with this:
Anti-Federalists - clause would grant the
federal government too much power.
Federalists -the clause would only permit
execution of power already granted by the
Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton argued for why the
federal government required the powers of
taxation. (Hamilton = banks!)
General Welfare Clause aka
The Taxing and Spending Clause
(article 1)
It is the clause that gives the
government its power of taxation
Anti-Federalists vs. Federalists 1787 – 1788
Anti-Federalists
Federalists
1. Republican Government only
works in small communities. Our
Nation is too big for it to work.
1. It will work because our leaders
have Civic Virtue
2. National Government would have
2. That Power is necessary. It is
controlled by Separation of powers
and Checks and balances.
too much power
3. The Necessary and Proper Clause 3. Congress has to have this power.
and the General Welfare Clause are It is controlled by Checks and
too broad.
balances
4. There is too much power in the
Presidency. It could become a
monarchy
4. No it won’t. The presidents
power is controlled by checks and
balances, impeachment, and civic
virtue.
5. There is no Bill of Rights
5. If you list rights, people will
think that you only have those
rights.
The big compromise to ratify
was the….
BILL OF RIGHTS!!!!
VII.Political parties
A. The Framers’ Opinion
1. They believed Political parties were dangerous.
2. Madison thought the Constitution could control
Political Parties
B. The Birth of Political parties.
Hamilton (Treasury)
Jefferson (State)
Hamilton
Jefferson
1. Wanted a strong
National Government
2. Wanted Industry
1.Wanted a weak National
Government
2. Wanted farming
3. Wanted to interpret
the Constitution loosely
3. Wanted to interpret
the Constitution strictly
4. Read the “Necessary
4. Read the “Necessary
and Proper” clause to allow and Proper “clause to NOT
for a National Bank
allow a National Bank
5. Supported England
5. Supported France
Hamilton
Jefferson
Federalists
Hamiltonians
Democrat -RepublicansJeffersonians