THE CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTION
Many of the leaders of the Revolution believed
that a stronger national government was need.
The first meeting was held in Annapolis in
September of 1786 which was not well attended.
Another meeting was called for the following
spring (May 1787) to be held in Philadelphia in
which they would consider ways to fix the Articles
of Confederation.
WHY THEY WERE THERE
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Many delegates came to the meeting convinced
that the Articles were so bad that they needed to
create a new plan of government
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James Madison had already drafted a plan for a new
government before arriving at the Convention.
As the Convention started the Virginia delegation,
led by Edmund Randolph, presented to the
convention the plan that Madison had drawn up.
Four months later as the convention adjourned
they had written a new constitution.
THE VIRGINIA PLAN
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This plan proposed by Madison called for a strong
national government organized into 3
governmental branches.
This government would have the power to make
and enforce its own laws
Collect its own taxes
Each citizen would be governed by two
governments which would get their power from
the people
The existence of two governments each given a
certain amount of authority over the people this
is called federalism.
MAKE UP OF THE CONVENTION
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Congress only gave the delegates of the convention the power to amend
the Articles.
55 delegates attended the convention.
May 1787 the delegates elected George Washington president of the
convention.
The delegates decided from the start to ignore their instructions to amend
the Articles and instead voted to write a new Constitution
Appointed a committee to draw up rules for the meeting
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They decided that what was said in the convention would be a secret.
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They believed the best constitution required a free exchange of ideas they believed that
if delegates were afraid their debate would become public they would not express their
real opinions
They believed the new constitution would have a better chance of being accepted if
people did not know about the arguments that went on while it was being written.
Each state would only have one vote
They agreed that a member could not be absent from the convention without
permission if it deprived a state its vote
Made it possible to reconsider issues freely
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No decision had to be permanent until the work was all done.
VIRGINIA PLAN CONT.
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The fist branch of government was the legislative branch
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It was to be made up of two houses
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House of Representatives which would be elected directly by the
people of each state
Senate which would be elected by the members of the House of
Reps from a list of nominated people by the state legislatures
The number of representatives in both houses of the
legislature would be based on the population of each state.
Larger populated states would have more representatives
Powers given to the legislature
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Make all laws that the states could not make (regulating trade
between states) Supreme power on all matters
The power to veto state laws that it considered to be in violation of
the national constitution
Call on the armed forces against a state to enforce the laws
passed by congress
EXECUTIVE & JUDICIAL
BRANCHES
Congress would elect the people to serve
in the executive and judicial branches
 The executive could veto acts of the
legislature but that veto could be
overridden by the legislature
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REACTION TO THE VIRGINA
PLAN
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The small states were worried that the
Convention was creating a constitution in
which the states would be represented in
the legislature based on population. Why?
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The smaller states believed that they would
always be outvoted by the larger states
As a result the smaller states proposed
their own plan for a new constitution led
by William Paterson of New Jersey.
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This plan only amend the Articles
NEW JERSEY PLAN
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Legislative Branch 1 house congress with equal representation for
each state 1 vote
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Executive Branch
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The national government given the power to tax imports and a stamp
tax to raise money for it operation
The power to collect money from the states if they refused to pay
Congress would be given the power to regulate trade among the
states and other nations
The laws and treaties made by congress would be the supreme law of
the land. No state could make laws that were contrary to them
Made up of several people appointed by Congress
They would have the power to administer national laws, appoint other
executive officials and direct the military
Judicial Branch
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A supreme court would be appointed by the executive branch
Power to decide cases involving treaties, trade among the states or
other nations, and collection of taxes.
GREAT COMPROMISE
CONNECTICUT COMPROMISE
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A special committee was formed to draw up a
plan to solve the problems that divided the
delegates.
House of Reps would be elected by the people on
the basis of each states population
Senate each state would have equal
representation 2
The House of Reps. Would have the power to
develop all bills for taxing and government
spending
The Senate was limited to either accepting or
rejecting these bills but they could not change
them this is later changed to allow the senate to
amend tax bills and to develop appropriation bills