Constitutional Convention

Constitutional Convention – Purpose of the Federal Convention

In response to the Shays’ Rebellion, the Confederation Congress asked the states to send delegates to attend a Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 
February 21, 1787
. Twelve states sent delegates; Rhode Island refused to participate because it believed that it was a meeting that was “masquerading for a discussion on interstate trade” (Berkin, Miller, Cherny, and Gormly 174). New Hampshire delegates did not arrive at the Convention until late July when much of the major work had already been done.

The delegates were only designated to “
revise
” the Articles of Confederation and nothing more. You may remember that the Annapolis Convention had sent a document to the Congress asking it to call for another meeting to discuss the broader questions of governing under the Articles of Confederation.

The Congress thought that the Convention would essentially be an 
“
 
advisory body
” that would propose amendments that would help to fix the problems. 
It told the delegates that
 
the Congress and all 13 state legislatures would have to approve any changes as outlined in the Articles.

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Seventy-four delegates were appointed by their state legislatures to attend what is now known as the 
Constitutional Convention 
during 
May-September 1787
, one of the hottest summers on record 
.
 Only 55 men actually attended the proceedings. These delegates were well educated and they came from diverse backgrounds such as merchants, farmers, bankers, lawyers, governors, legislators, professors, and presidents of colleges. Roughly 40 delegates went to the Philadelphia State House (“
Independence Hall
“) on a daily basis (Magleby 14-15).

“The Key Players” – Delegates to the Convention

 

Benjamin Franklin
 who was admired for his inventions, diplomatic accomplishments, and wit came to the Convention as part of Pennsylvania delegation. He was the 
oldest delegate
 present and not in good health (81 years old). James Wilson, his colleague, read Franklin’s comments and proposals to the delegates throughout the Convention.

George Washington 
was asked by his fellow delegates to be the “presiding officer” or President of the Convention. He had been reluctant to attend the meeting, but his fellow Virginians urged him to come to Philadelphia to lend his prestige to the proceedings.

 

James Madison
 is considered the “
Father of the U. S. Constitution
.” Prior to the Convention, he served in the Virginia legislature and was a member of the Confederation Congress. Madison wrote the Virginia Plan , 
a draft of
 
the U. S. Constitution
. He also took detailed notes of the debates which were published on the death of the last delegate (ironically, Madison himself!). Since the debates were closed to the public, he wanted to make sure there was a historical record for future generations.

Project Gutenberg provides a detailed record of the debates of the Constitution which can be found at their 
EBook #40861 – OOCAPG Resource
 and 
EBook #41095 – OOCAPG Resource
 for your browsing.

 

Alexander Hamilton 
of New York participated in the debates and advocated strengthening the national government “
toned as high
 
as possible
” (Burns). Hamilton’s major contribution was getting his state to approve the new Constitution and later serving as President Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury. We will talk about him later.

We are fortunate that Madison took time out of his busy legislative schedule to study the problems of governing under the Articles. After his study, he concluded that changes could not be made to improve the current system and major changes would need to be made to establish a workable democracy. He advocated the creation of a 
federal republic
 instead of a confederacy of states.

To learn more about the founding fathers go to:

NARA: U.S. National Archives & Records Administration

Why were the debates held

in secret?

 

“Critical Compromises”

The delegates recognized almost immediately that they could not revise the Articles of Confederation. They would have to write a new national Constitution. No changes could be made to improve the current Constitution. They decided to establish a 
federal republic
, a 
representative democracy
, where 
people would be the source of power
. The people could elect individuals who would govern and be accountable to them at election time. They would not have a monarch or nobility like England.

They also returned to the idea of 
separating power
 
among 
three branches of government.
 Also, states would determine who would be qualified to vote in national elections. As you are aware, in all states, except New Jersey, only white men who were 21 years old, owned property or paid taxes could vote in state elections. New Jersey permitted women to vote only in local elections (later repealed).

Since Madison had done his homework early, the Virginia delegation introduced the 
Virginia Plan
 for consideration. It outlined the need for a federal republic, a single executive, a bicameral Congress (a two-house legislature), and national courts. During the contentious debate over Madison’s plan, the issue of state representation in the Congress almost stopped the proceedings cold.

The 
Virginia Plan
 favored by the large states like Virginia (the largest state), Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania stated that the number of representatives who would serve in the U.S. Congress would be based upon the size of the state’s population known as 
proportional representation
. As a result, large states would have greater influence in making national policy. As we are going to find out later, the large states thought that since they had more people living in their states that they should have more power in the U. S. House of Representatives and U. S. Senate. It is interesting to note that the Congress would elect the president and the House would nominate the federal judges. So all and all, the larger states would dominate the entire national government!

The small states led by William Paterson (NJ) produced the 
New Jersey Plan 
as an alternative to the Virginia Plan. They wanted to keep a 
unicameral legislature
 just like under the Articles of Confederation. 
Equal representation
would provide small and large states alike with equal power in the new Congress. The Congress would elect the Executive, a committee, and a U. S. Supreme Court would resolve legal disputes over national law. Constitutional Convention

The delegates voted over and over again on this issue with no resolution. The large states would not budge and the smaller states demanded at least equal vote in one chamber of the national legislature. Recognizing the critical necessity for compromise, the delegates put together a committee to resolve the issue of state representation in the U. S. Congress. 
Roger Sherman (CT)
 forged what is known as the 
Connecticut Compromise, “the Great Compromise.”

The Connecticut Compromise

It called for a 
bicameral Congress
. The number of representatives who would serve in the U.S. House of Representatives would be based on population and directly elected by the people every two years. The U. S. Senate would have two Senators who served a six-year term and were elected by state legislatures (the people would not elect their U. S. Senators until 1913 with the adoption of the 17th Amendment).

Under the original U.S. Constitution, the U.S. House was directly elected by the people in order to establish a representative democracy. The Electoral College would elect the president. The framers wanted to make each branch and chamber in the legislature accountable to different groups of people and thus, make it more difficult for a particular group or faction to dominate our national government.

To learn more about the Connecticut Compromise go to

Formative Years of the Senate: 1787-1800

3/5 (Three Fifth’s) Compromise

The 
Connecticut Compromise
settled the question of state representation in the U. S. Congress, but raised a new question, how to define the term population. What groups would be included in the population count for purposes of determining the number of U. S. House representatives from each state? Constitutional Convention

They agreed to include free persons, indentured servants, and Indians who paid taxes, but what about the slaves? The southern states insisted that slaves be included in such a count to avoid being dominated by the northern states. Less population meant fewer representatives and thus, less influence in the U. S. House of Representatives!

There were delegates like Ben Franklin who opposed the institution of slavery (although he did own a few slaves) but they agreed to a compromise which included at least some of the slaves in the population count to balance the power between the north and south;
five slaves would equal three free persons.
 Thus, the south increased its influence in setting national policy, but in exchange bore a greater percentage of the tax burden then it would have had to do otherwise if slaves had not been included in the population count.

If you read the 
Article 1, clause 3
 
closely it states that 
“Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states..”
 As a result, there were fewer free persons to work to pay the taxes in the southern states.

Shown on the left is an image of slaves picking cotton, a common association.

Since the adoption of the 
14th Amendment
, 
all persons except Indians who do not pay taxes
, are included every 10 years in the census count to determine the population of a state and the number of representatives that serve in the U. S. House. Legal and illegal aliens are included in the census.

The Slave Trade

There was a compromise reached on the slave trade. A number of delegates wanted to ban this commercial activity. The southern states were concerned that if Congress was given the power to regulate interstate commerce, regulating business activities across state lines, that it would ban the slave trade that supported the region’s economy.

The delegates reached an agreement that provided Congress the power to regulate commerce but it could not interfere with the slave trade for 20 years after ratification of the new Constitution (
Article I, sec. 9
, powers denied Congress). In 1808, the U. S. Congress banned the slave trade!

2/3 (Two-Third’s) Compromise

During debates regional concerns continued to divide delegates. The south insisted that any international trade agreements negotiated by the President must be approved by a super majority in the U. S. Senate. It is always interesting to me that the required 2/3 rd’s vote to approve a treaty was based upon the southern states desire to protect their agricultural exports.

Originally, the U.S. Senate had 26 Senators, two from each state. As a result, southern states only had 10 votes. They could not muster a majority to vote down an unfavorable trade agreement, but they could band together to defeat a treaty with more than one-third of the votes!

You may remember that James Madison did not think that states would be divided because of their size, large states versus small state issues, but because of 
regional issues
. This view was not only confirmed by debates at the Constitutional Convention, but by future events.

 Shown here is President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin after exchanging documents of ratification inside the Konstantin Palace after a private meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 1, 2003. Constitutional Convention