Conventions

Annapolis Convention (1786)

  • 12 representatives from 5 states [NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA]

  • Aimed to adress the barriers that limited trade and commerce between the states

  • Not enough states were represented to make any real progress

  • Sent a report to the Congress to call a meeting of all the states to meet in Philadelphia to examine areas broader than just trade and commerce


Philadelphia Convention (1787)

  • James Madison

    • By May 1787, only Madison and Washington attended the convention due to travel issues. Determined to strengthen the government, he had very clear ideas: a powerful national republic with a centralised government - “Vices of the Political System of the United States”

  • The delegates

    • 55 delegates eventually came, except for those representing Rhode Island

      • All had held public office

      • 42 had served in the continental or confederation congresses

      • 3 were present and 4 former governors of their state

      • 20 had helped to draft their states’ constitution

      • Average age was early to mid 40s

  • The principles of the Founding Fathers

    • All agreed on the necessity to strengthen the central government

    • Most distrusted democracy, believing that government should be in the hands of men with experience and standing

    • A balanced and fair separation of power - should all states be represented equally or by size of population

    • There was no unanimity on certain details:

      • Disagreed on how powerful government should be

      • Disagreed if legislature should be one or two houses

      • Disagreed over representation

  • Key men

    • James Madison (spoke 161 times)

    • Pennsylavnia’s James Wilson - lawyer (spoke 168 times)

    • Pennsylvania’s Gouverneur Morris (spoke 163 times)

    • George Washington and Benjamin Franklin also attended despite not speaking much

    • Robert Morris - superintendent to Finance


How was the Constitution decided?

  • Virginia Plan

    • Two houses of legislature - representation would be equal to the size of the state

    • First house to be elected by voters

    • Second house would then be elected by those in the first house - not democratic

    • The legislature would elect President and the Judiciary

    • Central government could veto legislation

    • The elitists would be most in favour of this

      • Big states - given more votes

      • Businessmen want a strogn central government to ensure their stability


  • New Jersey Plan

    • One legislative chamber - each state would have only 1 vote

    • Congress could tax and regulate commerce

    • All other powers lay with the states

    • The democrats would be most in favour of this

      • Smaller states more in favour


The Great Compromise

  • 2 houses formed - comprised of an upper house (senate) & a lower house (House of Representatives)

    • House of representatives would have representation equal to the proportion of its population (e.g. larger states = more representation) - this pleases the bigger states

    • Senate would have equal representation - 2 representatives per state - this pleases the smaller states

  • Problems of slavery

    • Southern states wanted slaves to be included in the population total when alloting Congressional seats, but left out in determining liability for direct taxation

    • Northern states wanted slaves to be excluded from representation, but included for tax purposes since they were seen as a form of property

    • The Convention decided that slaves were counted as 3/5 of a person for the purposes of both representation and direct taxation