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3.8 The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification

6 min readjanuary 11, 2023

J

James Glackin

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

J

James Glackin

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

The weak factors within the Articles made many people feel as though the Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced by a set of laws with a more central authority and a federal government with enforcement power.

Creating the Constitution

The Annapolis Convention

To review what could be done about the country's inability to overcome critical problems, hosted a conference at his home in . Representatives agreed that the problems were serious enough to hold a meeting later in Annapolis, Maryland so that all the states could be represented. Only five states sent representatives to the Annapolis Convention. Despite the limited attendance, the convention did produce a report recommending that a new convention be held the following year in Philadelphia "for the sole and express purpose of revising the ."

The Constitutional Convention

The convention was attended by 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states. Rhode Island did not send any representatives. The convention lasted for 4 months, and the delegates, many of them experienced and prominent leaders, engaged in intense and prolonged debate. In the end, they proposed a new framework for government, known as the Constitution of the United States.

The delegates knew they needed a new set of laws, but there were debates about how to go about making them. How would power be divided?

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2FIndependence_Hall_10.jpg?alt=media&token=a27b9bb6-cac4-47eb-8d83-01cecfc7b6c7

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled, argued, and finally agreed in this room, styled in the same manner as during the Convention. Photograph of the Assembly Room, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

Debates over Ratification

One of the main debates at the was how to balance the power between the states in the new government. As you know, the had given each state an equal vote in the , but this led to difficulties in passing legislation and achieving consensus on important issues.

During the convention, several different plans for representation in Congress were proposed:

The Virginia Plan

The was proposed by , , and others from the state of Virginia:

  • It called for a strong national government with three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

  • The legislative branch would be bicameral, with both houses apportioned according to population.

    • A is a system of government in which the legislative power is vested in two separate chambers or houses. The two houses in a typically have different powers, methods of selection or election, and ways of representing different interests or constituencies. The purpose of having a is to provide a check and balance on the power of the other house and to ensure that different perspectives and interests are considered in the lawmaking process.

    • For reference, the modern-day Congress is a , composed of the Senate and the . The Senate and the House have different responsibilities, and each chamber has its own procedures and rules.

  • Representation in the lower house would be determined by population, and representation in the upper house would be determined by the lower house.

  • A stronger federal government would have more power to regulate commerce, collect taxes, and enforce laws.

  • It was proposed to give more power to the more populous states in Congress.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-wcECtyoky6pL.jpg?alt=media&token=61bfffff-707f-4750-b4b9-6a16248dea12

Image Courtesy of HowStuffWorks

The New Jersey Plan

The was proposed by and others from the state of New Jersey:

  • It called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state.

  • The national government would have a limited role and would not be able to regulate commerce, collect taxes, or enforce laws.

  • It was proposed to give more power to the smaller states, as it wanted one vote for each state regardless of population.

The Great Compromise

After much debate, the Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was negotiated:

  • Proposed by

  • It combined elements of the and the .

  • It established a with a different method of representation in each house.

  • The lower house, the , would be apportioned according to population.

  • The upper house, the Senate, would have equal representation for each state, with each state having two senators.

  • This compromise resolved the disagreement over how much power each state should have in the new government and helped get the Constitution ratified.

Looks familiar? This is how we established our government with a bicameral Congress, representing both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. It allowed for equal representation in Congress and balanced the power of small and large states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

Now that a framework for Congress was established, the delegates at the discussed the representation of slave states.

The determined how enslaved people would be counted in terms of representation and taxation. The compromise was reached between the northern states, which were generally more industrialized and had fewer enslaved people, and the southern states, which were more agrarian and had more enslaved people.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-DgTW9qCG80q7.jpg?alt=media&token=5c407e3e-2971-4c4d-b310-00fcda58c50b

Image Courtesy of Nigerian Scholars

The compromise stated that for the purpose of determining representation in the , and for the purpose of apportioning direct taxes, each enslaved person would be counted as three-fifths of a free person. The compromise was intended to address the concerns of the southern states that their representation in Congress would be diminished if enslaved people were not counted at all, while also addressing the concerns of the northern states that counting enslaved people fully would give the southern states too much representation.

Ending the Slave Trade

The did not deal with the question of the slave trade directly, but the Constitution itself included a provision that prohibited Congress from ending the international slave trade until 1808. However, in 1807, the U.S. Congress passed the , which banned the importation of enslaved people from Africa and the foreign slave trade, effectively ending it on January 1, 1808. This is important to note that this did not end slavery itself in the U.S. and it was still legal for people to own enslaved people within the states, it just limited the importing of enslaved people from Africa.

The Electoral College

The Convention delegates also agreed to establish a system of electing the president, which was later known as the . The purpose of this was to give smaller states some representation in the presidential election, while also allowing the election to be conducted more efficiently. Under this system, each state is allotted a number of electors based on its representation in Congress, and the candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270 or more) becomes president.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-kMVWCWV9Z6Ks.jpg?alt=media&token=321eb552-a360-4308-be17-16679daab96b

Image Courtesy of Election Reformers Network

As you know, the system has been the source of much controversy and criticism, with some arguing that it can lead to an election of a candidate who did not receive the most popular votes and that it gives disproportionate power to the small states over larger states. There have been some proposals and attempts in the past to change or replace the system.

The Constitution was finished on September 17, 1787, and then sent to the states for ratification.

Key Terms to Review (20)

Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves

: This was a federal law passed in 1807 that made it illegal to import slaves into the United States from foreign countries.

Articles of Confederation

: The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and ratified by the states in 1781. It established a weak central government that had limited power over the states.

Bicameral Legislature

: A bicameral legislature is a lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts.

Confederation Congress

: The governing body that operated in the United States from 1781 to 1789 under the Articles of Confederation. It was a unicameral legislature with each state having one vote.

Constitutional Convention

: The Constitutional Convention took place in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a meeting where delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies wrote the United States Constitution.

Creating the Constitution

: The process that took place in Philadelphia in 1787 where representatives from each state came together to create a new framework for government - The U.S. Constitution - which strengthened federal authority while still preserving state rights.

Edmund Randolph

: Edmund Randolph was an American attorney who served as the seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.

Electoral College

: The Electoral College is a group of people appointed by each state who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

George Washington

: George Washington was the first President of the United States (1789-1797) and one of the Founding Fathers. He led America to victory in the Revolutionary War, helping establish the country's independence from Britain.

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)

: The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that created a two-house legislature, with representation based on population in one house and equal representation in the other.

House of Representatives

: The House of Representatives is one half of Congress, which is the legislative branch of U.S. government. Representation in this body is based on each state's population.

James Madison

: James Madison was an American statesman, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of United States (1809-1817). He is hailed as "Father of Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Mt. Vernon, Virginia

: Mt. Vernon is an estate located near Alexandria, Virginia that was owned by George Washington and his wife Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. It served as their plantation home.

New Jersey Plan

: The New Jersey Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It proposed a unicameral legislature where each state, regardless of size or population, would have equal representation.

Roger Sherman of Connecticut

: Roger Sherman was a politician and lawyer from Connecticut who played a key role in the drafting of the United States Constitution. He is best known for proposing the Great Compromise, which helped to shape the structure of Congress.

Senate and House of Representatives

: These are the two houses that make up Congress, which is America's federal legislative body. The Senate represents states equally with each state having two senators while representation in House depends on population size per state.

The Annapolis Convention

: A meeting held in 1786 at Annapolis, Maryland, attended by representatives from five states. Its purpose was to discuss changes to the Articles of Confederation but ended up recommending a broader convention leading to the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

Three-Fifths Compromise

: The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution that counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and representation.

Virginia Plan

: A proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It proposed representation based on population or financial contributions by each state.

William Paterson

: William Paterson was an American statesman, attorney, and jurist who served as one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution. He also served as Governor of New Jersey and Associate Justice on Supreme Court.

3.8 The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification

6 min readjanuary 11, 2023

J

James Glackin

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

J

James Glackin

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

The weak factors within the Articles made many people feel as though the Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced by a set of laws with a more central authority and a federal government with enforcement power.

Creating the Constitution

The Annapolis Convention

To review what could be done about the country's inability to overcome critical problems, hosted a conference at his home in . Representatives agreed that the problems were serious enough to hold a meeting later in Annapolis, Maryland so that all the states could be represented. Only five states sent representatives to the Annapolis Convention. Despite the limited attendance, the convention did produce a report recommending that a new convention be held the following year in Philadelphia "for the sole and express purpose of revising the ."

The Constitutional Convention

The convention was attended by 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states. Rhode Island did not send any representatives. The convention lasted for 4 months, and the delegates, many of them experienced and prominent leaders, engaged in intense and prolonged debate. In the end, they proposed a new framework for government, known as the Constitution of the United States.

The delegates knew they needed a new set of laws, but there were debates about how to go about making them. How would power be divided?

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2FIndependence_Hall_10.jpg?alt=media&token=a27b9bb6-cac4-47eb-8d83-01cecfc7b6c7

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled, argued, and finally agreed in this room, styled in the same manner as during the Convention. Photograph of the Assembly Room, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

Debates over Ratification

One of the main debates at the was how to balance the power between the states in the new government. As you know, the had given each state an equal vote in the , but this led to difficulties in passing legislation and achieving consensus on important issues.

During the convention, several different plans for representation in Congress were proposed:

The Virginia Plan

The was proposed by , , and others from the state of Virginia:

  • It called for a strong national government with three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

  • The legislative branch would be bicameral, with both houses apportioned according to population.

    • A is a system of government in which the legislative power is vested in two separate chambers or houses. The two houses in a typically have different powers, methods of selection or election, and ways of representing different interests or constituencies. The purpose of having a is to provide a check and balance on the power of the other house and to ensure that different perspectives and interests are considered in the lawmaking process.

    • For reference, the modern-day Congress is a , composed of the Senate and the . The Senate and the House have different responsibilities, and each chamber has its own procedures and rules.

  • Representation in the lower house would be determined by population, and representation in the upper house would be determined by the lower house.

  • A stronger federal government would have more power to regulate commerce, collect taxes, and enforce laws.

  • It was proposed to give more power to the more populous states in Congress.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-wcECtyoky6pL.jpg?alt=media&token=61bfffff-707f-4750-b4b9-6a16248dea12

Image Courtesy of HowStuffWorks

The New Jersey Plan

The was proposed by and others from the state of New Jersey:

  • It called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state.

  • The national government would have a limited role and would not be able to regulate commerce, collect taxes, or enforce laws.

  • It was proposed to give more power to the smaller states, as it wanted one vote for each state regardless of population.

The Great Compromise

After much debate, the Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was negotiated:

  • Proposed by

  • It combined elements of the and the .

  • It established a with a different method of representation in each house.

  • The lower house, the , would be apportioned according to population.

  • The upper house, the Senate, would have equal representation for each state, with each state having two senators.

  • This compromise resolved the disagreement over how much power each state should have in the new government and helped get the Constitution ratified.

Looks familiar? This is how we established our government with a bicameral Congress, representing both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. It allowed for equal representation in Congress and balanced the power of small and large states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

Now that a framework for Congress was established, the delegates at the discussed the representation of slave states.

The determined how enslaved people would be counted in terms of representation and taxation. The compromise was reached between the northern states, which were generally more industrialized and had fewer enslaved people, and the southern states, which were more agrarian and had more enslaved people.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-DgTW9qCG80q7.jpg?alt=media&token=5c407e3e-2971-4c4d-b310-00fcda58c50b

Image Courtesy of Nigerian Scholars

The compromise stated that for the purpose of determining representation in the , and for the purpose of apportioning direct taxes, each enslaved person would be counted as three-fifths of a free person. The compromise was intended to address the concerns of the southern states that their representation in Congress would be diminished if enslaved people were not counted at all, while also addressing the concerns of the northern states that counting enslaved people fully would give the southern states too much representation.

Ending the Slave Trade

The did not deal with the question of the slave trade directly, but the Constitution itself included a provision that prohibited Congress from ending the international slave trade until 1808. However, in 1807, the U.S. Congress passed the , which banned the importation of enslaved people from Africa and the foreign slave trade, effectively ending it on January 1, 1808. This is important to note that this did not end slavery itself in the U.S. and it was still legal for people to own enslaved people within the states, it just limited the importing of enslaved people from Africa.

The Electoral College

The Convention delegates also agreed to establish a system of electing the president, which was later known as the . The purpose of this was to give smaller states some representation in the presidential election, while also allowing the election to be conducted more efficiently. Under this system, each state is allotted a number of electors based on its representation in Congress, and the candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270 or more) becomes president.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-kMVWCWV9Z6Ks.jpg?alt=media&token=321eb552-a360-4308-be17-16679daab96b

Image Courtesy of Election Reformers Network

As you know, the system has been the source of much controversy and criticism, with some arguing that it can lead to an election of a candidate who did not receive the most popular votes and that it gives disproportionate power to the small states over larger states. There have been some proposals and attempts in the past to change or replace the system.

The Constitution was finished on September 17, 1787, and then sent to the states for ratification.

Key Terms to Review (20)

Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves

: This was a federal law passed in 1807 that made it illegal to import slaves into the United States from foreign countries.

Articles of Confederation

: The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and ratified by the states in 1781. It established a weak central government that had limited power over the states.

Bicameral Legislature

: A bicameral legislature is a lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts.

Confederation Congress

: The governing body that operated in the United States from 1781 to 1789 under the Articles of Confederation. It was a unicameral legislature with each state having one vote.

Constitutional Convention

: The Constitutional Convention took place in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a meeting where delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies wrote the United States Constitution.

Creating the Constitution

: The process that took place in Philadelphia in 1787 where representatives from each state came together to create a new framework for government - The U.S. Constitution - which strengthened federal authority while still preserving state rights.

Edmund Randolph

: Edmund Randolph was an American attorney who served as the seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.

Electoral College

: The Electoral College is a group of people appointed by each state who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

George Washington

: George Washington was the first President of the United States (1789-1797) and one of the Founding Fathers. He led America to victory in the Revolutionary War, helping establish the country's independence from Britain.

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)

: The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that created a two-house legislature, with representation based on population in one house and equal representation in the other.

House of Representatives

: The House of Representatives is one half of Congress, which is the legislative branch of U.S. government. Representation in this body is based on each state's population.

James Madison

: James Madison was an American statesman, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of United States (1809-1817). He is hailed as "Father of Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Mt. Vernon, Virginia

: Mt. Vernon is an estate located near Alexandria, Virginia that was owned by George Washington and his wife Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. It served as their plantation home.

New Jersey Plan

: The New Jersey Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It proposed a unicameral legislature where each state, regardless of size or population, would have equal representation.

Roger Sherman of Connecticut

: Roger Sherman was a politician and lawyer from Connecticut who played a key role in the drafting of the United States Constitution. He is best known for proposing the Great Compromise, which helped to shape the structure of Congress.

Senate and House of Representatives

: These are the two houses that make up Congress, which is America's federal legislative body. The Senate represents states equally with each state having two senators while representation in House depends on population size per state.

The Annapolis Convention

: A meeting held in 1786 at Annapolis, Maryland, attended by representatives from five states. Its purpose was to discuss changes to the Articles of Confederation but ended up recommending a broader convention leading to the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

Three-Fifths Compromise

: The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution that counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and representation.

Virginia Plan

: A proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It proposed representation based on population or financial contributions by each state.

William Paterson

: William Paterson was an American statesman, attorney, and jurist who served as one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution. He also served as Governor of New Jersey and Associate Justice on Supreme Court.


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AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.


© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.