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The Constitutional Convention was undertaken as an attempt to fix the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation by drafting a new governing document - the Constitution. Naturally, there were several debates about how the Constitution should address the prevailing issues at the time. The framers present at the Constitutional Convention did purposely leave some issues unresolved in the summer of 1787 by leaving some ambiguity. However, the purpose of this ambiguity was to allow some room for the new nation to grow. This statement is exhibited by the many compromises and events concerning slavery in the following years, the debates that occurred after the ratification of the Constitution concerning the exact powers granted to the federal government …show more content…
For instance, the fugitive slave clause attached slavery and its proponents to a slave even if they escaped to an abolition state. Furthermore, the three-fifths clause allowed for the South (which was generally pro-slavery) to have a large number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Lastly, Congress was prohibited from taking any actions to stop African slave trade for 20 years. At first glance, these provisions seem to largely leave the issue of slavery resolved; however, it is because of these provisions that the issue of slavery was actually unresolved. Several events such as the writing of Letters from an American Farmer, the Haitian Revolution, and Gabriel's Rebellion all influenced the role of slavery in American politics. Furthermore, after the 20 years ban on Congress was over, these sentiments that were contained for so long allowed for many new debates of slavery to occur. Thus, by attempting to reinforce slavery, the framers of the Constitutional Convention actually purposely allowed room for several new debates and protests about slavery to occur in the future. In doing so, they left some room for the new nation to grow …show more content…
The framers of the Constitution realized that they could not address every single issue of the day. Therefore, they left a few provisions so that they federal government could one day sufficiently resolve these issues. For instance, the framers knew that those who were against ratification were concerned about unrestrained power in the the hands of the federal government. Thus, they created a system of checks and balances. Each of the three branches of government could restrain another branch of government, while being restrained by the other. In addition, the framers of the Constitution knew that debates concerning the relative political power of small states in relation to larger states would occur. Larger states supported the Virginia Plan, while smaller states supported the New Jersey Plan. The framers of the Constitution compromised on a two-house Congress which satisfied both sides of the debate. With these provisions in mind, the framers of the Constitution assumed the state representatives would be able to sufficiently debate those issues that were left unresolved by the Constitution and that the federal government would have the sufficient means of power of reinforcing their eventual decision. Thus, by creating a strong federal government that would be able to debate the prevailing issues of the day, the framers of the Constitution allowed for the
Smaller states like Delaware and New Jersey objected to the Virginia Plan saying that the large states would easily outvote them in Congress if the number of votes were based on population. After weeks of debate, William Patterson of New Jersey put forth a plan that called for three branches including a legislature with only one house where each state would have one vote. The New Jersey Plan with a single house legislature and equal representation was more like Congress under the Articles.
At the time, larger states like Virginia were creating an unfair amount of power for themselves that the small states didn’t have. In the new government, Congress was created to make laws, and was made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives would give states a number of Representatives they could have based on their population. This would give fair power deserved to the larger states. The Senate however would be two and only two Senators for each state, no matter how large or small, bringing some equality to Congress.
For five years after Revolutionary war each state basically governed themselves. Although there was national government in place, it held little power over the states. It soon became apparent that the Articles of Confederation needed to be readdressed to combat the increasing problems that were brewing in the country. The first attempt to redress was dismissed by many of the states. Nevertheless, a second attempt produced results with twelve of the states sending delegates to redress the Articles of Confederation. Several delegates submitted plans for consideration that would strengthen the national government two such plans were the Virginia and the New Jersey Plan. Despite much of Virginia’s plan being accepted, if a compromise had not been reached the New Jerseys plan would have been more workable because it offered: equal representation of the states, provided operational means to congress, and was not a radical departure from the Articles of the Confederation.
Before the Constitution was drafted, the United States’ budding government, now independent from Great Britain, acted under a dysfunctional constitution called the Articles of Confederation. Although this constitution kept the new nation running, there were still flaws that needed to be fixed. The Articles of Confederation lacked a developed executive or judicial branch and a method for the main government to collect taxes from state governments, according to the background essay of the DBQ Packet. An assembly of fifty-five men eventually gathered for a Constitutional Convention in order to write a new constitution that would better satisfy the people’s needs. The trouble of creating another constitution lied behind creating a document
The responsibilities would include managing debt, creating national monetary and fiscal policies, as well as managing the national tensions that lead to crisis. Men like Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and John Adams, were in favor of the Constitution, supported the Bill of Rights and subsequently, a larger more powerful federal government. In their views for support of a federal government they proposed the Constitution and later added the first ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights (Lecture). While framing the Constitution issues taken into consideration were states boundaries, representation quotas and veto rights (Countryman 172). Two main plans were proposed to solve the plethora of issues facing the country – one by James Madison and one by Patterson. The fundamental differences was where the federal government derived their power. Patterson advocated for the federal to obtain their power from the states rather than the people, whereas Madison advocated for the power of the centralized government owing its power directly to the people (Countryman 178). After years back and forth conversations, a three tiered system was created that would ensure the integrity of the system by separation and complete independence from each other, thus listing specified duties and power allotted to the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary powers of the United States
When the Founding Fathers got together at Philadelphia to draft the Constitution, they had many different views and opinions as to how to govern our country. At the convention, the founders fought over the issues of slavery, representation and the Congress’s powers. Their personal lives had influenced their ideas and some of the compromises made at the Constitutional Convention. The founders’ different personal experiences, economic backgrounds, and coming from states of different sizes, economy and needs, led to the creation of the Three-Fifths Compromise, The Great Compromise, and the Slave Trade Compromise.
When the new Constitution was drafted, the ratification, the official approval by the people of the United States, sparked a national debate. People were shocked by the radical changes it proposed; they expected the convention to merely amend the Articles of Confederation. They were afraid of regressing back into a state under tyranny, a form of rule where a single or small group reigns with vast or absolute power. Americans had just fought for their freedom from the tyrannical rule of the king of England. All their efforts and revolutionary ideas would have gone to waste.
All of the framer of the U.S. Constitution had one thing in common, they all felt that the government didn't have enough power. At the same time they didn't want to give the government to much power. They all knew if there was power to be held someone was going to hold it and over use it The framers didn't want to create a system like Britain or England.
This task was easier said than done. The fear of creating a government with too much power was a fear that was very much alive throughout the states. Tyranny was a common factor in developing governments, the delegates were seeking to avoid this error. Two ground rules were put into place for the Convention. The first was that any and all deliberations were to remain secretive. The second was that no topic or decisions would be considered closed and could therefore be up for debate and revision at any time. Once these rules were agreed upon, business started. The two contenders were the Virginia Plan, which had the larger states rooting, and the New Jersey Plan, claiming the votes of the smaller states. Under the Virginia Plan, legislature would be two houses and would be represented based on population. Under the New Jersey Plan, legislature would be one house and each state would have equal representation regardless of population. An agreement could not be reached between these two plans, instead a compromise was made. The Great Compromise met each side with an upper and lower house. The upper house was the Senate and would provide equal representation that was elected by the lower house. The lower house was the House of Representatives and would be dispersed based on population of the states. This compromise satisfied the small and large states, giving a
There was no significant desire among most delegates to abolish slavery during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. In addition, the focus of the convention was on forming a more perfect union, not dealing with the issue of slavery (Dolbeare, 71). Also complicating things was the concern among some delegates that putting too much weight on the issue of slavery might cause the unification process to fall apart. This resulted in the Constitution containing a series of compromises regarding slavery, and blatantly avoiding the issue of slavery.
The first proposals to this new plan were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a separation of powers among the government’s three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Some states proposed this idea and came up with the New Jersey Plan, which called for all of the states to have equal representation from Congress. In order to move forward from the deadlock of the two proposals, the Connecticut Compromise was enacted. This decided that legislature would be bicameral, which meant that there would be two houses: one would have equal representation and one would be based on state population. This unified the states under a federal system. To this day, there are three types of Fe...
The constitutional convention began in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. The thirteen colonies involved at the time we ruled under the Articles of Confederation. The articles however became weak had flaws that the founding fathers noticed quickly with the states appearing to have individual power. On September 14, 1786 a meeting was established that gave out a call for the upcoming grand convention. Attendance was a huge issue in congress. The delegates from those states believed that is they didn’t show up then nothing can happen, but everything happens anyways. After the Annapolis meeting, selected delegates from the colonies met in Pennsylvania. They had to create and make new laws for the constitution; such as, establishing a unified currency.
“The Constitution devotes the national domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare and to liberty” (Maier 154). This quote, stated by William Henry Seward, displays the strength and stability that the Constitution had over the nation, and the liberty and justice it supplied for all of its citizens. Although the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation have similarities, they have many differences, which proved that the Articles of Confederation were a weaker document in comparison. It can be said that the Articles were the “rough draft” to the final living document, which significantly influenced and “ruled” our government, as it still does today.
The central government could not regulate commerce between states, deal with foreign governments or settle disputes. The country was falling apart at its seams. The central government could not provide assistance to the state because there wasn’t a central army. When they realized that the Articles of Confederation was not up to par, they held a convention, known as the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As a result of this, the Constitution was written....
The Articles of Confederation was the first government of the United States. The Articles had created a very weak national government. At the time the Articles were approved, they had served the will of the people. Americans had just fought a war to get freedom from a great national authority--King George III (Patterson 34). But after this government was put to use, it was evident that it was not going to keep peace between the states. The conflicts got so frequent and malicious that George Washington wondered if the “United” States should be called a Union (Patterson 35). Shays’ Rebellion finally made it evident to the public that the government needed a change.