The Constitutional Convention

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The Constitutional Convention
Chapter 7 section 2
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• Learning Objectives
• SWBAT list the founding fathers and important
  people that were at the Constitutional
  Convention.
• SWBAT describe the two different plans for
  government that were brought up at the Convention
  (the Virginia Plan vs. the New Jersey Plan)
• SWBAT tell about the many compromises the
  committee made to make the new government work.
  (the Great Compromise, the Three-fifths
  Compromise, Slave Trade Compromise)
• SWBAT explain how the Constitution was passed by
  the convention.

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The Constitutional Convention
Chapter 7 section 2
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The Constitutional Convention
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• Setting the Scene
• Philadelphia State House Independence Hall

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• Setting the Scene

Independence Hall today...
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The Constitutional Convention
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The Constitutional Convention The Delegates to
the Convention
Chapter 7 section 2
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• An Amazing Assembly
• 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies (no one
  from Rhode Island came)
• From as young as 26 (Jonathon Dayton) to as old
  as 81 (Benjamin Franklin)
• 8 delegates had also signed the Declaration of
  Independence

Benjamin Franklin
George Washington
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The Constitutional Convention The Delegates to
the Convention
Chapter 7 section 2
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• An Amazing Assembly
• Along with older, more experienced delegates
  there was a new generation of delegates in their
  thirties at the convention.

Alexander Hamilton (Virginia)
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James Madison The Father of the Constitution
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The Constitutional ConventionTwo Rival Plans
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The Constitutional Convention
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• The delegates decided to replace the Articles of
• Confederation with a new plan for government.
• The Virginia Plan
• vs.
• The New Jersey Plan

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• Two Rival Plans - The Virginia Plan
• Introduced by

Edmund Randolph
James Madison
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• The Virginia Plan
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• bicameral (2 house) legislature
• of representatives based on population of a
  state
• in BOTH houses

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The Constitutional Convention
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• The Virginia Plan
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• bicameral (2 house) legislature
• of representatives based on population of a
  state
• in BOTH houses
• Large population states liked this plan because
  they
• would have more representatives and therefore
  more
• power or more say in the government.

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The Constitutional Convention
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• The Virginia Plan
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• bicameral (2 house) legislature
• of representatives based on population of a
  state
• in BOTH houses
• Small population states disliked this plan and
  thought it
• was unfair. They felt they would have little to
  no say in
• the government.

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• Two Rival Plans - The New Jersey Plan
• Introduced by

William Paterson
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• The New Jersey Plan
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• unicameral (1 house) legislature
• each state has one vote

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• The New Jersey Plan
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• unicameral (1 house) legislature
• each state has one vote
• Small population states liked this plan and felt
  it
• was more fair.

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The Constitutional Convention
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pg. 208

• The New Jersey Plan
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• unicameral (1 house) legislature
• each state has one vote
• Large population states disliked this plan and
  felt
• it was only fair for larger population states to
• have more votes because they were representing
• more citizens.

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The Constitutional Convention
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• The Great Compromise - The Connecticut Plan
• Introduced by

Roger Sherman
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• The Great Compromise (Connecticut Plan)
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• bicameral (2 house) legislature
• upper house (Senate) each state would get 2
  representatives
• lower house (House of Representatives) of
  representatives would depend on population
• of the state

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• The Great Compromise (Connecticut Plan)
• strong national government
• 3 branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial)
• bicameral (2 house) legislature
• upper house (Senate) each state would get 2
  representatives
• lower house (House of Representatives) of
  representatives would depend on population
• of the state
• This plan was a compromise that both large
• population and small population states could
• agree on.

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The Constitutional Convention
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• Northern and Southern States Compromise
• The northern states focused on small businesses
  and trade in their economy.
• The southern states focused on agriculture
  (farming) in their economy which meant they used
  slave labor.
• The middle states had a blend of both trade and
  agriculture with some small businesses as well.

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• Northern and Southern States Compromise
• After the issue of deciding how many
  representatives
• each state would get, the question of whether or
  not
• slaves could count as part of the states
  population
• towards earning representatives.
• The northern states felt slaves should not be
  counted
• since they were not free and could not vote.
• The southern states felt that slaves should be
  counted
• because the government still has to provide some
• services for them. The southern states did not
  have as
• many free citizens as the northern states and
  needed the
• slaves to count.

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• The Three-Fifths Compromise
• After much debate, the delegates agreed to
• count 3 out of every 5 slaves in the south
• towards representation in Congress.

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The Constitutional Convention
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• The Slave Trade
• Another issue between northern and southern
• states was the issue of trading (buying and
• selling) slaves. Many northern states had
• already outlawed the slave trade. They wanted
• slave trading outlawed in the whole country.
• The southern states counted on slaves for their
• labor and were against this idea.

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• The Slave Trade - Compromise
• The North agreed that Congress would not outlaw
  the slave trade for at least 20 years.
• The North also compromised and promised not to
  prevent the South from recovering run-away
  slaves.

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How many years does the president serve?
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How many years does the president serve? 4
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How many justices (judges) in the Supreme Court?
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How many justices (judges) in the Supreme
Court? 6 back then, 9 today
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Would Senators and Representatives get paid?
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Would Senators and Representatives get paid? No
but they are today
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• Signing the Constitution

I doubtwhether any other Convention may be
able to make a better Constitution I cannot help
expressing a wish, that every member of the
Convention who may still have objections to it,
would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little
of his own infallibility, andput his name to
this instrument.
In the end, only 39 of the 55 delegates did sign
the Constitution but it was a majority and enough
for it to pass.
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The Constitutional ConventionSigning the
Constitution
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The Constitutional Convention
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• Signing the Constitution
• When the convention was over, the Constitution
  was printed up and sent to the states for people
  to read, look over, and eventually vote on.