U.S. Constitution - A New Framework for Government

The Constitution: A Bundle of Compromises

Realizing that the Articles of Confederation weren't working out, delegates from the various states (except Rhode Island) met in Philadelphia. The delegates were directed by their states to revise the Articles of Confederation so that they would work better. Once in Philadelphia, the delegates wound up creating a brand new government called the U.S. Constitution. The new national government would assume new powers that it had not possessed under the Articles of Confederation. It would be given the power to tax and to enforce its own laws. Although some new powers were shifting from the states to the national government, the text of the Constitution begins with the words, "We, the people..." This demonstrates that it is the people, not the states, that are giving power to the national government. Thus, only the people can take that power back. The person that is generally given the most credit for creating the document was James Madison.

Great Compromise

In designing a document that would get the approval of people from different states, regions and economies the framers needed to compromise. Big states and small states disagreed over how each state would be represented in the new legislative branch. Delegates from states with large populations believed that they should be entitled to more representatives (proportional representation) in Congress since they would be representing more people. This proposal was called the Virginia plan and it also called for a bicameral (2-house) legislature. The New Jersey plan was proposed on behalf of states with smaller populations. They were fearful that the larger states would have too much power and be able to pass whatever laws they wanted without the consent of the smaller states. They proposed a unicameral (1-house) legislature in which each state would have the same number of representatives regardless of how large or small their population was. (equal representation) They finally came to agreement with the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise). This provided for a bicameral legislature in which smaller states would have fewer representatives in one house (House of Representatives) but an equal number of representatives (senators) in the other (Senate).

Three-Fifths Compromise

Another dispute arose over the issue of slaves. Should they be counted in a state's population even if they would not be given any rights? Delegates from states with few or no slaves did not believe that slaves should be counted. States with big slave populations, like Virginia, believed that they should count. Eventually, the delegates agreed that slaves would count as 3/5 of a person when counting the population of each state.

There was also disagreement about whether slavery should be addressed in the Constitution. The Constitution stayed silent on whether slavery would be legal or illegal in the U.S. Each state would get to make its own rules on the matter. But, an agreement was reached in which the importation of new slaves from Africa would be illegal after 20 years. While there would still be slaves in the country after 1807, they could only be ones that had already been in the country or descendants of slaves in the country.

Federalists

The people that strongly supported the new framework for government were called the Federalists. They were led by Alexander Hamilton. Along with Madison and John Jay, Hamilton wrote opinion pieces in newspapers urging states to support the ratification of the Constitution. They are collectively known as The Federalist Papers.

Anti-Federalists and a Bill of Rights

The Antifederalists, who included Patrick Henry, Melancton Smith and Robert Yates, opposed the new framework. They feared that a centralized government could become oppressive if given too much power. They also wanted a Bill of Rights, which identifies the rights that the national government could never take away from American citizens, included in the document. They also changed the rules by which major changes to the government could take place. Once it was agreed that a Bill of Rights would be added to the Constitution was ratified. In fact, the Bill of Rights became the first ten amendments (major changes) to the Constitution. All of the original thirteen states would eventually ratify the document even though it stated that it would go into effect once 9 of the 13 agreed to it.

*Questions below map and chart.






















Questions to comment on:
1. Was the US Constitution an illegal document? If it was, should that matter?
2. Should there ever be compromise on an issue as serious as slavery? If not, how would you propose to get slave states to support the Constitution?
3. Should the U.S. Constitution have been ratified?
4. There was a lot of compromise among the big and small states in the drafting of the Constitution. At the time the largest state was Virginia (population: 747,610) and the smallest was Delaware (population: 59,096). Meaning Virginia was 12 to 13 times the size of Delaware and they received an equal number of representatives. This is not exactly democratic. (i.e. - one person, one vote) Today, the largest state is California (population: 36,961,664) and the smallest is Wyoming (population: 544,270). Thus, Wyoming gets two votes in the Senate just like California even though California has 68 times as many people! Should the Constitution be amended to distribute seats in the Senate more in a way that is more reflective of the population differences? Do you think that small states would ever ratify [approve] such a change?