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, by Howard Chandler Christy.
Historical context
Before the Constitution was drafted, those who came to be known as Federalists and Anti-Federalists both agreed about the government's failure to deal with commerce. Virginia and Maryland had made an effective agreement about navigating the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and wanted Delaware and Pennsylvania to join. Such an agreement, however, was illegal without the consent of the Confederation.
Deliberations
The constitutional convention was held in the
Independence Hall (United States) during the hot summer of 1787. The windows were kept shut and guards posted so that others could not hear the discussions. Rhode Island refused to send delegates to the convention.
Virginia plan
The Virginia Plan were the unofficial agenda for the Convention. The Virginia delegation arrived before the other delegations to Philadelphia and began meeting daily to discuss plans for the new government. All but the first resolution was written by
James Madison, and was first reported to the Convention by
Edmund Randolph.
It included:
- A bicameral legislature (Senate and House of Representatives)
- Both houses' membership determined proportionately
- The lower house was elected by the people of the several states
- The upper house was elected by the lower house out of nominations from state legislatures
- The legislature was very powerful
- An executive was planned, but would exist to ensure the will of the legislature was carried out, and so was chosen by the legislature
- Formation of a judiciary, with life-terms of service
- A Council of Revision consisted of the executive and some of the national judiciary and would have the power to veto and revise national legislation, subject to override
- The national legislature would be able to veto state laws
- Mason disagreed greatly with the majority form of government as can be shown.
Dickinson's plan
John Dickinson (delegate) also formed a plan. He never formally presented it in its entirety, but his notes reveal his general ideas. Because he owned substantial property in a large state and in a small state, he anticipated the debates over representation. Dickinson proposed a resolution that based representation upon financial contribution. Historians speculate that Dickinson was going to present the rest of his plan if his first resolution was generally accepted. He did not want to follow Hamilton's five hour-long oration, and he fell ill, complaining of a "severe headache," shortly after he planned to present it. Delegates objected to the first resolution on the basis that some states without ports would have no source of revenue and therefore would be taken over in the government by wealthier states. New Jersey was a "cask tapped at both ends" according to Madison, and North Carolina was a "patient bleeding at both arms." His plan was not adopted, but Dickinson supported the final Constitution.
Connecticut Compromise
The
Connecticut Compromise, forged by the well liked and respected Roger Sherman was proposed earlier on
June 11. Sherman proposed: "That the proportion of suffrage in the 1st. branch should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants; and that in the second branch or Senate, each State should have one vote and no more." This was hugely disregarded as too radical at first. Later when neither side would give into the other, they made a compromise, known as "The Great Compromise" following Sherman's plan of having the United States House of Representatives be based on population and in the
United States Senate each state would get an equal amount of Senators.
Slavery
Many questions remained unresolved. Among the most important were thorny issues surrounding slavery.
Slaves accounted for about one-fifth of the population in the
American colonies. Most of them lived in the Southern colonies, where slaves made up 40 percent of the population. Whether slavery was to be permitted and continued under the new United States Constitution was a matter of conflict between the North and South, with several Southern states refusing to join the
United States if slavery were disallowed. So there was no serious discussion of abolishing slavery.
The most contentious slavery-related problem was the question of whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation in Congress or considered property not entitled to representation. Delegates from states with large population of slaves argued that slaves should be considered persons in determining representation but as property if the new government were to levy
taxes on the states on the basis of population. Delegates from states where slavery had disappeared or almost disappeared argued that slaves should be included in taxation but not in determining representation.
Finally the Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by delegate
James Wilson and eventually adopted by the convention.
Following the Three-Fifths Compromise, another controversy erupted: What should be done about the slave trade, the importing of new slaves into the United States? Ten states had already outlawed it. Many delegates heatedly denounced it. But the three states, Georgia and the two Carolinas, that allowed it threatened to leave the convention if the trade were banned. In effect they postponed the decision on the slave trade because of its contentious nature. The delegates to the Convention did not want its ratification to fail because of the conflict over slavery. Therefore, a special committee worked out another compromise: Congress would have the power to ban the slave trade, but not until at least 20 years had passed (so from
January 1,
1808).
Drafting and signing
In late July, the convention appointed a committee to draft a document based on the agreements that had been reached. After another month of discussion and refinement, a second committee, the Committee of Style and Arrangement, headed by Gouverneur Morris, and including Hamilton, William Samuel Johnson, Rufus King, and Madison, produced the final version, which was submitted for signing on
September 17. Morris is credited now, as then, as the chief draftsman of the final document, including the stirring preamble.
Not all the delegates were pleased with the results; some left before the ceremony, and three of those remaining refused to sign:
Edmund Randolph and George Mason of
Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. George Mason demanded a Bill of Rights if he was to support the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was finally added and is considered the final compromise of the Convention. Of the 39 who did sign, probably no one was completely satisfied, but such is the nature of compromise. Their views were ably summed up by
Benjamin Franklin, who said,
"There are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. ... I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. ... It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies..."
Delegates who attended
The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the outstanding leaders, or Founding Fathers of the United States, of the new nation. Thomas Jefferson, who was in France during the convention, said, “It is really an assembly of demi-gods.” They represented a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and stations in life, although the vast majority of them were wealthy landowners, and all were white males. There were thirty-two lawyers, eleven merchants, four politicians, two military men, two doctors, two teacher/educators, one inventor, and one farmer. Most delegates to the Convention were Christian -- including Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Roman Catholics -- while a handful were Deists. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not attend; they were abroad in Europe, but they wrote home to encourage the delegates.
Patrick Henry was also absent, he refused to go for he "smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy."
served as president of the Convention., the author of large sections of the Constitution, including the
Preamble to the United States Constitution., traditionally regarded as the "Father of the Constitution", took detailed notes on the Convention deliberations. was the oldest delegate at the Convention.
- Connecticut
- William Samuel Johnson
- Roger Sherman
- Oliver Ellsworth*
(*) Did not sign the final draft of the U.S. Constitution
See also
External links
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787EDSITEment Lessons
- USConstitution.net - The Constitutional Convention
- The Original Source Documents from The Constitutional Convention
- Founders' Blog - Republishing Madison's notes on the convention 220 years later
- TeachingAmericanHistory.org - The Constitutional Convention
- Transcription from the Report from the Grand Compromise Committee
- National Constitution Center
, by Howard Chandler Christy.
Historical context
Before the Constitution was drafted, those who came to be known as Federalists and Anti-Federalists both agreed about the government's failure to deal with commerce. Virginia and Maryland had made an effective agreement about navigating the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and wanted Delaware and Pennsylvania to join. Such an agreement, however, was illegal without the consent of the Confederation.
Deliberations
The constitutional convention was held in the Independence Hall (United States) during the hot summer of 1787. The windows were kept shut and guards posted so that others could not hear the discussions. Rhode Island refused to send delegates to the convention.
Virginia plan
The
Virginia Plan were the unofficial agenda for the Convention. The Virginia delegation arrived before the other delegations to Philadelphia and began meeting daily to discuss plans for the new government. All but the first resolution was written by
James Madison, and was first reported to the Convention by
Edmund Randolph.
It included:
- A bicameral legislature (Senate and House of Representatives)
- Both houses' membership determined proportionately
- The lower house was elected by the people of the several states
- The upper house was elected by the lower house out of nominations from state legislatures
- The legislature was very powerful
- An executive was planned, but would exist to ensure the will of the legislature was carried out, and so was chosen by the legislature
- Formation of a judiciary, with life-terms of service
- A Council of Revision consisted of the executive and some of the national judiciary and would have the power to veto and revise national legislation, subject to override
- The national legislature would be able to veto state laws
- Mason disagreed greatly with the majority form of government as can be shown.
Dickinson's plan
John Dickinson (delegate) also formed a plan. He never formally presented it in its entirety, but his notes reveal his general ideas. Because he owned substantial property in a large state and in a small state, he anticipated the debates over representation. Dickinson proposed a resolution that based representation upon financial contribution. Historians speculate that Dickinson was going to present the rest of his plan if his first resolution was generally accepted. He did not want to follow Hamilton's five hour-long oration, and he fell ill, complaining of a "severe headache," shortly after he planned to present it. Delegates objected to the first resolution on the basis that some states without ports would have no source of revenue and therefore would be taken over in the government by wealthier states. New Jersey was a "cask tapped at both ends" according to Madison, and North Carolina was a "patient bleeding at both arms." His plan was not adopted, but Dickinson supported the final Constitution.
Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise, forged by the well liked and respected Roger Sherman was proposed earlier on June 11. Sherman proposed: "That the proportion of suffrage in the 1st. branch should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants; and that in the second branch or Senate, each State should have one vote and no more." This was hugely disregarded as too radical at first. Later when neither side would give into the other, they made a compromise, known as "The Great Compromise" following Sherman's plan of having the United States House of Representatives be based on population and in the United States Senate each state would get an equal amount of Senators.
Slavery
Many questions remained unresolved. Among the most important were thorny issues surrounding slavery. Slaves accounted for about one-fifth of the population in the American colonies. Most of them lived in the Southern colonies, where slaves made up 40 percent of the population. Whether slavery was to be permitted and continued under the new
United States Constitution was a matter of conflict between the North and South, with several Southern states refusing to join the
United States if slavery were disallowed. So there was no serious discussion of abolishing slavery.
The most contentious slavery-related problem was the question of whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation in
Congress or considered
property not entitled to representation. Delegates from states with large population of slaves argued that slaves should be considered persons in determining representation but as property if the new government were to levy taxes on the states on the basis of population. Delegates from states where slavery had disappeared or almost disappeared argued that slaves should be included in taxation but not in determining representation.
Finally the
Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by delegate
James Wilson and eventually adopted by the convention.
Following the Three-Fifths Compromise, another controversy erupted: What should be done about the
slave trade, the importing of new slaves into the United States? Ten states had already outlawed it. Many delegates heatedly denounced it. But the three states, Georgia and the two Carolinas, that allowed it threatened to leave the convention if the trade were banned. In effect they postponed the decision on the slave trade because of its contentious nature. The delegates to the Convention did not want its
ratification to fail because of the conflict over slavery. Therefore, a special committee worked out another compromise: Congress would have the power to ban the slave trade, but not until at least 20 years had passed (so from
January 1, 1808).
Drafting and signing
In late July, the convention appointed a committee to draft a document based on the agreements that had been reached. After another month of discussion and refinement, a second committee, the Committee of Style and Arrangement, headed by Gouverneur Morris, and including Hamilton, William Samuel Johnson, Rufus King, and Madison, produced the final version, which was submitted for signing on September 17. Morris is credited now, as then, as the chief draftsman of the final document, including the stirring preamble.
Not all the delegates were pleased with the results; some left before the ceremony, and three of those remaining refused to sign: Edmund Randolph and
George Mason of
Virginia, and
Elbridge Gerry of
Massachusetts. George Mason demanded a Bill of Rights if he was to support the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was finally added and is considered the final compromise of the Convention. Of the 39 who did sign, probably no one was completely satisfied, but such is the nature of compromise. Their views were ably summed up by
Benjamin Franklin, who said,
"There are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. ... I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. ... It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies..."
Delegates who attended
The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the outstanding leaders, or
Founding Fathers of the United States, of the new nation. Thomas Jefferson, who was in France during the convention, said, “It is really an assembly of demi-gods.” They represented a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and stations in life, although the vast majority of them were wealthy landowners, and all were white males. There were thirty-two lawyers, eleven merchants, four politicians, two military men, two doctors, two teacher/educators, one inventor, and one farmer. Most delegates to the Convention were Christian -- including Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Roman Catholics -- while a handful were Deists. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not attend; they were abroad in Europe, but they wrote home to encourage the delegates. Patrick Henry was also absent, he refused to go for he "smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy."
served as president of the Convention., the author of large sections of the Constitution, including the
Preamble to the United States Constitution., traditionally regarded as the "Father of the Constitution", took detailed notes on the Convention deliberations. was the oldest delegate at the Convention.
(*) Did not sign the final draft of the U.S. Constitution
See also
External links
- The Constitutional Convention of 1787EDSITEment Lessons
- USConstitution.net - The Constitutional Convention
- The Original Source Documents from The Constitutional Convention
- Founders' Blog - Republishing Madison's notes on the convention 220 years later
- TeachingAmericanHistory.org - The Constitutional Convention
- Transcription from the Report from the Grand Compromise Committee
- National Constitution Center
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