constitutional convention may 1787, philadelphia sole purpose is to revise the articles of...
TRANSCRIPT
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
• May 1787, Philadelphia• Sole purpose is to REVISE the Articles
of Confederation• Only state that didn’t send delegates?• Franklin is oldest delegate (81)• What was a “typical delegate”• Washington is President of Convention• Meetings in private -- public not
invited• View of human nature: people are
self-interested in acquiring wealth & power
CONFLICTS & COMPROMISES# 1 - CONFLICT OVER REPRESENTATION:
• LARGE STATE PLAN:– a/k/a Virginia Plan– author: JAMES
MADISON Known as “Father of the Constitution”
– Number of representatives each state is to have in Congress determined by population of the state
• SMALL STATE PLAN:– a/k/a New
Jersey Plan– Number of
representatives each state is to have in Congress should be equal
THE COMPROMISE:
• Congress is BICAMERAL (two houses:• Lower House (House of Representatives) -
membership is determined on the basis of population of the states (VA Plan)
• Upper House (Senate) - equal representation with two members from each state (NJ Plan)
• National gov’t supreme over state gov’ts and has 3 separate branches
• Known as The Connecticut Compromise, a/k/a The Great Compromise – authored by Roger Sherman
HOUSE SENATE
# 2 - CONFLICT OVER POPULATIONCOUNT FOR HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES (SLAVES)
• THE NORTH’S PLAN:
• Slaves should be counted as people only for purposes of taxation (determining how much tax a state owes to Congress)
• THE SOUTH’S PLAN:
• Slaves should be counted as people only for purposes of representation in Congress (how many reps each State gets to send to Congress)
THE COMPROMISE:•KNOWN AS THE THREE-
FIFTHS COMPROMISE•Every 5 slaves would
equal 3 people for both purposes–Taxation &–Representation
THREE-FIFTHS COMPROMISE:• Does NOT mean that a slave = 3/5 of a
human being… it’s a formula• Actual Formula:
– Total number of inhabitants of a state (including women & children & men without property) PLUS 60% (3/5) of the state’s slave population DIVIDED by the total population of the U.S. = percentage of representatives that state gets in the U.S. House
– For example, if a state’s total population of free inhabitants plus 60% of its slaves was equal to 10% of the country’s total population, then that state would get 10% of the representatives in the House.
• This formula was applied for determining both the representation percentage and taxation percentage for each state.
# 3 - CONFLICT OVER SLAVE TRADE:
• THE NORTH’S PLAN:– preferred
Congress to do away with slave trade entirely
• THE SOUTH’S PLAN:– wanted
Congress to agree not to interfere with slave trade at all
THE COMPROMISE:-Congress agrees not to interfere with the slave trade for 20 years-Agreed to in exchange for Southern support of “Commerce Compromise”
- No taxing of exports; states can’t tax imports
# 4 -EXECUTIVEBRANCH CONFLICT:
• A committee of executives elected by Congress
• vs.• A single
executive elected for life (proposed by Alexander Hamilton)
• THE COMPROMISE:
• a single executive
• elected for 4 year terms
• elected indirectly by the electoral college method
THE JUDICIAL BRANCH:
• Convention established ONLY the Supreme Court
• Authorized Congress to set up all other federal courts
RATIFICATION• Constitution completed by
September 1787• Needs to be ratified by only 9
states before it is effective• Will be ratified by special
conventions called in each of the states– Why only 9 states instead of 13?– Which state ratifies first?– Which is 9th?– But, didn’t start until after 10th
& 11th – WHY?– Which states are the last 2
holdouts?
THE FEDERALISTS
• Supported Constitution
• Led by Hamilton, Madison, Jay– The Federalist
Papers– 85 essays– Seeking NY
approval• Support idea of
strong central government
• Believed a Bill of Rights not necessary since the states already have Bill of Rights in their state constitutions
• Constitution IS a bill of rights– it carefully limits
the government’s powers; if a specific power was not listed, then the government simply did not have it
THEANTI-FEDERALISTS
• Opposed to Constitution and the amount of power give n to the central government
• Led by Patrick Henry, George Mason
• Believe STATES should retain more power than the one central government
• Strongly object to the lack of individual freedoms – a Bill of Rights
• Feared federal government tyranny
Patrick Henry
George Mason
ADVANTAGES OF THE FEDERALISTS:
• Problems created by Articles of Confederation– Which rebellion pointed these out?
• Anti-Federalists had nothing better to offer!
• Better organized than Anti-Federalists– Controlled many newspapers
• Had “support” of national hero: George Washington• Promised to add a Bill of Rights with individual freedoms• Finally ratified in 1788
CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES:
The difference between Federalism & Separation of
Powers:
POWER OF GOVERNMENT
FEDERALISM: division of power between national &
state levels
POWER OF GOVERNMENT
POWER OF GOVERNMENT
-NATIONAL
-STATE
POWER OF GOVERNMENT
SEPARATION OF POWERS:among 3 separate branches – done
at national & state levels
-NATIONAL
-STATE
Legislative Executive Judicial
Legislative Executive Judicial
EXCLUSIVE POWERS(Expressed, Enumerated)
• Of the federal government• Include power to:Include power to:• Coin Money• Regulate Interstate commerce• Declare War; Establish
Army/Navy• Establish Post Office• Grant Copyrights & Patents• Admit states• Set laws of citizenship
RESERVED POWERS
• Of state governments• Include power to:• Regulate intrastate commerce• Conduct elections• Establish local governments• Provide for the public safety• Reserved by the 10th Amendment
CONCURRENT POWERS
•POWERS HELD BY BOTH NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS
• Include power to:•Tax•Borrow Money•Create Banks•Establish courts
Are the activities below powers of the federal gov’t, state governments, or both?
• Issue driver’s licenses• Determining length of the
school year• Maintaining a navy• Cleaning up water pollution in
rivers & lakes• Taxing individual & corporate
income• Setting up the process for
administering elections