CHAPTER 3, SECTION 2

Convention and Compromise

Unpacking the Standards

Describe the weaknesses of government under the Articles of Confederation.

Explain how national leaders met to produce a new Constitution.

Discuss how the Constitutional Convention worked to create a new government for the country.

After reading the section, you will be able to:

Troubles Under the Articles

The new nation faced difficult problems and many Americans believed the Confederation government was too weak to deal with these challenges.

After the Revolutionary War ended, the U.S. went through a depression.

When economic activity slowed and

unemployment increased

Farmers Suffered•could not sell their goods•could not pay their taxes•many jailed•property seized

Murmurs of protest soon grew into revolt . . . .

Shays’s Rebellion

Daniel Shays

Shays, a former Army captain, and other angry farmers, forced courts in western Pennsylvania to close so judges could not confiscate farmers’ lands.

January 1787Shays leads 1000 farmers towards the federal arsenal in Springfield, Illinois.

The state militia ordered the farmers to halt and then shot over the heads.

Militia fired again, killing 4 rebels. Shays and his followers scatter, and the uprising is over.

Shoulder partner What do you

think an “arsenal” is?

Many National Leaders Frightened

They worried that the government could not control unrest and prevent violence.

“mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government”

George Washington

“A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing.”

Thomas Jefferson

Shoulder Partner #1 – Tell your

partner what Washington means

#2 – Tell you partner what

Jefferson means

The Issue of Slavery

Can the principles of the Declaration of Independence and slavery be reconciled?

(can they coexist in harmony?)

The Revolutionary War brought attention to the contradiction between the

American battle for liberty and the practice of slavery.

The North takes steps to end the institution of slavery:

•Quakers organize the 1st antislavery society•PA passed a law providing for the gradual freeing of slaves•Some slaveholders encouraged manumission (the freeing of enslaved people)

A Call for Change

James Madison Alexander Hamilton

Some national leaders called for revision of

the Articles of Confederation

At first, Washington was not enthusiastic about the movement to revise the Articles of Confederation, but

changed his mind after hearing about Shays’s Rebellion.

The Constitutional Convention

Convention Facts

Who?55 delegates (representatives) - planters, merchants, lawyers, physicians, generals, governors and a college president

What ?met to revise the Articles of Confederation but realized it was not fixable and drafted a new plan of government

Where ? Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When ? May 1787

Why ?many national leaders were frightened by Shays’s Rebellion and wanted a stronger federal government

Convention Leaders

George WashingtonPresiding Officer

Gouverneur Morris

Final Draft

Edmund RandolphVirginia

James Madison“Father” of the

Constitution

Roger ShermanThe Great Compromise

James Madison’s Virginia Plan

Presented

byEdmund

Randolph

William Patterson’s New Jersey Plan

The Great Compromise

small stateshappy

Proposedby

Roger

Sherman

large stateshappy

Check for Understanding

1. What does “bicameral” mean?

2. What does the legislative branch do?

3. What does the United States call its legislative branch?

2 house

make laws

Congress

Another Debate Count Enslaved People?

Southern States:wanted slaves counted as population to determine representation in the House of Reps.Opposed counting slaves for the purpose of determining taxation

Northern States:Opposed counting slaves as population to determine representation in the House of Reps.Favored counting slaves for the purpose of determining taxation

The ⅗ Compromise:⅗ of slaves counted as population in determining representation in the House of Reps.⅗ of slaves would be counted for the purpose of determining taxation

V.

⅗ Compromise

Every 5 slaves would count as 3 white males.

Slave Trade

Northern States wanted to slow the spread of slavery

and stop their importation

Southern States considered slavery and the slave trade essential to their

economies

Congress would not interfere with the

slave trade

until 1808

Approving the Constitution

Some delegates worried that without the protection of a bill of rights, the new national government might abuse its power.

However, most delegates believed that the Constitution, with its carefully defined listing of government powers, provided adequate protection of individual rights.

The Constitution is finished on September 17, 1787

Shoulder partner What do you

think “adequate”

means?

Ratifying the Constitution

The delegates (representatives) at the convention agreed that the Constitution will go into effect when 9 out 13 states ratify it.

ratify =

approve

Summary – Review the Main Ideas

• The Government under the Articles of Confederation faced many problems.

• National leaders worked to produce a new constitution for the United States.

• The Constitutional Convention broke the deadlock over the form the new government would take.