Constitutional Convention Of 1787

By 1787, the weaknesses of the new U.S. government under the Articles of

Confederation had become sadly evident. Nationalist politicians such as James Madison of

Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York revised the old governmental system and form

a stronger union among the states. On February 15, 1787, the Continental Congress agreed

and asked the states to select delegates to such a convention scheduled for May 14 that

same year in Philadelphia. The states gradually responded, but it was not until May 25 that a

quorum of state delegations had arrived and the Constitutional Convention, the Grand

Convention of 1787, got underway.

In the next four months, fifty-five delegates from twelve states (Rhode Island refused to

send anyone) attended the

In Employment Division v. Smith (1990), likewise, the majority of

the justices announced that they would no longer use the standard of strict scrutiny when

examining legislation of general applicability that placed an incidental burden on religion

practices. When evaluating racial preferences in affirmative action programs, however, the

Rehnquist Court applied the demanding standard of strict scrutiny.

In the system of American government, the debate always plays an important part.The

Constitutional Convention itself rarely comes into play in cases where the Supreme Court

must interpret constitutional clauses. The most reliable account of the debates, James

Madison’s Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, did not even appear publicly

until 1840. Furthermore, the Court preferred to interpret the Constitution by defining its terms

in the context of a case before it. The Court, however, made good use of the debates in

several important cases. Also, the debate is even important during the Presidential election.

Candidate need to show their ideas to get the support of