Essential Question #2 When creating the constitution, the framers, disagreed over numerous things ranging from a wide variety of subjects. In order to create a Constitution that each state would accept, the delegates had to make compromises with each other. These compromises included the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Commerce Compromise. These were a few among the many compromises our founding fathers made in order to form this new Constitution. The Great Compromise, was one of the most well know compromise made at the Constitutional Convention. When deciding how states should be represented in the new Constitution two plans were presented, The Virginia Plan and The New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan proposed a …show more content…
Setting the stage for our national and state government, Federalisms, looked to be a solution to these issues. By focusing on a strong state government, Federalism, shifted power away from the national government. Two strengths of these changes are and increase access to government, and tailored policy that fits the local government’s needs. Two weaknesses of American federalism are that local interests can hinder nationally supported policies, and a conflict of authority. One positive that came out of federalism is an increase access to government. It became much easier to get your agenda across, which allowed many special interest group to gain a footing in the political system and encouraged involvement. As the access to government increased so did citizens roll in government, allowing the political process to reach far more people than before. The second positive that federalism produced was a more tailored policy. This is a good thing because member of a state could have policy that reflected the issues and needs of its state citizens. National government is much broader and cannot fit the needs of every citizen of the United States. With a more localized government the ideals of the citizens in each state can reflect the policies that are made, and represent their citizens …show more content…
This is a weakness because there are some issues that need a national consensus in order to move forward. One of the biggest issues being slavery, when left up to individual states it caused a rift between the north and south. Things with a great deal of importance must be consistent throughout the entirety of the United States. The second weakness of American federalism is a conflict of authority. When dealing with national and state duties it becomes confusing on who is responsible for what. This confusion can lead to disastrous consequences, like when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Miscommunication and poor planning made it unclear what government organizations were responsible for what, and as a result needless lives were
...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.
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
One agreement the Constitution consisted of was the three-fifths Compromise. Foner states that the Constitution did not allow the national government to meddle with slavery in the states. This meant that three out of every five slaves could be counted as part of the state 's population. The powerpoint mentions that this raised their representation in the House of Representatives. The congress could not mess with the slave trade until
The framers had four major goals for the constitution. They wanted to create a strong government that would be able to meet the need's of the nation. Yet they wanted to keep the existence of the separate states. They also didn't want to threaten liberty. And lastly they wanted to create a government that everyone could agree upon.
Being very different from the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution gave the foundation for the legislature and kept each branch in check, assuring none would become too powerful. With the large and small states finally in agreement, ratifying the constitution was the next step. September of 1787 the final draft, containing around 4,200 words, was created by the Committee of Style. George Washington was the first to sign the document on September 17th. Although 39 of the original 55 signed the document, the delegates of Massachusetts were unwilling to approve the document. Nine of the thirteen states had to ratify the document in order for it to become law. To help gain popularity for the Constitution, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay made essays. There were 85 total essays and they were distributed in newspapers across the states. Those who supported the document were referred to as Federalist and those who did not support the document were known as Anti-Federalist. The first states to ratify the Constitution were Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Connecticut. Massachusetts still strongly opposed the document, saying that freedom of speech, religion, and press were lacking protection. An agreement was made in February 1788 that the document would be amended to include what was lacking upon ratification. With hesitation,
The original version of the Constitution is a result of a series of compromises made to achieve a document that would be voted by the majority of the newly emerged states. Slavery was a very sensitive issue, as it was widely common on the continent.
These compromises are found in four main places within the Constitution. The first is the three-fifths compromise, which detailed how slaves would influence the population of each state for the purpose of determining representation and taxation. Located in Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution the compromise states that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for enumeration purposes (Dolbeare, 71). This compromise was important for the Southern states, whose populations consisted of large numbers of slaves, because without it they would have a significant smaller number of representatives in the House. Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution prohibit...
Following the failure of the Articles of Confederation, a debate arose discussing how a centralized government ought to be organized. The prevailing opinion ultimately belonged to the Federalists, whose philosophy was famously outlined in The Federalist Papers. Recognizing that in a free nation, man would naturally divide himself into factions, they chose not to remedy this problem by stopping it at its source; instead, they would limit its effects by placing strict structural safeguards within the government's framework. The Federalists defined a facti...
Even though there are pros and cons of federalism, this system of government makes America a free nation and separates us from many our nations.
In my opinion, the relationship between the Federal government and the States is unclear whether which institution has the authority to implement legislations. The vagueness of the American constitution particularly in the 10th Amendment of the Constitution that quote ” The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The ambiguous of the American Constitution may be the main cause of the over power of Federal government.
During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates had to come to many compromises to satisfy all states. For this reason, many historians say that the constitution is a document of compromises. Many states were represented during the Constitution, both small and large.
The Great Compromise, is also referred to as, The Great Connecticut Compromise, was headed by Franklin. The Compromise was discussed in meeting by a committee, at the constitutional convention was held in 1787. This was to accomplish and settle the interests for both the small and large states. It had allowed the for one to lead in the senate and the other in the House by an arrangement, that each of the states would have two representatives in the Senate no matter what the size of the state. However, any provisions, were further granted based on the populace of the house (Wilson, Dilulio, Jr. and Bose, 23).
Federalism is a political system in which authority is divided between different levels of government (Barbour and Wright, 75). Federalism has been around since 1787 in the United States of America. The divided powers between the state governments and the national governments are powers that are limited to a certain level so they do not depend on each other for power. The United States of America has a federal government in which the central government shares influence with the numerous smaller state governments. The idea was for a “more perfect union.”
Federalism or “federal” ties around a system of government. It controls armies, declares wars, coins money, and regulate trade between states and foreign nations, and treaties (Mrs, Crouse’s powerpoint pg:3 num:9). Specifically this was created to organize the powers that exist in the system of government so everything can be organized. It also divides the power among a central government and several regional governments (Mrs, Crouse’s powerpoint pg:2 num:8). More ever Since everything passes through one system it had to be divided into 3 sections: delegated powers, implied powers, and inherited powers.
Federalism is a legal concept that is centered around the concept that law is best handled as a two layered responsibility. Federalism is also built on a belief that sharing power with the local government is key to a successful governance. According to the text book, “the United States was the first nation to adopt federalism as its governing framework” (pg83). The following are a few examples of some advantages, as well as disadvantages of Federalism.