Constitutional Convention Dbq

The Constitutional Convention to this day is considered one of the most momentous events in United States Constitutional History. Dubbed the one hundred day debate, the convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The original goal was to revise the existing form of government- the Articles of Confederation- however, many delegates had a different approach to fixing the nation as a whole. Because of federalist delegates such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, on September 17, 1787, the convention had formed and adopted a completely new form of government, currently known and in use today as the Constitution of the United States of America.
Prior to the Constitutional Convention, the United

States was in a state of turmoil. American’s knew there was a need for a strong union and government in order to defeat the world super power, Great Britain. At the same time, however, many were wary of forming a powerful central government due to having lived under the king of Britain's tyranny for so long. Because of this, the United States under the Articles of Confederation operated to the effect of a firm league of friendship. Under the articles, the central government had no ability to collect taxes or duties. Therefore, it relied on money granted by the states, which was often withheld so that the central government would give into their commands. Also under the articles, every state only had one vote in Congressregardless of size, which meant unequal representation as far as population. Along with that, Congresscould not regulate foreign or interstate commerce, there was no executive within Congressto enforce its acts, there was no national court system. Also, all the states had to agree to form an amendment, and nine out of thirteen states were required to pass any law.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States government was so weak to the point that it was unable to operate effectively.

Due to its ineffectualness, the nation's economic and financial affairs plummeted and the country was thrown into a state that was inhospitable to growth or progress. During this time, the central government had no power to enforce any legislation it passed. Congress was consistently denied the power to tax, and its only option was to request money from the states. Because Congress' requests were typically ignored, the legislature never had the funds to run the government or to fulfill any financial obligations to bondholders, soldiers, etc. With that, Congress and the states both shared the right to issue money. This led to an excess of currency, which decreased the value of all currency. The central government could not control interstate commerce, resulting in navigational rights disputes, as well as interstate tariffs and taxes. Because of this foreign countries were not willing to negotiate trade agreements with the United States. The weakness of the central government put the nation into a state of political uncertainty.
By the late 1770’s, American’s knew they needed to fix many of the Articles of Confederation’s problem. In an attempt to do so, a meeting was called that consisted of 55 delegates, representing all colonies except Rhode Island. George Washington was elected president of the convention, however, James Madison is considered

the father of the constitution due to his well kept journal of the convention. Originally, the delegates official goal was to revise the Articles of Confederation. However, something entirely different ended up occurring.
The main controversies during the convention had to do with both representation in Congress and the subject of slavery. Shortly after the commencement of the convention, Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented and defended a plan, written by James Madison, for new structure of government called the Virginia Plan. It called for a strong national government with both branches of the legislative branch based strictly on the population of each state. State representatives were to be voted in by the people and then state senators would be voted in by the representatives. The plan gave the national government the power to create binding laws on all states.
As one could assume, delegates from smaller states opposed many of the provisions in the Virginia Plan. On June 14, the opposing plan, called the New Jersey Plan, was presented by delegate William Paterson of New Jersey. The New Jersey Plan kept federal powers rather limited and kept Congress the way it operated under the Articles of Confederation. Instead, the plan enlarged some of the powers then held by the Continental Congress. Paterson made plain the opposition of delegates from many of the other smaller states to the Virginia Plan because it would deprive them of equal voting power in the legislative branch.
Over the course of the next three months, delegates worked out a series of compromises between the two plans.

New powers were granted to Congress to regulate the economy and currency. At the insistence of delegates from southern states, Congress was denied the power to limit the slave trade for a minimum of twenty years and exports would not be taxed. This was called the Trade and Commerce agreement. Along with that, slaves were allowed to be counted as 3/5 persons for the purpose of apportioning representatives and determining electoral votes, as well as for tax purposes. Delegates compromised on the issue of apportioning members of Congress, an issue that had divided the larger and smaller states. Under a plan put forward by delegate Roger Sherman of Connecticut- the Connecticut Compromise- representation in the House of Representatives would be based on population while each state would be guaranteed an equal two senators in the new

Senate.
By September, it was time to vote. In the Convention, each state had one vote. In the end, thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates supported adoption of the new Constitution, barely enough to win support from each of the twelve attending state delegations.