Constitutional Convention of 1787 Agreements

The committee presented its report on 5 July, but the compromise was not immediately adopted by the Convention. Over the next eleven days, the Convention came to a halt as delegates tried to win as many votes as possible for their States. [100] On July 6, a five-member committee was set up to assign a number of representatives to each state. He called for a 56-member House of Representatives, using “the number of blacks and whites with some attention to supposed wealth” as the basis for assigning representatives to each state. The northern states had 30 representatives, while the southern states had 26. Delegates from non-slave states rejected the counting of slaves because they could not vote. [101] [102] The rules allowed delegates to request a reconsideration of each previously agreed decision. This allowed delegates to hold straw votes to gauge the strength of controversial proposals and change their minds while relying on consensus proposals. [28] It was also agreed that deliberations and votes would be kept secret until the end of the meeting. [29] Despite the sweltering summer heat, the meeting room windows were closed to keep the deliberations secret from the public. [30] Although William Jackson was elected secretary, his notes were short and contained very little detail.

Madison`s Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, supplemented by Robert Yates` notes, remain the most complete account of the convention. [31] Because of the commitment to secrecy, Madison`s report was not published until after his death in 1836. [32] By taking the initiative, this small group of nationalist politicians was able to define the conditions for debate in the initial phase of the Convention and focus the discussion not on whether, but how a strongly strengthened continental government would be built. On 28 May 1787 the state delegations unanimously approved a proposal that would prove invaluable in enabling men like Madison, Wilson, and Morris to advance their plan. To avoid the “unbridled publication of their deliberations”, the delegates agreed to adhere to a strict rule of secrecy, “nothing that is said in the House being printed, published or otherwise communicated”. In our world of the twenty-first century, such an approach to an issue of such monumental importance would immediately be dismissed as unacceptably pretentious and undemocratic. But the rule of secrecy gave delegates the freedom to sometimes vehemently disagree on important issues, without the stance and complacency toward public opinion that so often characterizes political debate today. And it also gave delegates the freedom to change their minds; On many occasions, after an evening of social entertainment the next morning or even the following week or month, delegates returned and found ways to reach agreement on issues that previously separated them. The rule of secrecy has helped to make the Constitutional Convention a civil and consultative body, rather than a partisan one. This has helped to make compromise an attribute of statesman`s skills rather than a sign of weakness. In a close vote on July 16, the Convention adopted the Connecticut Compromise (also known as the Grand Compromise), as recommended by the Grand Committee.

[107] On July 23, the Convention decided that each state should have two senators instead of three. He rejected a suggestion by Luther Martin of Maryland that senators from the same state would have voted only once, which was common in the Confederate Congress. Martin believed that this was necessary if the Senate was to represent the interests of states. Instead, the Convention granted senators individual voting rights. [108] This achieved the nationalist goal of preventing state governments from having a direct say in Congress` decision to enact national laws. [109] The final document was therefore a mixture of Madison`s original “national” constitution and the desired “federal” constitution that many delegates were seeking. [110] The Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 14 to September 17, 1787. The convention took place due to problems with the United States government, which had operated under the Articles of Confederation after Independence from Britain. Although the convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention of many of its supporters, including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was from the outset to create a new government rather than repair the current government. Delegates elected George Washington as President of the Convention. The outcome of the Convention was the Constitution of the United States, which made the Convention one of the most important events in the history of the United States.

As the Convention entered its second full month of deliberations, it was decided that the sensitive issue of the division of representatives in the national legislature should be referred to a committee composed of one delegate from each of the eleven States present at the Convention at that time. Among the members of this “Grand Committee” as it is called were William Paterson of New Jersey, Robert Yates of New York, Luther Martin of Maryland, Gunning Bedford, Jr. of Delaware, Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, Abraham Baldwin of Georgia, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, George Mason of Virginia, William Davie of North Carolina, John Rutledge of South Carolina, and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. [97] The composition of the Committee greatly favoured small States, as even delegates from large States tended to be more moderate. [98] At the time, the Convention was not called the “Constitutional Convention,” and most delegates did not intend to draft a new Constitution. Many assumed that the purpose of the convention was to discuss and draft improvements to existing articles of Confederation, and otherwise would not have agreed to participate. However, after the convention began, most – but not all – delegates generally agreed that the goal would be a new system of government, not just a revised version of the articles of Confederation. Rhode Island never sent delegates, and two of the three delegates from New York did not stay long at the convention. Therefore, as George Washington explained, the document was executed by “eleven states and Colonel Hamilton.” [123]:244 Washington first signed the document, and then the delegates moved by state delegation from north to south, as had been customary throughout Congress, reaching out to the front of the room to sign their names. In February 1787, Congress decided that a convention should be convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, the country`s first constitution. In May, 55 delegates came to Philadelphia and the Constitutional Convention began. Debates erupted over congressional representation, slavery and the new executive branch.

The debates lasted four hot and humid months. But eventually, the delegates reached compromises, and on September 17 they produced the United States. Constitution that replaces the articles with the government document that has been operating effectively for more than 200 years. Mason argued that only people who acted through specifically named state agreements could authorize a new government. Madison agreed with Mason. He regarded the articles of confederation as a simple treaty between states, but a true constitution could only be adopted by the people themselves. By nine votes to one, delegates voted to submit the constitution to state conventions. [122] Benjamin Franklin, Address to Congress, June 11, 1787 Another contentious issue related to slavery was whether slaves were counted as part of the population to determine the representation of states in Congress, or whether they were instead considered property and, as such, were not considered for the purposes of representation. [139] Delegates from states with large slave populations argued that slaves should be considered persons in determining representation, but as property if the new government were to levy taxes on states based on population. [139] Delegates from states where slavery had become rare argued that slaves should be included in taxation, but not in determining representation.

[139] Finally, Delegate James Wilson proposed the three-fifths compromise. [44] It was finally adopted by the Convention […].