Even though the creation of a constitution wasn’t the main objective of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, it definitely helped shape the United States to the country it is today. The Articles of Confederation, which was adopted in 1777, didn’t go as planned and left the United States bankrupt in 1786 (Linder). Realizing the major issues that have occurred, the Continental Congress finally called to meet in May 1787. Among the fifty-five delegates at the convention was George Washington. Before becoming our nations first president, Washington was one of the key leaders in creating our constitution. Born and raised in Virginia, Washington received his education from private schools where he learned surveying (Lloyd). At 17 Washington began …show more content…
Even though George Washington had inherited his father’s slaves when he was just eleven-he still viewed slavery as a conflicting factor. He knew that it would be hard to abolish slavery at the time since some states were considered slaves states. If the issue arose any more the states who still had slaves could have walked away from the convention to start their own pro-slavery constitution (PBS). The issue of slavery needed to be discussed separately with a compromise. Washington hoped that slavery would be eliminated as soon as a stronger union had been formed …show more content…
The constitution ratification, however, was not an easy task. As the states began their own ratifying conventions, individuals began to grow for and against it. The federalist and Anti-federalist were formed and argued mostly about the political issues in the Constitution. During the Ratification process George Washington played a very active role. He fist sent a copy of the document to Thomas Jefferson and General Lafayette, not present during the convention, hoping to gain their support off the bat (Mary Stockwell). He continued to write letters to other political leaders in hopes for their support of the constitution. He clearly expressed his reasoning for why the document would be so important to the states. Washington knew the harm that the Articles of Confederation had wan wanted to make sure that the government wouldn’t become powerless. As the great leader he was, Washington also sent his reasoning’s to the individuals who doubted it most (Mary Stockwell). When the final vote took place on June 25 1788, the Constitution was approved by a margin of 89 to 79 (Mary
Unit 3 Test After the Revolution and the failure that was the Articles of Confederation, the nation needed order. Thus the nation’s leaders came together during the summer of 1787 at the Philadelphia Convention to draft the Constitution of the United States. The constitution was ratified in 1788. The Federalist Party had to gain nine of the thirteen states’ approval of the constitution to ratify it despite the goals of the Declaration of Independance. After the tyranny of the British rule, the new citizens of the United States wanted a severely limited government.
The issues that precipitated the Constitutional Convention were the fact that “ … the framers sought to create a new government capable of promoting commerce and protecting property from radical state legislatures and populist forces hostile to the interests of the commercial and propertied classes.” The delegates were empowered to revise the Articles to meet the country’s needs, but they took it into their own hands and created an entirely new constitution. In my opinion, the Constitution of 1787 was legitimate in the social sense but was not legitimate by legal standards. The only reason that this new constitution was accepted was because it was what the United States needed at the time so the majority of the citizens agreed upon keeping it.
he Constitutional Convention was composed of men of strong principal; men with firm opinions and the education to support those views. Their patriotism and analytical prowess fueled the Convention and its countless debates, resulting in months of writing and perfecting the document that serves as our nation’s foundation. The delegates’ intensity caused them to continue haggling over details up until just days before the Constitution was completed. Such was the case on September 14th, 1787, a mere three days before the Constitution was sent off for ratification. Several issues were raised for discussion that day, including that of impeachment, the publication of all the proceedings of the lower house of Congress, and the appointment of a national
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 brought politicians from different states together in order to create a more complex and centralized form of government. The Virginia Plan was brought forward by James Madison, a representative of Virginia, who wanted to create a more centralized and powerful national government, that would benefit the larger states if it was implemented. The main political dilemma was to construct a central government that would provide the necessary national goods without interfering or endangering the power of the states. Some of the issues discussed at the Convention that were brought forward by the representatives were congressional representation, the appointment of House seats, the national assumption of state debts, the regulation of tariffs and the presidential powers, which were later on incorporated in what is known today as the Constitution.
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, but there was a grapple for its ratification that went on until about two decades after the ratification. Members of Congress believed that the first government of the United States or the Articles of Confederation, needed to be adjusted while others did not want anything to change. After the Revolutionary War, the people did not want a strong central government, because it reminded them too much of what they were trying to escape from. Under the Articles, each state had their own laws, and the need for a new Constitution was desired by many. The Constitution of 1787 created huge debates, arguments and splits in the nation that lasted for several year after its ratification between people who
The articles of confederation was written right after the revolutionary war was fought, however, the AOC failed, so they had to start all over with a new document called the constitution. 9 out of 13 colonies needed to ratify the new constitution for it to take effect. When it came to organize the government after the AOC, the people were divided on how the government should handle the fears of social, political, and economic fears which motivated the 2 parties, federalist and antifederalist. The federalists supported the new constitution, while the anti federalists were opposed. The political motivation for the federalists to support the ratification was they believed that a stronger government was necessary as the AOC had failed previously
At that time congress had no real power because of the Articles of Confederation the US had adopted in 1777. Congress had to rely on contributions from the existing states. Needing and knowing that a change was needed the delegates from different states met to form a new plan of action. One that would give congress more power, equal representation for each state, form a new structure of government and the way it would run to benefit the United States of America. This is why the convention of 1778 was announced, during this convention two different plans were presented.
The Constitution of the United States of America, the final Constitution, was finally finished and signed in 1787. But even before the document could be used, at least nine states had to accept it. Federalists, supporters of the Constitution, had to teach everyone about the document. Antifederalists, who were against the Constitution, believed that without a Bill of Rights, it would be dangerous. Consequently, the Federalists added a Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
The Constitutional Convention occurred from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The tradition was held to address issues in overseeing the United States, which had been working under the Articles of Confederation taking after freedom from Great Britain. In spite of the fact that the tradition was expected to modify the Articles of Confederation, the aim from the beginning of a number of its defenders, boss among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to make another government as opposed to settle the current one. The agents chose George Washington to direct the tradition. The aftereffect of the tradition was the United States Constitution, setting the tradition among the hugest occasions in the historical backdrop
The ratification of the constitution first needed to be approve of two thirds of the thirteen state governments before it became accepted as the law of the land. While there certainly were people who were happy with the constitution there are also many who were suspicious of it. Those people who were afraid was because of a strong powerful federal government. To kind of ease people’s fears and to state what it was all about they wrote a series of essays that are known as the Federalist papers.
One of the compromises made in the Constitutional Convention is the three-fifths compromise. In this compromise, the southerners wanted to add slaves to the population of the state they lived in. If slaves were included in their state’s population, that state would be able to add more representatives in the House of Representatives. Northerners did not agree with that statement because slaves did not have the right to vote. After the delegates compromised, they agreed that only three-fifths of the slave’s population would be counted into the state’s population.
By 1777, Congress believed that they needed a written rules or “written document” to show how they worked, or how they were organized (Ushistory.org). There were many improvements that the Articles of Confederation needed. There were six drafts of the Articles of Confederation until Congress had finally decided on one in 1777 (History.com). Maryland was the only state that was reluctant to vote or approve on the Articles becoming a written document. After Virginia convinced Maryland to vote, all thirteen states had voted and approved the Articles of Confederation by 1781 (Historyrocket.com).
. Even if the American people had rejected the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and 1788, the ratification process would have forged a closer union. The debate over ratification, carried out in thirteen state conventions and in newspapers and pamphlets, was the first national public debate in America. The decision for independence had been made in closed session by Congress in 1776; Americans in the individual states and towns then decided to affirm it, but gradually. In contrast, the decision to ratify the Constitution was made in public conventions, and both supporters and opponents of ratification made their case with appeals to public opinion.
On June 21, 1788 the Constitution of the United States of America was signed. It was signed by some of America’s greatest heroes. Men like George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin. But just signing it wasn’t good enough. It needed to be ratified.
Intro Growing up, we have all heard the many stories of George Washington. While many recognize him as one of the most important figures in U.S history, others only recognize him by one of his multiple accomplishments; he was the 1st president of the United States. With presidency comes the variety of duties and responsibilities, the main being a president 's inaugural adress. In George Washington 's very 1st inaugural, he uses three rhetorical strategies: personification, amplification, and last but not least, repitition to convey what he truly wants for the States and why a successful Constitution should be in order.