Constitutional Convention Dbq

Before the U.S. Constitution there was the Articles of Confederation. The document could declare war, negotiate treaties, and control foreign affairs. It couldn’t enforce laws, tax, and raise its own army. What the Articles Of Confederation lacked was a strong central government. Alexander Hamilton called for a constitutional convention in 1786, and it took place in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787.

The Virginia Plan was fifteen resolves, and they were presented to the convention by Edmund Randolph. These resolves pointed out that the new nation government should have two legislative branches the “first branch (the representatives) to be elected by the people; the second branch (the senators) to be elected by the first branch” (38). This plan would make the legislative branch be a bicameral legislative. The Virginia Plan also proposed that votes would be based off of population; which would mean more populated states like

During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates came up two plans. One plan is called the Virginia Plan drafted by James Madison that the number of representatives are depend on the population of the state. Another Plan is called the New Jersey plan presented by William Paterson that every state should have two representatives. At last, they ended up with a new plan called the Hamilton Plan which was unsatisfied with the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. “The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand.”

In May of 1787, fifty-five delegates from eleven of the thirteen American states came together in Philadelphia. The goal that they had was to fix and improve the current government created by the Articles of Confederation, which had been occurring since the year of 1781. The Articles created a weak alliance among the states. There was nothing that the national government could do about the taxes or regulate commerce. The delegates whom attended the Philadelphia convention had came to agreement that there were issues in the Articles of Confederation that needed to be fixed.

The Virginia Plan which is also known as the large-state plan was a plan drafted by James Madison. James Madison was a politician from Virginia who wanted the national government to hold more power. So he came up with the Virginia Plan. The idea of the Virginia Plan was that there would be two chambers of congress, in which the representatives would be determined by the population of each state (Patterson, 2013, p. 31). This meant the larger states would have more of an advantage than the smaller states, which would give them more representatives and power.

a. The Constitutional Convention took place in the year of 1787. It was a place where delegates from the various colonies discussed various issues that were going on during this time. This convention was very important to our nation because it served as the foundation of what came to be known as the constitution. The constitution was a process in which a lot of people were involved with. According to the Oxford guide to United States History, the congress called for a convention in Philadelphia because they wanted to make changes to the articles that were originally proposed.

May 1787. 55 delegates, one long, sweaty conference. The Constitutional Convention was a huge event for the United States. During this convention, the 55 delegates from all states except Rhode Island met up to change their Articles of Confederation. Instead of editing, however, the 55 delegates rewrote the whole thing into the Constitution, which is still used today.

At that time congress had no real power because of the Articles of Confederation the US had adopted in 1777. Congress had to rely on contributions from the existing states. Needing and knowing that a change was needed the delegates from different states met to form a new plan of action. One that would give congress more power, equal representation for each state, form a new structure of government and the way it would run to benefit the United States of America. This is why the convention of 1778 was announced, during this convention two different plans were presented.

From the failure of the Articles, should the new government, the Constitution, be approved? In 1788, the Constitution was created as the Articles of Confederation wasn’t successful and strong enough for their new government. During that time, a debate went throughout America about the Constitution whether to ratify it or not. Yes, the Constitution should be ratified because a Bill of Rights was promised, no one overpowered (in the government; checks and balances), and it is fair to both citizens and officials. Starting off, a bill of rights was promised which would ensure many things for the citizens.

If I understand the language, this plan proposed three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, and called for unity among the states to ensure the safety and protection of all people represented in The Articles of Confederation. Governor Randolph proposal included a National Legislature (congress) with two branches and the number of representatives per state would be determined by the population of that state, and a National Executive and two judicial branches. Where the members of the first legislature branch would be elected by the people of each state to represent their constitutes and their interests. However, the second branch as well as the National Executive and judicial branches – a supreme tribunal and inferior tribunal, would be elected and appointed by the first branch. The National Legislation branches would be able to introduce and pass laws; and oversee and enforce the laws of the United States.

The plan proposed by Virginia otherwise known as the “large-state plan.” Which proposed “a bicameral legislature, in which the lower house would be elected proportionately and the upper house would be selected from a list of nominees sent from the state legislatures on the basis of equal representation for the states. ”(add footnote) As the smaller states feared that this plan would lose a voice in the federal government if they continued with the Virginia plan, they opposed this plan and came up with one for themselves which would be known as the “small-state plan.” The small-state plan would propose “a unicameral Congress, with equal representation for each state, with all the powers of the Confederation Congress.

Obviously, smaller states were not pleased with that plan. They thought that larger states could easily overrule them in congress. So William Paterson created a plan called the New Jersey Plan. It as well had the same three branches but, the plan provided legislators to have only one house. Each state would only one vote in the legislator, regardless of the population.

At all constitutional conventions many argument's come up, and those who propose an idea believe the idea that they proposed is ideal. What doesn't cross their mind is that not everyone will agree with their ideas, in fact in the famous constitutional convention of the United States there were a lot of disagreements, "Serious conflicts arose at the outset, especially between those representing the small and large States" (Bloom). This shows that even though most of the delegates in the American Constitutional Convention soon became important figures in U.S history after the constitution was drafted, they did not agree on the same thing. In the constitutional convention of NuCountry many topics were brought up to be voted on. Most of the

Constitutional Convention: America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, will suffer no longer under the tyrannical British government but will flourish under the enlightened republic America has come to known today. The American people struggled as one, one united group of citizens in the fight for unalienable rights protected under a sturdy government. The American spirit was seen as early as the Age of Exploration in the mid-17th century, foreigners at the time, but with common motives: God, gold, and glory [2]. My ancestors sought to spread the Christian religion to as many Natives as possible, in hopes of one day restoring their savageness and instilling a devout life amongst the Lord. The intention to broaden their influence

Governor Edmund Randolph proposed The Virginia Plan, also called the Large State Plan, at the convention. This proposal took into account many of James Madison’s opinions. Randolph proposed the use of a bicameral legislature, with the people electing the lower house, and the lower