Section 4 at a Glance
The Constitutional Convention
• At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, delegates debated
competing plans—the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan—for
how the new government should be organized.
• To finalize the Constitution, delegates compromised on key issues.
Chapter 2-4 vocab p. 51
• Framers
• Virginia Plan
• New Jersey Plan
• Great Compromise
• Three-Fifths Compromise
Chapter 2-4 vocab p. 51
• Framers: delegates of the Constitutional Convention who developed
the framework for the government and wrote the Constitution
• Virginia Plan: (1787) the plan for government in which the national
government would have supreme power and a legislative branch
would have two houses with representation determined by state
population.
• New Jersey Plan: (1787) a proposal to create a unicameral
legislature with equal representation of states instead of
representation by population.
• Great Compromise: (1787) an agreement worked out at the
Constitutional Convention establishing that a state’s population would
determened representation in the lower house of the legislature, while
each state would have equal representation in the upper house.
• Three-Fifths Compromise (1787) an agreement stating that threefifths of the slave population would be counted when determining a
state’s population for representation in the lower house of Congress.
The Constitutional Convention
Main Idea
Delegates at the Constitutional Convention compromised on key
issues to create a plan for a strong national government.
Reading Focus
• Why did the Constitutional Convention draft a new plan for
government?
• How did the rival plans for the new government differ?
• What other conflicts required the Framers to compromise?
Crafting a More Perfect Union
Drafting a New Constitution
1.The Convention Meets
2. Framers of the Constitution
• May 25, 1787: convention gets
• 55 delegates, known as Framers
underway with representatives of
of the Constitution
12 of the 13 states
• One-third had served in the
• Rhode Island, fearing weaker
Continental Army.
state powers, sent no delegation.
• 8 had signed Declaration of
• Delegates worked to draft the
Independence
framework for a new
• George Washington, president of
government.
convention
• Patrick Henry, “I smell a rat.”
• James Madison a major
• Meetings were held in strict
influence. Known as Father of
secrecy without press or public.
the Constitution
Delegates gathered in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, but
ended up with an entirely new plan for government.
3. The Virginia Plan
• Delegate from Virginia met weeks before Convention and it was
apparent that more than a revision to the Articles of
Confederation was needed.
• One of two rival plans for creating a new form of government
which emerged at the convention
• Based on the ideas of James Madison, The Virginia Plan called
for a central government divided into three branches—
legislative, executive, judicial—each branch with power to check
the others.
• Called for strong national government with power to make laws,
levy taxes, control interstate commerce, override state laws
• Called for bicameral legislature with membership based on
state’s population; lower house members elected directly by the
people; upper house members selected by state legislatures
The New Jersey Plan
• Delegates from small states concerned that Virginia Plan gave too much
power to large states
• The New Jersey Plan called for a strong central government made up of
three branches, but was designed to stick closer to the Articles of
Confederation.
• Called for unicameral legislature
• Each state would have one vote, with equal representation regardless of its
population.
• Despite support from small states, the plan was ultimately rejected at the
Convention.
Conflict and Compromise
For weeks after the rejection of the New Jersey Plan, the Convention was deadlocked.
Tempers flared, and at times it seemed the Convention would fall apart. In the end, a
series of compromises saved the Convention.
5. The Great Compromise
• June 30, 1787: Roger Sherman
presented The Connecticut
Compromise (The Great
Compromise).
• Elements of both plans
• Bicameral legislature: lower house
number based on state’s population,
upper house with two members each
• Lower house elected directly by the
people; upper house selected by
state legislatures
6. Compromise Over Slavery
• Key points: whether slaves should
be counted as part of state’s
population; whether importation of
enslaved people should be allowed
to continue
• Counting slaves would greatly
increase population and power of
southern states
• Three-Fifths Compromise: threefifths of enslaved people would be
counted to determine a state’s
population.
• Upper house was the Senate. Lower • Compromise on slave trade allowed
it to continue protected for the next
house was House of
20 years
Representatives.
7. Presidential Election
• Some wanted president elected directly by the people; others by the state
legislatures or the national legislature
• Compromise: state electors
• Number of state electors equal to number of representatives in both houses
of Congress; chosen by popular vote. Electoral College.
• If no candidate received majority vote, House of Representatives would
choose president
8. Finalizing the Constitution
• Debated issues, settled disputes, made key decisions during summer of 1787
• Benjamin Franklin said document was as close to perfect as possible, to
overlook parts they did not like and “act heartily and unanimously” in signing
Constitution
• Some delegates refused to sign because it did not include a bill of rights.
• 39 delegates from 12 states signed Constitution
• Convention adjourned September 17, 1787