to make the Articles of Confederation work. George Washington didn’t like this idea of revising the Articles at first, but the news of the rebellion made him change his mind. After he agreed to attend the convention, it took on greater significance. The meeting took place in Philadelphia in May 1787, with fifty-five delegates that had occupation such as planters, merchants, lawyers, physicians, generals, governors, and a college president. Taking Thomas Jefferson’s place from Virginia were Edmund Randolph and James Madison. Both were keen supporters of a strong national government. Edumund had served in the Continental Congress and was governor of Virginia. James Madison’s careful notes are the major source of information about the Convention’s …show more content…
However, a delegate named Edmund Randolph proposed that the delegates create an entirely new, strong national government instead of editing the Articles. He introduced the Virginia Plan, which was largely the work of James Madison. This plan was a two-house legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, and a court system. The members of the lower house of the legislature would be elected by the people and the members of the upper house would be chosen by the lower house. In both houses, the number of representatives would be proportional to the population of each state. For an example, this would give Virginia much more delegates than Delaware, the smallest state. Delegates from small states objected to the plan, instead they preferred the Confederation system in which all states were represented equally. On June 15, William Paterson, a delegate from New Jersey, presented a different plan called the New Jersey Plan that revised the Articles of Confederation, which was all the convention was empowered to do. The Plan kept the Confederation’s one-house legislature, with one vote for each state. Congress could set taxes and regulate trade, powers they did not have under the Articles. Congress would elect a weak executive branch consisting of more than one person. Paterson argued that the Convention should not deprive the smaller states of the equality they had under the Articles of
The Virginia Plan had a total of 15 resolutions; the resolutions had broadened the debate at the Constitutional Convention and included what power and structure the government should take. This plan was also
"The Virginia Plan" (May 1787), authored by James Madison and Edmund Randolph, contained several proposals that represented objections for some individuals who ultimately refused to sign the Constitution. These objections centered around concerns over the proposed structure of government and the balance of power between the states and the central government. One proposal in the Virginia Plan that raised objections was the establishment of a bicameral legislature with representation based on population. This provision would have given larger states, with higher populations, more influence and power in the legislative branch. Smaller states, fearing their interests would be overshadowed by larger states, objected to this representation model,
The Virginia Plan was drafted by James madison and presented on May 29, 1787 by Edmund Jennings Randolph. Randolph, former governor of Virginia, wanted to prevent a crisis in the federal system and felt that revising the federal system would be necessary to create a strong central government that would benefit states with large populations. He thought the federal system should create a two system congress, the House of Representative and the Senate which would control Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The Virginia Plan also composed three separate branches, The Executive Branch, the legislative branch, and the Judicial Branch. However, the constitution didn’t want one branch to overpower the other branches and so it created checks
These men being known as the founding fathers The Virginia plan was to create a government consisted of what Edmond Randolph proposed that the national government be compiled of a supreme, legislative, executive and judiciary. It was also consisted of 2 houses. The lower house would represent states with the largest population. The members of the upper house would be elected by the lower house making the smaller states have little or no representation in the upper house at all.
In May 25, 1787, a convention was called in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to express the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. However, the intention from many delegates was to draft a new constitution; create a new government rather than fix the existing one. Rhode Island was the only one of the 13 original states to refuse to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, the first issues they had to address was the representation in Congress.
• A president needed to be elected • Many Americans thought that the government was the main threat to their rights • James Madison wrote that the government had to be powerful enough to protect people’s rights, but not so strong that it could control rights of people • By May 25th, the convention was officially underway • George Washington was very admired by most Americans • Delegates decided on the rules for the next convention
Also, the governor could “make certain appointments, fill vacancies, and cause the laws to be faithfully executed but was given no control over local or other elected state officials.” Another measure taken to reduce the power of the state government was to limit the powers of the legislative branch. An article was included that specified what legislature could place taxes on and another one listed the areas which they were prohibited from making laws about. The delegates reduced the number of years officials could serve to four years in the senate and two years in the House of Representatives. They would only be allowed to meet biennially as opposed to annually as per the previous constitution.
His Virginia Plan, put forward by Edmund Randolph, the governor of Virginia, proposed a bicameral legislature with the lower house elected by the people, a president chosen by the legislature, and a judiciary with a Supreme Court. His notes, which are the best source of information available of the closed-door meetings, detailed the proceedings and his activist role in shaping the outcome. By September 1787, Madison had become the greatest advocate of the new constitution, eventually being called the "Father of the Constitution. " Madison, along with fellow Federalists Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, published the Federalist Papers under the pseudonym "Publius." The papers are a series of essays in support of the Constitution.
Finally, the Small State-Large State Compromise is a framer of the constitution that helps guard against tyranny. “Representatives shall be appointed according to the population.” “The Senate of the the United States shall be composed to two senators from each state.” (Constitution of the United States of America, 1787) (Doc D) Each state had equal representation, yet the larger states had the representation the amount of people living in the state.
But Virginia’s representatives had other plans on how to solve their country’s problems. Each state would get one vote for each decision to be made in the meetings, no matter how many representatives they may have (other than Rhode Island, who sent no representatives to the meetings.) As I said before, Virginia had other plans to solve their country 's problems. This idea was written and proposed by James Madison, one of Virginia’s representatives.
The Great Compromise which was founded at the Constitutional Convention wasn't formed without trouble. Many of the delegates that participated in the convention were wealthy landowners and lawyers, who owned many slaves. They failed to notice the diversity that excited within the nation. As they talked how to repair the Articles of Confederation, issues would arise that would create continuous debates amongst each other. One of the issues that would arise would be the nature of the new government.
Alexander Hamilton was candid the most outspoken pundit of democracy at the Convention. These men were part of the Pro-Constitution forces that called themselves Federalists. Their combined efforts produced the Federalist Papers. The Constitution had be ratified by the ratifying conventions before it could go into effect.
After deciding to write a new constitution, the delegates could not decide what new form the government should take. One of the options was the Virginia Plan created by Edmund Randolph and James Madison. The plan included a strong government with three branches (the legislative branch, The judicial branch, and the executive branch). In the Virginia Plan, the legislator would consist of two houses and seats would be awarded on the basis of the population. Due to the fact that the seats are awarded based on population, larger states would have more representatives than smaller states.
The delegates that were included in the convention are well-known figures of American history, such as George Washington. Washington was among the first people to recognize the weakness in the Articles of Confederation. His involvements in the revolution war had convinced him that, the government was unable to feed, accommodate, supply, or pay the army, which was more than enough to convince him that the central government needed more power to raise money and essential to maintain such an extended nation. Therefore, George Washington believed in a central
The Federalist Papers No. 51 were written by either James Madison or Alexander Hamilton to address the various concerns the residents of New York had with the newly formed government provided to them and the other colonies via the Constitution, more specifically the purpose of the new structure of government, the separation into different branches of the government and each branch’s reliance on the people, and the system of checks and balances and duties placed on each branch among other things. The Federalist Papers No. 51 also explained the necessity of the government outlined in the Constitution and why the founding fathers found it best to arrange the new government the way they did. One of the main ideas addressed in the Federalist