Legislative Branch: makes laws – Congress (Senate and House of Representatives)
Executive Branch: carries out laws – President, Vice President, and Cabinet
Judicial Branch: evaluates laws – Supreme Court and other regional and local courts
A New Government: The Constitutional Convention
In May 1787, 55 delegates met in Philadelphia. Their plan was to improve the
Articles of Confederation, but they decided to write an entirely new document
instead. Today, their meeting is known as the Constitutional Convention. The
delegates, some of the best-known leaders in the nation, came from all the states
except Rhode Island. As a group, they were better educated and richer than most
Americans. All were white men. Many were lawyers, but there were also doctors,
merchants, farmers, and former soldiers.
Several delegates played key roles. As president of the convention, George
Washington kept the debates respectful and Benjamin Franklin, then 81, calmed heated
tempers.
One fierce debate was about the number of representatives in the legislative
branch. Larger states wanted the number to reflect how many people lived in each
state, while smaller states feared they would have little power under such a plan. They
wanted each state to have the same number of votes.
The Virginia Plan Introduced by: James Madison Branches • Proposed 3 branches: legislative, executive, and judicial • Legislative would be most powerful and choose who serves in the other two branches Legislature • 2 “chambers” – Senate and House of Representatives • House would be elected by the people in each state • Senate would be elected by the state governments • Number of representatives per state would be based on the state’s population Other Powers • Congress could regulate trade, decide laws that are deemed “unconstitutional”, and could raise an army to enforce laws The New Jersey Plan William Paterson • Proposed 3 branches: legislative, executive, and judicial • Legislative would elect the Executive branch, the Executive branch would elect Judicial • 1 “chamber” • Number of representatives per state will be equal •
Congress could regulate trade, collect taxes on goods and imports, national laws would take precedence (be more important than) over state laws Pro-­‐Slavery Arguments from Southern States Voting • Slaves should count as some part of Representation the population because it would mean more representation in the House of Representatives (based on the VA Plan’s proposal) Opinions on • Slaves are considered property so Slavery owning slaves should be legal. The economy in the south would collapse without them. Escaped Slaves • Slaves are considered property so they should be returned if they escape. Anti-­‐Slavery Arguments from the Northern States • If slaves are considered property and cannot vote then they should not be counted as part of the population towards representation (based on the VA plan’s proposal) •
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Slavery is immoral and will reflect badly on the country If slavery is not legal in the north, then a slave who escapes to a free state should be able to live there freely