The Constitutional Convention

May 25 – September 17, 1787

Events of 1783 - 1787

• After 1783, when the Continental Army beat the British in the Revolution, the country was governed by the Articles of Confederation, which proved to be too weak to govern the states

• In September 1786, the Annapolis Convention in Maryland was held, primarily to discuss trade disputes between the states, however only 5 of the states showed up; it was decided to call another convention in May 1787

• In late 1786 and early 1787, Shays’ Rebellion (combined with other events) convinced many in America that a stronger government was needed

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Shays and His

Followers at Shutting Down the

Courthouse

Washington

• In 1783, Washington had retired, clearly stating his intention of spending the rest of his days in private life

• Events forced Washington to reconsider, as his friends urged him to accept an appointment to the Constitutional Convention

• Washington’s presence at the Convention would legitimize it; he feared that if he did not go, it might be interpreted as a rejection of the Convention

George Washington at the Constitutional Convention

Madison

• James Madison was a short (5’6”) man, shy, and bookish

• Madison - the “father” of the Constitution - influenced its development through his thought and scholarship; he had spent much time studying forms of government, seeking to learn the lessons of the past

James Madison

The Delegates

• More than 1/2 were lawyers • 4/5 were current or former members of

Congress; most of them had served in colonial, state and local governments

• About 1/2 were veterans of the Revolution

• The delegates were young - the average age was only 43

Notable Men Who Did Not Attend the Convention

• Thomas Jefferson was serving as US ambassador to France

• John Adams was in England as the US ambassador there

• Key leaders of the Revolution refused to attend, such as Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, and Richard Henry Lee – In refusing to go Henry famously said, “I smell a rat.”

• In spite of these absences, Washington’s presence at the convention was enough to reassure many who would have worried about a coup otherwise

Patrick Henry

The Convention Begins

• May 14, 1787 was the day appointed for the Convention in Philadelphia to begin

• The delegates met at the State House (now called Independence Hall), where the Declaration of Independence had been signed in 1776

• However, a quorum of 7 states (the minimum needed to conduct business) was not reached until May 25

Independence Hall, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

The Assembly Room in Independence Hall

May 14 – May 25

• The Virginia delegates (led by Madison) and the Pennsylvania delegates met

• These men were from the two most powerful and heavily populated states, and shared a desire to strengthen the US government

• The delay allowed these men to plan how to create a more powerful government and overcome objections from those who disagreed

Washington is Elected to Lead the Convention

• On May 25, the first order of business was to elect a presiding officer

• Washington was nominated and without discussion, was unanimously elected

The Rule of Secrecy

• The Convention then adopted some rules • One of the most important was the rule of

secrecy: – “no copy be taken of any entry on the

journal during the sitting of the House without the leave [permission] of the House”

• Allowed the delegates to take risks with new ideas and argue, but ultimately come to agreement

Madison’s Notes

• James Madison kept the most complete record of the convention– “I chose a seat in front of the presiding member,

with the other members on my right hand and left hand. In this favorable position for hearing all that passed I noted” the proceedings in shorthand

– At night, Madison would stay up into the night transcribing his notes into long hand

• Madison’s notes were published in 1840, after all the members of the Convention had died

The Virginia Plan

• Madison’s plan to “correct and enlarge” the Articles was introduced first, on May 29, allowing him to set the agenda for the Convention

• The “national legislature” would have 2 houses– Representation in both houses would be based on

population– Lower elected by the people; upper elected by the lower

• A “national executive” appointed by the legislature• A “national judiciary” with authority to decide cases

involving the nation • Both executive and judiciary (together) had power to veto

legislative acts

The Decision to Form a New Government

• After the Virginia Plan was introduced, the members of the Convention realized that they had to make a decision: – Were they just going to revise the Articles

of Confederation (as they had been sent to do) or form a completely new government?

– On May 30, a motion was carried by a vote of 6 states to 1, to form a new government

The New Jersey Plan

• Proposed by William Paterson of New Jersey on June 15

• Unicameral Congress with more powers than Congress had under the Articles– Representation equal among the states – Could set taxes and force their collection– Laws passed by Congress were superior to state laws

• A multi-person executive, elected by Congress, who served a single term

• A judiciary appointed by the executives

William Paterson

Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans

• The Virginia Plan gave the national government much more power than the New Jersey Plan, which tried to stay closer to a confederation

• The biggest disagreement was over representation: – Under the Virginia Plan, representation in

Congress would be by population; under the New Jersey Plan, representation would be by state - each state would have 1 vote

The Great (Connecticut) Compromise

• First proposed by Roger Sherman on June 11 • Sherman proposed that in the House, representation

would be according to population, and in the Senate, each state would be equal

• Tabled while the delegates bitterly argued over the Virginia and New Jersey Plans for weeks

• Finally, after much discussion and a narrow vote (5 states to 4), on July 16, the large states gave in, and allowed for equal representation in the Senate

• Without this compromise, it is unlikely that the Convention would have been successful

Roger Sherman

Key Provisions of the Articles of

Confederation, the Virginia Plan, the

New Jersey Plan, and the Constitution

The Problem of Slavery

• The Convention delegates also had to deal with the problem of slavery

• Disagreements over slavery between the North and South had already begun – The first abolitionist group was formed in 1775 – The Northern states had either outlawed slavery or

were about to (the last was in 1804) – In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance passed, which

outlawed slavery in the Northwest territories

The Problem

of Slavery

The Problem of Slavery

• In 1787, the slave states had sufficient population to block any antislavery laws in the proposed House

• However, trends showed that the South was moving toward minority status – Competition with slaves meant that few

immigrants were willing to settle in the South

The Problem of Slavery

• To ensure a continued strong presence in the House, during the Convention southern delegates proposed counting slaves for purposes of representation – Slaves were a significant percentage of the

population (30% - 40%) in several states

• This proposal enraged the antislavery New England representatives who only wanted to count slaves for national taxes levied by the national government on the states

The 3/5 Compromise

• On June 11, James Wilson of Pennsylvania (who personally opposed slavery) introduced the 3/5 Compromise – For both purposes of representation and

taxation, slaves would count as 3/5 of a person

– Further, the importation of new slaves could be banned by Congress beginning in 1808 (but not before)

James Wilson

A Slave Auction

The 3/5 Compromise

• Some in the North were outraged at the proposal– Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania, asked, “Are

they admitted as Citizens? Then why are they not admitted on an equality with White Citizens? Are they admitted as property? Then why is not other property admitted to the computation?”

– Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, sarcastically asked why New Englanders could not count their cattle if the South could count their slaves

Why the 3/5 Compromise Was Accepted

• After extensive debate, this compromise was finally agreed on– Alexander Hamilton said that if it hadn’t been

made, “no union would have been possible”

• Most northerners at the convention believed that slavery was moving toward extinction – Most northern states had abolished slavery – Even Virginia had allowed owners to set their

slaves free in a 1782 law

The Cotton Gin

• Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793 increased the amount of cotton that could be cleaned (by removing the seeds) by 5 times – Cotton production was greatly increased

because short-staple cotton (which grew inland) could be cleaned with the machine

– Cotton became much too profitable for the South to give up its slaves

The Cotton Gin

Slaves Working a Cotton Gin

The Compromise on Tariffs

• Southerners opposed tariffs fearing they would damage the Southern economy, which was heavily dependent upon trade

• Northerners wanted tariffs to protect their industries from foreign competition

• The Constitution allows the federal government to tax imports but not exports

The Compromise on the Election of the President

• Some delegates believed the president should be elected directly by the people

• Others believed that the people could not be trusted with such a decision– It would be difficult for the people know much about

candidates for president in a time before mass media

– Opponents of direct election offered a number of alternatives, including election by state legislatures

• It was decided that the president would be elected indirectly by the electoral college to a four year term of office

The Framers’ Plan for

the Electoral College

Signing the Constitution

• After much more discussion, the Convention was finally ready to put the Constitution on paper

• On September 8, the Committee of Stile and Arrangement worked to put Constitution in final form

• On September 17, 39 of the original 55 delegates approved and signed the Constitution

Signing of the Constitution

The Legislature

• Under the Constitution, the legislature was made up of 2 houses

• Representation in the House was based on population; representation in the Senate was equal among the states

Congressional Powers

The Executive

• The President was made head of the executive branch– The president’s duty is to execute the laws

and function as commander-in-chief of the armed forces

Powers of the President

The Judiciary

• The Constitution set up a national judiciary, with power to rule on the laws and treaties of the US and to rule on disagreements between states

The Federal Court System

The Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

Federalism

• The Constitution set up a division of power between states and national government– National government had specific powers– States had specific powers – Both the national and state governments

shared some powers

Federal System

Benjamin Franklin’s Evaluation of the Constitution

“Sir, I agree with this Constitution to all is faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us…I doubt…whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does…”

Benjamin

Franklin

Procedure for Ratification of the Constitution

• The Articles of Confederation had required unanimous agreement for amendment

• The Constitution never would have been adopted unanimously; instead, it would be ratified when 9 of the 13 states agreed – The Congress agreed to this and sent copies

of the Constitution to the states

Federalists

• The Federalists favored ratification • This group was led by many of the

Framers of the Constitution • They stressed weaknesses of the

Articles and argued that the Constitution could overcome the difficulties facing the US at the time

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Anti-Federalists

• The Anti-federalists opposed ratification • This group was led by many well-known

Revolutionary War leaders • They attacked the Constitution because

it greatly increased powers of the central government and because there was no bill of rights to protect rights of people

Ratifying the Constitution

Ratification• 9 states had ratified by mid-1788, but the 2

most important states, Virginia and New York still had not – Both states were large and powerful, and stood to

lose power if a strong national government was formed

• Virginia ratified in June 1788, thanks to the support of George Washington, after heated debate

• New York narrowly ratified in July 1788 after a long struggle – The Federalist Papers were published in New

York to support ratification, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

Ratification of the Constitution

Inaugurating the New Government

• In September 1788, Congress set up how the new Constitution would take over the government – New York City was chosen as the temporary capital – The first Wednesday in January 1789, the states would

choose presidential electors – The first Wednesday in February 1789, electors would

vote for the president – The first Wednesday in March 1789, the new

government would be inaugurated – On April 6, Washington was recognized as president – On April 30, Washington took oath of office as

president

Washington Taking the Oath of Office, 1789