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 …show more content…
Interestingly, two delegates moved jointly on the issue: John Rutlidge, a representative of South Carolina who had received education in England (just like the rest of the South Carolinian representatives), and Gouverneur Morris, a representative of Pennsylvania (yet a New York native, oddly enough) (Quinn, 52, 90). These men collaborated and raised a motion to add a clause that would force an impeached President to be suspended from office until his or her trial and acquittal. James Madison argued against the motion, stating that “the President is made too dependent already on the Legislature. . .”. He went on to argue that if the clause was added, the Legislature would hold nearly all of the federal power. If the impeached magistrate were to be suspended from his role, the Legislature could then instate another individual whose policies they supported. This would lead to a nullification of the system of checks and balances, with the Legislative Branch indirectly controlling policy with no real opposition. Madison’s argument proved effective, as Rutlidge’s and Morris’s move was …show more content…
Nathaniel Gorham and Rufus King, both representing Massachusetts, argued that if the motion passed, more issues would arise because the people were already accustomed to the Legislature selecting a Treasurer (Quinn, 12, 14). Gouverneur Morris then shrewdly stated that if the Treasurer were not chosen by the Legislature, he would be less trusted by the Legislature and “more readily impeached.” Roger Sherman, a farmer-turned-political leader who represented Delaware at the Convention, sided with Gorham and King, stating that as Congress has the power of the purse, it would be suitable for them to choose a Treasurer. He did not support the joint vote, however. Charles Pinkney, a young but very insightful delegate from South Carolina, declared that he, too, was against the joint ballot. His reasoning was based on the fact that South Carolina employed a joint ballot to choose their state Treasurer, and when a bad appointment was made, the Legislature refused to learn from their faults. After much deliberation, the movement was passed, 8 to 3. From then on, the Treasurer was to be appointed by the President rather than the houses of
The presidential election of 1800 might have just been one of the most controversial in our nation's history. Federalists President John Adams fought for reelection but it became clear that the Anti-Federalists, led by Democratic-Republican and Vice President Thomas Jefferson, would take the office. Meanwhile in an effort to preserve the influence of the party, the federalist-led congress pass the judiciary act of 1801 which reorganized the federal judiciary, and the District of Columbia organic Act, both of which created dozens of new judgeships and justice ships. Marbury had been lawfully appointed and confirmed as justice of the peace and therefore had a right to his commision. Marshall went on to say that Marbury was entitled to redress
Taxation without representation is a motto our country was founded on and it fueled what was arguably one of the most critical speech in political history, Patrick Henry’s Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death. Henry used his political passion and voice to convince powerful politicians by talking to them as their peer that England was violating its citizen’s rights, and if specific measures were not taken, like forming a militia, the colonies would face imminent danger. Henry’s speech was so successful because he crafted it specifically with his audience in mind. His knowledge of the distinguished men at the Second Virginia Convention allowed him to create a speech that he knew would and did have a great impact.
Jefferson and Madison kept their authorship of the resolutions secret because they feared arrest for sedition. When the Federalists gained control of all three branches of the federal government in 1798, Jefferson struck on the idea of getting state legislatures to pass resolutions as a way to respond to the acts. He hoped that more states would respond in like minded ways and that this would lead to more electoral victories over the Federalists. But Kentucky’s legislature passed the resolution that Jefferson had penned with little debate on November 11, 1798, and the Virginia legislature passed its more temperate resolution on Christmas Eve of the same
At the time that the Constitutional Convention took place, the North was industrialized and produced many finished goods. The South, however, still had an agricultural economy. Therefore, the South imported many finished goods from Britain. The North wanted the government to be able to impose import tariffs or taxes on finished products. They wanted this to help protect against foreign competition and encourage the South to buy goods made in the North.
I am going to write about how the Articles of confederation was revised, American democracy was made. I am also going to talk about the founding fathers who made it possible. There were two ideas that influenced the constitution. The first idea was weakened by Articles and confederation. The congress couldn’t collect any taxes, they couldn’t amend the rules, there were 13 Independent nations, there wasn’t any Judicial system, no executives, and there was only one house of the legislative.
As shown in From a farmer in Pennsylvania, written by John Dickinson; “There is another late act of parliament, which appears to me to be unconstitutional, and as destructive to the liberty of these colonies, as that
Virginia Ratifying Convention The Virginia Ratifying Convention, also known as the Virginia Federal Convention, consisted of 168 Virginia’s delegates who gathered in order to discuss the issues concerning the ratification of the United States Constitution that had been introduced at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, and its implications for the citizens of the United States. The Convention held the meetings at the Richmond Theatre from June 2 to June 27 in 1788 under control of Judge Edmund Pendleton who was the Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Virginia endorsed the United States Constitution in two steps. The declaration of ratification was the first step. The following step was connected with the proposal of a bill
Davis participated in politics as a Unionist and Radical Republican. Davis served in the Constitutional Convention of 1866, but failed to become state senate of his old district. He became President of the Constitutional Convention of 1868 to 1869. Davis supported all types of political programs that would expand rights for blacks, divided the state, and have restricted the political rights of secessionists. In 1869, Davis ran against Andrew J. Hamilton for governor both were Republican.
The smaller states refused to lose votes while the bigger states got more votes. James Wilson of Pennsylvania, who was the most democratic minded at the convention, argued for direct election by the people in all forms of the government. An agreement finally decided that the senators would be decided by the state legislators. Wilson found this to be a defeat. Madison met with Wilson, he told him that some of the delegation thought that he had too much confidence in the people.
The presidential selection process was also a problem during the Constitutional Convention. The Virginia Plan suggested that the president should be selected by Congress because its members had the best knowledge and understanding of how the presidential selection process worked. In Federalist Paper No. 68, Hamilton asserted that the “men most capable of analyzing the qualities,” hence the members of Congress, to select the president since they had enough information on the presidential candidates to evaluate and make a reasoned judgment on which candidate would fit best in the president position. Pennsylvania delegate James Wilson, on the other hand, opposed this idea and suggested that the president should be selected by ordinary citizens.
In this speech he said, if we, the colonists, don’t have freedom and aren’t getting treated fairly, we would rather die. In 1765 Henry was elected from Louisa County for the House of Burgesses, the legislative body of the Virginia colony, to fill a reserved seat in the assembly. When he arrived in Williamsburg, the legislature was already in session. Nine days after being in, Henry introduced the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions, "in language so extreme that some Virginians said it smacked of treason", Henry’s proposal succeeded, but it took lots of debating and arguing. Responding to pleas from Massachusetts that the colonies made committees of correspondence to coordinate their actions involved with the British, Henry took the lead in Virginia.
James Wilson James Wilson sailed for the New World in 1765. Wilson also became involved in Revolutionary politics. There was six signers of the Declaration of Independence and James was one of the six. During the next year he was an appearing member of the Continental Congress. The year after that James Wilson was elected for provincial assembly.
The whole discussion was based on Madison's terms. Delegates took the Virginia Resolution as well as Madison's proposal as their starting point for a new start on a Constitution. Roche describes the reaction to the program of the Convection as ‘interesting', some of the delegates were surprised and others were skeptical but not one of them
Therefore, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton held the
The convention is what really created the government that we have today. It had taken place 1787 on May 25th at the independence Hall in Philadelphia. The 55 delegates that went to the meeting discussed ways that we could improve the Articles of Confederation, they were in a way our first government. All the delegates people good roles for helping the constitution but their are a few who made the constitution great again. The improvements that the delegates made are still used today by our government today.