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“Miracle at Philadelphia”— the Constitutional Convention

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“Miracle at Philadelphia”— the Constitutional Convention In 1786, a meeting was held in Annapolis, following year. Its purpose would be to Maryland, to discuss trade between the revise the Articles of Confederation. All states. Five states sent representatives. Te thirteen states were invited to send members called for a meeting to representatives. be held in Philadelphia the The Maryland State House, where the Annapolis meeting took place. “Miracle at Philadelphia”— © FTE • Unlawful to photocopy without permission The Constitutional Convention Fify-fve delegates gathered at the state house in half of them had trained as lawyers. One third of Philadelphia in May 1787. It was the same building these men had fought in the Revolution. where eight of them had signed the Declaration of Te delegates immediately elected George Wash- Independence 11 years earlier. ington to preside over their proceedings. Just as quickly, they voted to keep their discussions secret Back in 1776, the colonists had cut their ties to Brit- from the public, in order to encourage a freer ain in the name of liberty. Te challenge now was to exchange of ideas. construct a central authority strong enough to defend the nation and promote its well-being, yet not so Next, the delegates took a surprising step. Tey strong that it would threaten individual liberties. decided to replace the Articles of Confederation rather than just to revise them. Te delegates set Every state except Rhode Island sent representatives about writing a new constitution—a plan of basic to Philadelphia to revise the Articles. All of the del- rules for government. Teir assembly became egates were men who owned property. More than known as the Constitutional Convention. The Active Citizen Imagine that your class is about to form its own government. You must answer a series of questions to do so: Who should make the class rules? Who should make sure those rules are obeyed? Who should settle disputes between class members? Who should pay for class expenses? Who should be in charge of communicating with other classes? Make a chart or outline showing your ideas for a plan of government for your class. 52 Chapter 3 | The Story of Our Constitution A constitution generally provides a framework for government, limits government authority, and protects the rights of the people. What the Delegates Agreed on Te delegates who met in Philadelphia in 1787 gen- erally agreed that the government created by the Articles of Confederation was too weak. But how would they remedy this? George Washington presiding over the Constitutional Convention. The Active Citizen In his opening address, Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia pointed to these weaknesses in the present system of government: “(1) the Confederation produced no security against foreign invasion . (2) the [Confederate] government could not check the quarrels between states nor a rebellion in any . Edmund Randolph (3) there were many advantages which the United States might acquire [get], which were not attainable under the Confederation, such as a productive impost [a tax on goods coming from other countries]—counteraction of the commercial regulations of other nations—pushing of commerce . (4) the [Confederate] government could not defend itself against the © FTE • Unlawful to photocopy without permission encroachments [improper intrusions] from the states . .” — James Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention, for May 29, 1787 James Madison Which of the weaknesses identifed by Governor Randolph do you feel was most important? Explain your answer. Imagine that you are a delegate at the Constitutional Convention. Write a letter to your family from Philadelphia explaining how the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation have led the delegates to decide to write a whole new constitution. Chapter 3 | The Story of Our Constitution 53 Only a few days afer Governor Randolph’s speech, property.” Senators would serve for longer the delegates passed the following resolution: terms than members of the House of Representatives. Tis way they would not be “Tat a national government ought to be subject to the same popular pressures. established consisting of a supreme legislative, executive and judiciary.” Te delegates equally recognized the need for a national executive to provide leadership and to Te members of the Constitutional Convention fur- carry out the laws. But should this national execu- ther agreed that the new legislature should have two tive be a single person or a small group? houses, similar to the British Parliament: Afer some debate, the members of the Constitutional Te frst house, to be known as the House of Convention decided that the national executive should Representatives, would represent the people. be one individual, known as the President. Tey fur- Its members would be elected directly by the ther decided that the President should be given the people. © FTE • Unlawful to photocopy without permission power to veto (deny or refuse) new laws passed by Te second house, to be known as the Senate, Congress. However, to make sure the President was would represent the wisdom, wealth and not too powerful, the delegates decided that two-thirds property of America. As one delegate put it, of both houses of Congress should be able to override the Senate should have “the most the President’s veto. Finally, they decided on the need distinguished characters by rank and for a national judiciary—the Supreme Court. Large against Small Of course, the delegates did not agree on everything. Virginia—then the most populous state in the Teir most important disagreement was over repre- nation—proposed that the representation of each sentation in the new houses of Congress. state in Congress should be in proportion to its pop- ulation. Tat is, the number of each state’s represen- Here, the larger states opposed the smaller ones. tatives should be based on the size of its population. Te larger states felt it was unfair for smaller states Te delegates from Virginia wished to apply this to have an equal voice in Congress when they had principle to both houses of Congress. Since Virginia, fewer people. Te smaller states feared that the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania had the largest larger states would abuse their power if they were populations, they would therefore hold the most given more representatives because of their larger seats in both the House of Representatives and the populations. Senate. New Jersey, one of the smallest states, suggested just the opposite. Its delegates argued that representa- tion in the legislature should remain as it had been under the Articles of Confederation. Each state should have an equal number of representatives in both houses. At the heart of this disagreement were conficting views on the role of states in the future national government. 54 Chapter 3 | The Story of Our Constitution The Active Citizen Mr. William Paterson (New Jersey): “Give the large states an infuence in proportion to their [size], and what will be the consequence? Teir ambition will be proportion- ally increased, and the small states will have everything to fear. New Jersey will never [agree]. She would be swallowed up. He had rather submit to a monarch, to a despot, than submit to such a fate. .” William Paterson Mr. James Wilson (Pennsylvania): “[A]s all authority was derived from the people, equal numbers of people ought to have an equal number of representatives, and diferent numbers of people diferent numbers of representatives. Tis principle had been improperly violated in the Confederation, owing to the urgent cir- cumstances of the time . If small states will not [agree] to this plan, Penn- sylvania . would not [agree] to any other . .” — James Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional James Wilson Convention, for June 9, 1787 What was meant by “proportional representation”? Why did larger states want proportional representation? Why did smaller states want equal representation? Imagine that you are a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Would you have agreed with Mr. Paterson or Mr. Wilson? Prepare a short speech to the other delegates at the Constitutional Convention in which you respond to their arguments. The “Great Compromise” © FTE • Unlawful to photocopy without permission Have you ever had a disagreement and settled it Each state should have an equal number of with a compromise? A compromise occurs when Senators in the U.S. Senate. Tis would beneft each side in a dispute gives up something in order to the smaller states. reach a solution that both sides can accept. Te del- Afer two months of debate, a revised version of the egates from Connecticut proposed just such a com- Connecticut plan was fnally adopted. Te delegates promise in 1787: agreed that each state would have two Senators in States should enjoy proportional representa- the Senate, and a number of representatives propor- tion in the House of Representatives. States tional to its size in the House of Representatives. with larger populations would have more Tis solution became known as the “Great Com- representatives there. Tis would beneft the promise.” It explains the organization of the two larger states. houses of Congress that we still have today. Chapter 3 | The Story of Our Constitution 55 The Electoral College Te delegates also disagreed over how to choose the known together as the Electoral College. Each state President. Many of the delegates did not trust the would have a number of electors equal to the total people quite enough to permit them to elect the number of its representatives in both houses of President directly. James Madison of Virginia, for Congress. example, thought that Congress should select the To become President, a candidate would need the President. support of a majority of these electors. If no candi- Te delegates eventually decided that the President date won a majority, then the election would be should be chosen by a group of special “electors,” decided by the House of Representatives.
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