More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays about the history behind the constitution
Essays about the history behind the constitution
Essays about the history behind the constitution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays about the history behind the constitution
Our National government has gone through a lot of changes since it was first created in 1781. The Articles of Confederation was created as the nations first national constitution, however it lacked certain powers and ultimately wouldn’t survive. However delegates from the thirteen states were determined to amend the articles, so our government would survive and flourish. The problem was that there was a problem between two proposed plans, the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan leaned larger states with larger populations and the New Jersey Plan didn’t favor either side, just wanted equality among the states. At the Constitutional Convention, these issues were discussed and debated until they ultimately found a solution, which would be called the Great Compromise. This Compromise saved our constitutional government and saved the states from becoming their own separate governments. Parts from all these plans were used to …show more content…
In this system the Legislature would elect more than one-person to serve in the executive branch and the executive branch would elect the Supreme Court Justices. The main difference between the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan was that the New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral legislature, which consisted of one parliamentary chamber (Boundless). This meant that each state would have one vote, like the articles, and would feature the same number of representatives so all states would be equal. The plan also presented that congress would have the power to regulate trade and impose taxes, like the Virginia plan. Congress would also have control to pass any law they please and the states would have to comply (Carey). Ultimately both plans had their own ideas and had their own differences but there couldn’t be two plans so they had to think of a compromise, and luckily someone
Synopsis: The purpose of the Albany Plan of Union was to create a centralized government for the colonies. The Plan also promoted for the colonies to unite as one due to the French and Indian war. The new government would be controlled by a President-General which was chosen and supported by the king. Also, the representatives of the colonies would have to choose a Grand Council in order to assist the appointed President-General. In the Grand council, each colony would have a number of representatives based on the population of the colony. The government would have the power to commerce activities, national defense, also a defense and negotiate relations with the Natives. Also, the Grand Council member would change every three years and that they will meet once a year or occasionally if needed. The Albany plan was approved on July 10, 1754, by the Albany Congress. Copies of the Albany plan sent to the colonies and the British
The purpose of a constitution was to remove the royal authority 's institution and still govern the people with a popular sovereignty. Each colony developed their own constitution in different ways based on the economic, political, freedom, and social demands of the people as well as the states ' experiences. The Virginia constitution and the Massachusetts constitution were the two of the many states that created a constitution. Both of the constitutions have their similarity and difference, but they are more in common. In fact, It is said to be that the Massachusetts constitution was often overshadowed by the Virginia constitution. Nonetheless, the similarity between both constitutions is the structure of a commonwealth. That being the case, each state 's government are related to the federal government.
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.
...However the large states were not satisfied with their plan either, so a third plan was made, The Great Compromise. In other words the Connecticut Compromise (The Great Compromise) happened, it mixed the ideas of the two and was passed by a one-vote margin. The plan consists of proportional representation in The House of Representatives and equal representation in The Senate, as well as adding separation of powers to the mix. It was highly important and crucial to the success of the new constitution.
To begin with the unequal representation of the states in the Virginia Plan was of great concern and controversy while the New Jersey Plan retained equal representation of the states. Virginia proposed a bicameral legislature that included elections by the people and appointments by those elected. This system used both wealth and population as a determining factor in regards to the number of seats in both houses. New Jersey on the other hand proposed single house legislature that allow each state a single vote. Votes based on population would put small states at a disadvantage. The states that were more populated would be in control of the legislative branches, leaving small states without a voice. Concerns about who was to be counted in the population also ...
At the convention, the founders were debating about how many representatives in the Congress should each state allowed to have. For example, James Madison, who came from Virginia, one of the larger states, suggested that representation should be proportional to the state’s population (Hart et al. 109-110). Coming from a state with larger population had influenced Madison’s proposal, for he reasoned that since Virginia has a large population of people, so more representatives are needed to represent more people. However, the states with a smaller population disagreed with this proposal and came up with a proposal that would counter Madison’s proposal. Paterson, who came from New Jersey, one of those states with smaller population, proposed a plan in which equal number of people should be elected from each state for representation in the Congress (Hart et al. 109-110). It was evident to see how coming from a smaller state had affected Paterson’s proposal, for he feared
The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.
In response to the Virginia Plan, William Patterson created the New Jersey Plan (sometimes called the Patterson Plan) in order to give an even amount of vote throughout the colonies. It was also based on the Articles of Confederation, or “it was a proposal to ‘revise’ the Articles of Confederation”. This was the original constitution for the government that was supposed to follow after the Revolutionary War. The document generally stated that the Congress should be able to create taxes. The Congress should also be allowed to “regulate and interstate commerce”. The executive and judicial branch would be created under the New Jersey Plan. The executive branch was able to choose the members of the judicial branch, who then would serve for life. The New Jersey Plan also stated that there should be equal vote throughout the states, or each state should have the same amount of the vote as all the other states. The document also stated that ...
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
The establishment of the U.S. Constitution was an action taken in order to supply federal control over the young United States of America without replicating the mistakes and flaws present within the Articles of Confederation. The idea of the Constitution was to better unify the states, something the Articles of Confederation were completely unable to do. Even during the infancy of the Constitution, its creators were divided into two major political parties: the federalists, who supported large and strong federal government, and the Anti-Federalists who supported reserving state’s rights and limiting the grasp of the federal government. Upon the establishment and the passing of the U.S. constitution, these two parties used personal party-based
During the 1700’s, one of the most discussed topics, was the kind of government that should be incorporated into each state. Several men with skeptical beliefs and contradicting ideas, led to many (indirect) disputes about which route should be taken. Virginia and Pennsylvania’s constitutions were a hot topic during the era, they stimulated an intriguing matter amongst many politicians. From Thomas Paine to Carter Braxton’s writings, each individual had an important role arguing and making claims toward the type of government they found to be the most effective. Virginia’s constitution was considered to be a mixed government, while Pennsylvania’s constitution was a simple government. Each structure had men who praised it and men who critiqued it. Through their writings we find many pros and cons for each style of governing, as well as the different theories each individual had when it came to structuring a state’s constitution. We also gain an insight of what possible concerns came about during the time and what solutions they offered, if any were offered at all.
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...
In the early stages of North American colonization by the English, the colony of Jamestown, Virginia was founded in 1607 (Mailer Handout 1 (6)). Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1629 (Mailer Handout 2 (1)). These two colonies, although close in the time they were founded, have many differences in aspects of their lives and the way they were settled. The colonies have a different religious system, economic system, political system, and they have a different way of doing things; whether that be pertaining to making money, practicing religion, or electing governors. Along with the differences, there are also a sameness between these two colonies. Each colony has been derived from England and has been founded by companies
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.