The Constitutional Convention

Transcription

1 The Public Good "To secue the public good and pivate ights against a dange of such faction, and at the same ~,- time to peseve the spiit and the fom of popula govenment, is then the geat object to which ou inquiies ae diected." -except fom The Fedealist No.1 0, pomoting the Constitution, ~ James Madison, autho of seveal Fedealist Papes The Constitutional Convention Objectives Why It Mattes The weaknesses of the Aticles of Confed- Descibe the poceedings of the Constitutional Convention. eation pompted the states to call a meeting to evise the Aticles. The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia led to an entiely new famewok of govenment. Identify the specifics of the Viginia Plan. Explain how the Geat Compomise satisfied both lage and small states. Descibe the disputes ove slavey and the compomises that wee eached. Discuss the dafting of the new Constitution. \!) Reading Skill Identify Suppot fo Popositions As you ead about the popositions that people fom histoy made to solve thei poblems and advance thei ideas, look fo suppoting evidence. How did people ty to convince those aound them to suppot these popositions? What easons did they give to explain thei views? Identifying suppoting evidence helps you undestand and espond to popositions. G Section Focus Question: What ole did compomise play in the ceation of the United States Constitution? The Constitutional Begins Convention An ai of mystey hung ove Philadelphia in the summe of 1787.Evey day, the nation's geat leades passed in and out of the statehouse. One Philadelphia esident, Susannah Dillwyn, wote to he fathe, "Thee is now sitting in this city a gand convention, who ae to fom some new system of govenment o mend the old one.". Aims of the Convention In fact, membes of the -. convention did not have the authoity to "fom some new system of govenment." Congess had called the meeting ~ ~fo the sole and expess pupose of evising the Aticles of ~ Confedeation." Howeve, many delegates agued that Key Tems and People / evising the Aticles would not be enough. James Madison James Wilson ~ ("-. Ealy on, the delegates voted to keep thei debates judicial banch compomise ~.J secet. Despite the heat, windows emained tightly shut. Roge Sheman Gouveneu Mois ~ Guads kept out membes of the public. The delegates ~ would be fee to speak thei minds-even if thei discus~ sions took the convention fa beyond its oiginal aims. 212 Chapte 7 Ceating the Constitution )

2 The Delegates In all, 55 delegates fom 12 states took pat in the convention. Only Rhode Island did not send any epesentatives. Some delegates, such as Geoge Washington and BenFanklin, had been espected leades of the Revolution. Washington was quickly voted pesident of the convention. Most delegates, howeve, wee younge. Alexande Hamilton of New Yok was only 32. Anothe influential delegate was 36-yea-old James Madison of Viginia. Madison took caeful notes on the meetings. Published afte his death, Madison's notes became a ich souce of histoical infomation. {'j'checkpoint Why did delegates to the Constitutional keep thei debates secet? Convention The Viginia Plan On the thid day of the convention, Edmund Randolph of Viginia poposed a plan fo a new, stong cental govenment. James Madison was the pincipal autho of this Viginia Plan. Fo the next month, debate focused on this poposal. Thee Banches of Govenment The Viginia Plan called fo the cental govenment to have thee sepaate banches. Congess would continue to be the legislative banch. But two additional banches would be ceated. The executive banch would cay out the laws. The judicial banch would consist of a system of couts to intepet the law. Many delegates believed that a stong executive was necessay to coect the weaknesses of the Aticles of Confedeation. But should the executive be one peson o a goup of people? Bithplace of the United States In 1787, delegates met in this oom in Philadelphia's statehouse to debate a new plan of govenment. Today, the building is known as Independence Hall, in hono of anothe impotant event that took place thee, the signing of the Declaation of Independence. Citical Thinking: Daw Conclusions Why do you think many Ameicans today visit Independence othe histoic places? I 1- Hall and

3 Randolph poposed that Congess appoint thee people to seve jointly as chief executive. One peson alone, he said, would neve be able to win the people's confidence. Othes objected. A single executive, they said, could act moe quickly when ugent action was equied. Eventually, the delegates voted to have one peson, called the Pesident, seve as executive. James Wilson A Two-House Legislatue The Viginia Plan called fo a change in the composition of Congess. Rathe than a single legislative body, it would consist of two pats-a lowe house and an uppe house. Delegates agued long and had about methods of choosing membes of the two houses. Some wanted state legislatues to elect both houses. Roge Sheman of Connecticut said the people "should have as little to do" with the selection pocess as possible because they can be misled. On the othe hand, James Wilson of Pennsylvania waned against shutting the people out of the pocess. Accoding to Wilson, election of the legislatue by the people was "not only the conestone, but the foundation of the fabic." ~Ch,eckpoint How was the national govenment oganized unde the Viginia Plan? The Geat Compomise One pat of the Viginia Plan 'nealy toe the convention apat. --,,", The plan called fo epesentation based on population. The moe people a state had, the moe seats it would have in each house. Natually, this idea dew suppot fom big states like Viginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Vocabulay Builde contast (KAHN tast) n. diffeence Vocabulay Builde emotion (ee MOH shuhn) n. stong feeling about something o someone New Jesey Plan The smalle states stongly opposed this idea. They wanted each state to have the same numbe of votes in Congess, as was the case unde the Aticles of Confedeation. On June 15, William Pateson of New Jesey intoduced a modified plan on behalf of the small states. This New Jesey Plan stood in shap contast to the Viginia Plan. It called fo a single house of Congess, with equal epesentation fo each state. The plan also expanded the powes of Congess to aise money and egulate commece. In the summe heat, delegates agued day afte day ove the geat issues at stake. Emotions an so high that some feaed the convention would fail and the Union would beak apat. Tems of the Compomise Finally, Roge Sheman of Connecticut woked out a compomise that he hoped would satisfy both the lage and small states. A compomise is an ageement in which each side gives up pat of what it wants. On July 16, 1787, delegates naowly voted to accept Sheman's poposals, which came to be known as the Geat Compomise. 214 Chapte 7 Ceating the Constitution

4 The key to Sheman's plan was a two-house Congess. To please the lage states, the lowe house, called the House of Repesentatives, was to be based on population. Bigge states would thus have moe votes. Repesentatives would be chosen by a vote of the people to seve two-yea tems. To please the small states, each state would have two seats in the uppe house, o Senate. State legislatu;es would choose senatos, who would seve six-yea tems. The Geat Compomise was a vital step in ceating a new Constitution. Now, small-state delegates wee willing to suppot a stong cental govenment. &Checkpoint ~ t ~~ ~~ ~~ij $' g5 Identify Suppot fo Popositions Roge Sheman poposed a two-house Congess, hoping to satisfy both small and lage states. What suppot did he give to show how this solution would meet the needs of all states? What was the main diffeence between the Viginia Plan and the New Jesey Plan? Debates Ove Slavey Othe issues also divided the delegates-none moe so than the question of slavey. The issue touched off bitte debates between nothenes and southenes. Thee-Fifths Compomise Southen delegates said that enslaved people should be counted in calculating how many epesentatives a state should have in Congess. Nothen delegates said that because enslaved people could not vote, they should not be counted towad a state's epesentation. Finally, Congess ageed to a plan called the Thee-Fifths Compomise. Each enslaved peson would be counted as thee fifths of a fee peson. Thus, 500 enslaved people would count as 300 fee people. The Thee-Fifths Compomise was a gain fo the South, which got moe seats in the House-Nothen delegates eluctantly ageed in ode to keep the South in the Union. The Thee-Fifths Compomise was a blow to Afican Ameicans. It helped peseve slavey in the 1787 Slavey was the "unfinished business" new Constitution by making a distinction between of the Constitutional Convention. Compo"fee pesons" and "all othe pesons." The compomises postponed the debate ove the issue. mise was finally ovetuned when slavey was Gowing disputes between the Noth and the South finally led to the bloody banned in Slave Tade Some nothen delegates wanted to ~ f t f.'" ban the buying and selling of people anywhee in the county. Southen delegates potested that a ban would uin the South's economy. Once again, a compomise was eached. Ships would be allowed to bing enslaved people into the county fo a peiod of 20 yeas. Afte 1808, Congess could ba the impotation of enslaved people. But the slave tade within the United States was not affected. Civil Wa. Slavey was banned-and eased fom the Constitution-by the Thiteenth Amendment in Compomise Today Congess still debates many difficult and toubling issues. What compomises do they each? Fo: Congessional debates in the news Visit: PHSchool.com &Checkpoint What was the Thee-Fifths Compomise? Web Code: myc-2032 Section2 The Constitutional Convention 215

5 INFOGRAPHIC / Roge Sheman helped daft the Geat Compomise that detemined how states would be epesented in Congess. Afte months of bitte debate, the compomise satisfied both lage and small states. /' James Madison wote much of the Constitution and led the fight to get it appoved by the states. He is often called the Fathe of the Constitution. Benjamin Fanklin, though fail and ailing, was one of the convention's most espected delegates. At the end, he wote a masteful speech suppoting the Constitution..; Citical Thinking: Intepet Paintings.....,. How does the atist daw attention Geoge Washington was voted pesident of the meeting. His fim leadeship held the convention togethe when it seemed close to beaking up. to cetain Fames?

6 A New Constitution Afte many moe weeks of debate, the delegates ageed on all the tems. A so-called Committee of Style was appointed to daw up the final woding of the new Constitution. Gouveneu Mois, a gifted wite, was lagely esponsible fo witing the Peamble, o intoduction. The Peamble highlights a majo diffeence between the Constitution and the Aticles of Confedeation. The Aticles wee a pact between sepaate states. By contast, the Constitution opens with the wods, "We the People of the United States, in ode to fom a moe pefect union,... do odain and establish this Constitution fo the United States of Ameica." The Constitution thus claims to take its authoity fom the people athe than fom the states. The aging Ben Fanklin gave some final advice on the day of the signing. Because he was so ill, Fanklin emained seated and anothe delegate ead Fanklin's speech. Like many othe delegates, Fanklin had some doubts about pats of the Constitution. Still, he said, "I agee to this Constitution with all its faults," and he uged othes to do the same. At last, the delegates stepped fowad to place thei signatues on the document. ~Checkpoint What is the significance of the Constitution's fist phase: "We the People of the United States"? Looking Back and Ahead Once the Constitution had been signed, sececy ended. Public debates began. These debates would stetch ove 10 months. And, as the Constitution's suppotes soon leaned, the battle fo appoval would be had-fought and bitte. =---..,..., ~-~-- Compehension and Citical Thinking 1. (a) Summaize Summaize the aguments fo and against having a single executive. (b) Explain Poblems What poblems do you think might aise duing a cisis if the executive powe in the u.s. govenment was held by thee people? 2. (a) Descibe How was epesentation in Congess to be based, accoding to the tems of the Geat Compomise? (b) Apply Infomation Why did the small states decide to suppot a stong cental govenment afte the compomise? ~""!!!\!!!!III!-"-~ \!) Reading Skill 3. Identify Suppot fo Popositions Reead the text following the heading "Slave Tade." What eason did southenes give to suppot thei position against ending the slave tade? Key Tems Fill in the blanks with the coect key tems. 4. The Viginia Plan called fo a, o system of couts to intepet the law. Pogess Monitoing nline Fo: Self-test with instant help Visit: PHSchool.com Web Code: mya Unde a between nothen and southen states, Congess could ba slaves fom being impoted afte Witing 6. Choose one of the poblems that the delegates at the Constitutional Convention had to solve. List seveal possible solutions fo that poblem, and then wite a few sentences explaining the solution that the convention eventually chose. What wee the advantages and disadvantages of this solution? Section 2 The Constitutional Convention 217