HW unit 4.1 history de

On what date did the delegates conclude their business and sign the Constitution?

September 17, 1787, after nearly four months of debate and compromise

Where did the delegates meet in Philadelphia?

The Pennsylvania State House

How does Beeman characterize the typical delegate?

Men of property and prestige, leaders of their communities, not radicals

What was the Convention's officially stated purpose?

To amend the Articles of Confederation

On what date was the Convention originally scheduled to begin?

May 14, 1787

How long was the delay before a quorum assembled, and why did it matter?

Eleven days (to May 25); it let the early arrivals plan their strategy

How old was James Madison, the "ringleader," at the Convention?

37

Which historian quipped that Madison could sound wise when he was only quoting somebody wise?

Forrest McDonald (Beeman calls the remark partly true but unfair)

How does Beeman describe Madison physically and personally?

Just over five feet, scrawny, sickly, a hypochondriac, and awkward in public, yet brilliant, energetic, and politically savvy

Delegates from which two states joined Madison between May 14 and 25 to plan a new union?

Virginia and Pennsylvania

Where and when did the nationalist delegates first gather?

At Benjamin Franklin's home on the evening of May 16, over dinner and a cask of porter

Where did the Virginia and Pennsylvania delegates meet in the evenings before May 25?

City Tavern or the Indian Queen (afternoons were in the State House)

What did Franklin and Washington primarily contribute to the nationalist group?

Dignity and gravitas

Which three men provided most of the intellectual leadership?

James Madison, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris

What contradiction did James Wilson embody?

Intellectually the only true "democratic nationalist," yet personally uneasy with ordinary people

How does Beeman contrast Gouverneur Morris with Wilson?

Nearly as brilliant, but more outgoing and more openly elitist about the dangers of democracy

Under the Virginia Plan, how would legislative membership be apportioned?

By "quotas of contribution" or the number of free inhabitants, in a two-branch legislature

What power over the states would the Virginia Plan's legislature have?

Power to negative (veto) all state laws and to legislate where states were incompetent

How would the national executive be chosen under the Virginia Plan?

By the national legislature

What was the proposed Council of Revision?

The chief executive plus some national judges, with power to veto national or state laws

Which word did the Virginia Plan use repeatedly to signal its ambitions?

"National" rather than "federal"

Under the Virginia Plan, which branch alone was directly elected by the people?

The lower house

How did the Convention's rule of secrecy affect the outcome?

It favored delegates seeking drastic change, since defenders of state power didn't know what was happening

Which states'-rights advocate was elected a delegate but declined to serve?

Patrick Henry

What happened on May 30, 1787?

Six of eight states present agreed to a national government with supreme legislative, executive, and judicial branches

Over what period did delegates debate apportioning representation?

May 30 to July 16

What did large states and small states each want in the representation debate?

Large states (VA, PA) wanted population-based representation in both houses; small states (NJ, MD) wanted equal representation per state

Who presented the New Jersey Plan?

William Paterson of New Jersey

What was the essential feature of the New Jersey Plan?

A single-house "federal" legislature with one vote per state

How did the New Jersey Plan actually differ from the Articles of Confederation?

It made the federal legislature superior to the states and gave it coercive power to compel state obedience

What did the Connecticut Compromise establish?

A population-based lower house and equal state representation in the upper house

What was the vote on the Connecticut Compromise on July 16?

5 for, 4 against (including Virginia and Pennsylvania), 1 divided

How did Madison and other large-state delegates react the morning after the compromise?

They met to consider leaving the Convention altogether

How does Beeman compare the presidency debate with the representation debate?

More high-toned, but more protracted and confusing

What did Wilson and Morris want for the presidency?

A strong, independent executive with an absolute veto over Congress

What was Roger Sherman's view of the executive?

It merely carries out the legislature's will and could be removed "at pleasure"

How did most delegates think the executive should be chosen?

By the national legislature (others suggested state legislatures or governors)

Who was virtually the only delegate to favor direct popular election of the president?

James Wilson, who predicted it would give the executive energy and independence

What was the state of slavery in America by 1787, per Beeman?

In decline, though still a significant part of life in five of the represented states

Which two states argued for the expansion of slavery?

South Carolina and Georgia

How do the words "slave" and "slavery" appear in the original Constitution?

They don't appear at all

How does Beeman describe the three-fifths compromise?

A purely mechanical, wholly amoral calculation to produce harmony; slaves counted as 3/5 for representation and taxation

What happened with the international slave trade at the Convention?

South Carolina and Georgia insisted it continue at least 20 more years, and the others gave in

How was the Fugitive Slave Clause adopted?

Virtually without debate, using wording that avoided the word "slave"

Which abolitionist later called the Constitution a "covenant with death"?

William Lloyd Garrison

According to Beeman, what effect did the Fugitive Slave Clause have on free states?

It made states that had abolished slavery actively complicit in supporting it

What is Beeman's argument about the slavery compromises?

The union would have survived without SC and Georgia and been "more perfect"; the North and Upper South should have refused their threats

Who read Franklin's final speech on the last day, and why?

James Wilson, because Franklin was weakened by age and kidney stones

What was the core message of Franklin's final speech?

He disapproved of some parts but was astonished the system came so close to perfection, and he urged doubters to sign

How many delegates signed, and what famous (possibly apocryphal) line is attributed to Franklin?

39 of 42 present signed; "A republic, madam, if you can keep it"