Cheyenne Higbie
Kelli Brown
Social Studies 3rd hour
03 October 2016
The United States Constitution When the Founding Fathers of the United States realized that The Articles of Confederation was weak, they soon decided to form a new Constitution. Several different ideas were proposed by people from different states. These plans were then evaluated by the committee and voted on. One of the biggest debates throughout the process of revising the Articles of Confederation was representation in the Senate for all of these states. The Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan and the Great Compromise were three examples of the different ideas, proposed by the people, for the Constitution.
The Virginia Plan
James Madison originally wrote the Virginia Plan but Edmund Randolph was the one to propose it. This plan required a two-house legislature and its representation was proportional, or corresponding in size of population. This plan also required a court system. A chief executive was elected by the legislature. The Upper House members were elected by the Lower House members. The members of The Lower House were chosen by the people. Congress could collect taxes from states. Because of
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It was introduced by Roger Sherman from Connecticut. The number of seats for representation would vary according to each state’s population.The states of the South wanted to count enslaved people as part of their population in order to gain delegates. The Committee eventually came to an agreement that each slave would be counted as 3/5ths of a free person for both representation and taxation. This agreement was called the Three-Fifths Compromise. In the end the Great Compromise was like the merging together of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey plan. According to The American Journey, “When 9 of the 13 states had approved, the new government of the United States would come into
Virginia and New Jersey are plans presented at constitutional convention. They give information about the structure of the government, representation of the congress, powers given to the congress and the composition of the government branches. There are several similarities between plans presented at constitutional convection by Virginia and the New Jersey plans. On the other hand there are differences between the two plans as illustrated below.
This plan state that their should be equal representation regardless of the population of the state. Because of this, there was the Great Compromise. Roger Sherman proposed an idea that combined the ideas of the Virginia and New Jersey plan. This was combined in a bicameral legislature, or a two house system. Bicameralism is two houses.
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.
It was the ideas of James Madison together with other politicians who viewed the existing government structure to be weak thus proposing a change in the structure to have another look. Virginia Plan was forwarded by Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia on behalf of those who came up with the ideas. Some of the
But many problem still challenged this new nation. After the Article of Confederation failing due to the weakness of the central government, the different states had to develop a new a form of government. But the different states did not seem to be agreeing on one single plan, the bigger states want the government to work in their favor, and the smaller states wanted equal representation in the government despite of size, wealth and population. All the delegates from the different states had to work together and make many different compromised to all agree one a well-drafted constitution. However, the ratification of this Constitution still faced many issues, some states wanted more individual state power and rights granted to individual American citizens.
Under this plan, known as the Great Compromise, the
Due to the pathetic turnout of only 6 representatives it became clear that the limitations of the Articles of Confederation were crippling the development of the new country. In 1787 delegates gathered in Philadelphia in hopes to revise the Articles of Confederation. What ended up happening were not minor revisions or tweaks, a completely new charter of the government was drafted, now known as the Constitution. These changes brought fear to some, such as Rawlin Lowndes. He debated the adoption of the federal constitution, suggesting “Would it not be better to add strength to the old Confederation, instead of hastily adopting another” (Doc H).
The Great Compromise was Roger Sherman’s plan, and was an attempt to resolve the conflicts between the smaller states and larger states, settling the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral
This proposal was presented in the form of fifteen resolutions that detailed reasons why the Articles of Confederation should be radically altered and plans for a strong National Government that could collect taxes and make and enforce laws. This was also the first document to produce a separation of powers into an executive, legislative, and judicial branch in a national government. Moreover, there is a feature of a bicameral legislature, which is two houses consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate would be based on state representation. The people of each state shall elect the first branch of the national legislature, and those that are selected shall select people in the second branch. The national legislature shall have the power to elect a national executive with the authority to execute the national laws and taxes.
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.
After fighting for so long and hard to secure independence from the British rule, the young United States of America needed to come together to form a strong nation. Having literally sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears to free themselves from the tyrannical oppression of an over-powered central government, the people wanted to ensure that they would not be trading one for another. There needed to exist a means to effect a measure of equality and security for the newly founded country. The Constitution aimed to do just that.
Representation was a very important part that happened in the Articles Of Confederation. Delegates debated on the Virginia and New Jersey plan. The Virginia plan wanted to give more power to the bigger states, 3 branches of government, and 2 houses. The New Jersey plan wanted each state to have one vote regarding the population. They also wanted equal representation.
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.
DBQ Essay The United States Constitution is a document that or founding fathers made in order to replace the failing Articles of Confederation (A of C). Under the Constitution, the current government and states don’t have the problems they faced when the A of C was in action. The Constitution was created in 1788, and held an idea that the whole nation was nervous about. This idea was a strong national government, and the Federalist assured the people that this new government would work. The framers of the Constitution decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments because the A of C had many problems, there was a need for the layout of new government, rights, and laws, and there was a need for the Federal
The Virginia plan was 15 proposals. The Governor of Virginia Edmund Randolph was the one who had the ideas of the plan. The Virginia plan outlined the states for a new form of government. They wanted one national government that would enforce laws and collect taxes from the people. The larger states were in favor for this plan yet the smaller states were not as supportive.