THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION of 1787 Extended Edition (Spring, 2017) Suggested Supplemental Reading

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THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787 Extended Edition (Spring, 2017) Suggested Supplemental Reading I. Convention Story: From Articles of Confederation through Ratification Beeman, Richard: “Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution” (2009) Berkin, Carol: “A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution” (2002) Bowen, Catherine Drinker: “Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787” (1966) Cerami, Charles: “Young Patriots: The Remarkable Story of Two Men, Their Impossible Plan and the Revolution That Created the Constitution” (2005) Klarman, Michael J. “The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution” (2016) Levy, Leonard W. and Mahoney, Dennis J. eds. “The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution” (2003) Stewart, David O. “The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution” (2007) Van Doren, Carl: “The Great Rehearsal: The Story of the Making and Ratifying of the Constitution of the United States” (1948) II. Delegates Bilder, Mary Sarah: “Madison’s Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention” (2015) Brookhiser, Richard: “James Madison” (2011) Cheney, Lynn: “James Madison: A Life Reconsidered” (2014) Ellis, Joseph J. “The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789” (2015) Larson, Edward J. “The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States 1783-1789” (2014) Meyerson, Michael I. “Liberty’s Blueprint: How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World” (2008) Rakove, Jack: “Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America” (2010) Signer, Michael: “Becoming Madison: The Extraordinary Origins of the Least Likely Founding Father” (2015) Stewart, David O. “Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America” (2015) .

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A Great Compromise
A Great Compromise: The Sherman Plan Saves the Constitutional Convention of 1787 Lucy Phelan Junior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 2,495 Words 2 INTRODUCTION In May 1787, delegates from twelve of the thirteen United States met in a federal Convention to “devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.”1 Simply stated, there was an urgent need to fix the political system under the existing Articles of Confederation. However, differences over the structure of the legislative branch quickly led to conflict. Some, particularly delegates from larger-population states, envisioned a strong National legislature with representatives elected by the people (“proportional representation”). Others from smaller states disagreed, fearing a power grab by the larger states, and supported equal representation for each state. This conflict threatened to destroy the Convention. After large-state efforts to force proportional representation in both legislative houses, small-state delegates stopped cooperating altogether. The two sides became deadlocked. Roger Sherman’s Great Compromise of proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation in the upper broke the stalemate. The delegates resumed the Convention and finished writing a new Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation and corresponding system of government. Ratified two years later, this Constitution has successfully weathered another 230 years of tension, conflict and even turmoil in American history and politics. The Constitution of 1787 continues to serve as the basis of the United States Government today.2 1 Pauline Maier, Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787 – 1788 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 3.
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