A Constitutional Convention was called in the summer of 1787 to change the Articles of Confederation. During this time, many compromises were formed to appease regional factions.
The Great Compromise brought together the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan to create the Constitution ‘s legislative system. The Three-Fifths Compromise appeased Southern representatives by allowing them to count slaves for representation and taxation purposes.
The Federalists wanted a strong government and strong executive branch, while the anti-Federalists wanted a weaker central government.
The Federalists did not want a bill of rights —they thought the new constitution was sufficient. The anti-federalists demanded a bill of rights.
Key Terms
Articles of Confederation: The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the thirteen founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.
delegate: A person authorized to act as representative for another; in politics, a party representative allocated to nominate a party candidate.
Three-Fifths Compromise: an agreement between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, in which three-fifths of the population of freed slaves would be counted for representation purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the United States House of Representatives
The Constitutional Convention
In 1787, a convention was called in Philadelphia with the declared purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. However, many delegates intended to use this convention to draft a new constitution. All states except for Rhode Island sent delegates, though not all delegates attended the Convention. At the Convention, the primary issue was representation of the states. Under the Articles, each state had one vote in Congress. The more populous states wanted representation to be based on population (proportional representation). James Madison of Virginia crafted the Virginia Plan, which guaranteed proportional representation and granted wide powers to the Congress. The smaller states, on the other hand, supported equal representation through William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan. The New Jersey Plan also increased the Congress’ power, but it did not go nearly as far as the Virginia Plan. The conflict threatened to end the Convention, but Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed the “Great Compromise” (or Connecticut Compromise) under which one house of Congress would be based on proportional representation, and the other house would be based on equal representation. Eventually, the Compromise was accepted, and the Convention was saved.
Compromises were important in settling other disputes at the Convention. The Three-Fifths Compromise designated that three-fifths of slave population would be counted toward representation in Congress. In another compromise, the Congress agreed to ban slave trade after 1808. Similarly, issues relating to the empowerment and election of the President were resolved. This led to the Electoral College system in choosing the Chief Executive of the nation.
Federalists vs. Anti-federalists
The Constitution required ratification by nine states in order to come into effect. The fight for ratification was long and difficult. The Constitution was to be ratified by special ratifying conventions, not by state legislature. Interested in retaining power, states were resistant to ratifying a new, stronger central government. Those who favored ratification were known as Federalists,while those who opposed it were considered Anti- Federalists.The Federalists attacked the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists also supported a House of Representative with substantive power. They acknowledged that the Constitution was not perfect, but they said that it was much better than any other proposal. Three Federalists—Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay—wrote a series of essays called The Federalist Papers. These essays explained the Constitution and defended its provisions. The documents were intended for the state of New York, though people from across the country read them. The Federalists defended the weakest point of the Constitution—a lack of a Bill of Rights—by suggesting that current protections were sufficient and that the Congress could always propose Amendments. Anti-Federalists such as Patrick Henry attacked the Constitution, suggesting that it would lead to a dangerously powerful national government. One of the Anti-Federalist’s strongest arguments was the Constitution’s lack of a Bill of Rights. Many Anti-Federalists were eventually persuaded by the Federalists’ argumes
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