In 1787 a Constitutional Convention was held to revise the Articles of Confederation (AOC). Instead of revising the AOC, they created a brand new constitution. During the convention, several new plans of government were proposed. At the convention, there were two plans. The Virginia plan was the big state plan and called for a bicameral legislature based on population. The New Jersey plan was the small state plan and called for a unicameral legislature based on equality. Fortunately, the founders compromised. This was called the Great Compromise. We need a Great Compromise between banning guns and defense and security. In the article “The Case For Banning Guns”, the writer says that “(guns)...can give you an intoxicating feeling
The Virginia Plan was a plan drafted by James Madison and was presented by Edmund Randolf. It was presented to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787. According to the plan, a strong central government had three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive. The plan also proposed two houses: the first one had members elected by the people for three-year terms; the second one had older leaders elected by the state legislatures for seven-year terms. The role of the plan was important for “setting the stage for the convention.”
Final Exam Part I: QA2 The Virginia Plan a New Constitution The Virginia Plan proposed a new Constitution designed as a republic and a strong national government. The most distinguished feature of the plan created structural changes as well as delegated sovereignty to the Federal government and the people. This transfer of power diminished the role of the States in the national government. The Virginia Plan structurally replaced the unicameral Congress by separating federal power among three branches of government, a bicameral legislature, an executive and a judiciary.
Constitutional Convention The beginnings of the Convention (pre-constitution) began when Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented and defended a plan for a new structure of government (called the "Virginia Plan") that had been chiefly drafted by fellow Virginia delegate, James Madison. The Virginia Plan called for a strong national government with both branches of the legislative branch apportioned by population. The plan gave the national government the power to legislate "in all cases in which the separate States are incompetent" and even gave a proposed national Council of Revision a veto power over state legislatures. Delegates from smaller states, and states less sympathetic to broad federal powers, opposed many of the provisions in the Virginia Plan.
During the Constitutional Convention, in the summer of 1787, several divisions arose among the delegates. There were differences between the northern vs. southern states, merchants vs. farmers, free vs. slave states, large vs. small states, and east vs. west. However, the main division of the Constitutional Convention was the Virginia Plan vs. the New Jersey Plan, essentially the large states vs. small states. The primary objective of the meeting was to somehow find a balance of power without leaving any one group or person with absolute control.
The ratification of the Constitution in 1788 was a controversial dispute among Federalists and Anti-Federalists for several years. Due to the document’s failure to incorporate sufficient liberties both for suppressed blacks and white statesmen, the United States Constitution had many critics. The white majority feared the scope of the federal government’s power while the black minority had their own suspicions. Arguments regarding the rights of African American colonists exploded with the passing of the Constitution. Worries stirred concerning the Constitution’s listed rights that geared more towards whites and the permission of slavery.
The Framers anticipated that the U.S. Constitution would need to be amended from time to time, what James Madison referred to as “to originate the amendment of errors.” he 55 Framers who met in Philadelphia during the spring and summer of 1787 understood that they were drafting a Constitution to last a very long time. “We are not forming plans for a Day Month Year or Age,” delegate John Dickinson wrote, “but for Eternity.” Of course, a document designed to last a very long time must include a method of amendment. In crafting their amendment procedures, the Framers resorted to two mechanisms widely employed at the time: legislatures and conventions.
The Constitutional compromise between the small and large states is also known as the Connecticut Compromise of 1787. When the Constitution was written it allocated the government to have two separate legislative branches, the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, the Constitution did not write exactly how these two branches of government would be elected. In fact, they put the election part of the two branches of government in the hands of the states. Unfortunately, this began a bigger issue than I believe our forefathers realized, because every state varied in how they elected their government officials.
A couple of ideas and events led to believe that in 1786 and 1787 that the Articles of Confederation were lacking provisions for a strong and central government that were not working well. These events and ideas made a big impact on the government we have today in the United States. The Articles of Confederation were a model to the present day Constitution; it took many trials and tribulations to finally get it right. The events that took place showed the people what the Articles were lacking.
Assembling in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were focused on ending the era of economic depression, social uncertainty, and leadership under an unhealthy central government that had followed independence (McKay, Crowston, Wiesner-Hanks, & Perry, 2017). Members permitted to discuss their differences without any consequences or retaliation while in attendance of the Constitutional Convention. These delegates were elected due to them being members of the social and educational elite, they were also young, wealthy, and desired to make the national government strong, while promoting economic and social stability (Schultz, 2013). The two main divisions at the Constitutional Convention were the large
On May 25, 1787, the delegates chosen to represent their states at the Constitutional Convention would never have imagined the great impact they have held for over the past 200 years. The Framers of the Constitution were visionaries. Most of the contributors of the Constitution were older, wealthy, well-educated business owners with the intent of creating the best nation in the world. These intelligent people sought to find a new functional form of government that would outlast the former one they fled from. Two of the most crucial contributors of the constitution include George Washington and James Madison.
At all constitutional conventions many argument's come up, and those who propose an idea believe the idea that they proposed is ideal. What doesn't cross their mind is that not everyone will agree with their ideas, in fact in the famous constitutional convention of the United States there were a lot of disagreements, "Serious conflicts arose at the outset, especially between those representing the small and large States" (Bloom). This shows that even though most of the delegates in the American Constitutional Convention soon became important figures in U.S history after the constitution was drafted, they did not agree on the same thing. In the constitutional convention of NuCountry many topics were brought up to be voted on. Most of the
When the delegates of the Constitutional Convention met they wanted to establish a leader since under the Articles of the Confederation there was no executive branch. So the delegates decided to create the offices of the president of the vice president. The delegates were in fear of a creating tyrant like they had previously with Britain, so they had to limit this new leader’s power. To prevent a tyrant from ruling again the delegates creating the Electoral College and this system is where the people select to president and the vice president indirectly. The reason the delegates did not let the people chose directly was they did not trust them because most Americans were illiterate at the time and heard their news from others.
The Constitutional Convention holds an enormous amount of Historic significance to the creation, or rather, the fixing, of government. Before 1787, America had the Articles of Confederation- a often problematic document that also came with some upsides. Representation was by state, and problems were resolved between two groups, state and national, that had the same fundamental powers. The idea was heavily based on foolproofing the government to not be, or evolve into, a tyranny- like the one that they had just made themselves independent from. While good-intentioned, the government needed a unanimous vote from all states to pass anything.
The Constitutional convention that met in Philadelphia started off as a goal to amend the articles of confederation it rapidly turned into constitutional convention. The convention would let each member to speak his mind without fear of political retribution. One of the main agreements completed in the convention was that George Washington should be president of the convention, Washington’s reputation protected the convention from accusations. The division that had the most importance in the convention were the northern states versus southern, and merchants versus farmers. The major accomplishment of the Convention began four days later when Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented and defended a plan for new structure of government called
From the constitutional convention to issues with North Korea, the American Federal Government has always faced issues. In this paper I will be discussing the Specific issues surrounding the Constitutional Convention and five major issues we are facing today. One of the biggest issues faced during the Constitutional Convention was the current form of government, the Articles of Confederation, and representation in congress. To help solve the Articles of Confederation issue, James Madison proposed the Virginia Plan.