Constitutional Convention

The Constitution
The Constitutional Convention of 1787
1Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The Constitutional Convention
of 1787
• Philadelphia- 1787
• Up to this point our government was under “The Articles of
Confederation”.
• Meeting was described as a revision of the Articles.
• No one would have attended if they had known the purpose was to re-write
a new government.
• People feared a strong central government. Why?
• Even states who were unsure about whether to attend the conference
decided to do so when they heard George Washington would be there.
Why would that make a diﬀerence?

Continued...
• 12 of the 13 states sent delegates to the Convention in
Philadelphia. Who was the one state who didn’t?
Rhode Island

• The Convention took place at the Philadelphia
State House, which is now called...
Independence Hall

The Delegates:
(The guys who represented each state)
• 55 Men
• All experienced in Government and writing law
• Most were revolutionary war veterans
• 2 would become President

James Madison
• The Father of the Constitution
• Researched past Governments to see what worked and what didn’t
and what might work for America
• He organized these ideas into a 15 point plan
• Recorded what happened at the Convention

15 Point Plan
• Became the blueprint for the Constitution of
the United States
• Became known as “The Virginia Plan”
• Written by who?
James Madison

Details...
• Delegates worked 6 hours a day, 6 days a week
• Convention lasted 4 months
• On day one, George Washington was elected President
of the Convention
• Madison recorded everything said over the 4 months
(later his notes were made into a book)
• Delegates had to agree on rules beforehand

The Virginia Plan
• Madison’s 15 point plan
• Presented by Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph
(which is why it’s called “The Virginia Plan”)
• Called for 3 Branches of Government
• Answer the following questions in your notes:
• What were the 3 Branches proposed in the Virginia Plan
and who would make up each branch?
• Why did some people oppose the Executive Branch?
• Why did small states oppose the Virginia Plan?

New Jersey Plan
• William Patterson
• each state would only have one congressman
regardless of population

The Great Compromise
• After a vote, the Virginia Plan won
• small states unhappy
• Benjamin Franklin urged states to compromise
Can’t we a!
just get along?

Details of the Great Compromise
• Combine the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey plan
• 3 branches of government
• Legislature would be divided in 2, making it
“bicameral” ( which means two houses)
• Lower House- “The House of Representatives” would
allow number of congressmen to be decided by
population
• Upper House- “The Senate”- each state got 2 Senators

3 Branches of Government
• In your notes:
• Name the 3 branches of government and what
each branch actually does? (Page 6)

Slaves
• How would the nation count it’s slaves?
• South wanted to count them towards population to
increase representatives in the House but did not want
to count them towards taxation.
• North wanted to count them towards taxation but not
towards population (they weren’t citizens)

3/5 Compromise
• North and South agreed to count slaves at 3/5 of a
person towards population and taxation

Slave Trade Compromise
• 20 years after the states had ratiﬁed, or
adopted, the Constitution, importation of
slaves into the country would be abolished

Committee of Detail
• Consulted important documents on government
to decide how to actually write the Constitution.
(Magna Carta, Colonial Charters, State
Constitutions, Articles of Confederation)
• Wrote a ﬁrst draft of the Constitution into 23 long
and rambling articles

Committee of Style
• Wrote the ﬁnal draft of the Constitution
• Rewrote the original draft into simple language
normal Americans could understand

Bill of Rights
• The Constitution did not have a Bill of Rights
that listed what the rights of the people
actually were
• George Mason thought one should be included
we need a
Bi! of Rights Other delegates believed that
since there was already a Bill of
Rights in the State Constitutions,
it wasn’t necessary

Signing Day
• Of the 42 delegates in attendance, 39 signed.
• Who didn’t?
George Mason
There was no
Bill of Rights

Who else?
Edmund Randolph Elbridge Gerry
They believed states would not ratify the Constitution
and it would lead to confusion, anarchy, or civil war

Ratiﬁcation
• 9 of the 13 states had to agree to ratify or it
would not be adopted
• only the people could adopt or refuse the
Constitution
• each state held a convention and let the people
vote on it

Anti-Federalists
• Opposed the Constitution
• Tried to get people to vote against it
• Tried to convince people their rights would be
taken away, just like England had done.

Federalsists
• Supported Constitution
• Argued the Constitution would protect their
rights, not take them away
• Wrote “The Federalist Papers” to defend their
point of view

Who Won?
• The Federalist Papers worked but there was
still a compromise that had to be reached
• A few states demanded that a Bill of Rights be
added before they would agree to sign
• Other states agreed and it was decided that a
Bill of Rights would be added immediately

So...
• The Constitution was then ratiﬁed and became
the foundation of our new Government
And...

The Bill of Rights became the
ﬁrst ten amendments to the
Constitution
And...

America Was Born

Constitutional Convention

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