How Old Was The New Constitution Dbq

The disagreement that led between the large states and the small states would have caused a conflict among each other. However, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth settled this by creating a compromise in which both large and small states would benefit. This compromise would have two houses, one would be the House of Representatives which would be represented by each states population and creating proposed laws that deal with taxing and spending, this benefitted large states, and the other house would be Senate, which would have equal representation and have the choice to approve or disapprove proposed laws that were created from the House of Representatives, this benefitted small states. This was an “agreement that large and small states reached during the constitutional convention in 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the U.S” (Wickham, Dewayne, 2012, pg. 7).

The current method of representation in the US congress was created under the Connecticut plan, or the Great Compromise. Two plans were devised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787: the Virginia plan, which detailed representation based on a state’s population, and the New Jersey plan, which called for each state to have equal representation in Congress. The Great Compromise was a mixture of those two plans and proposed a bicameral legislature with population based representation in the House and equal representation between the states in the Senate. Although the founders may have eventually came to compromise, it wasn’t a simple process. The Virginia Plan had favored large states and the New Jersey plan had favored the smaller states;

After England set harsh tax acts upon the colonies and controlled their trade, the United States colonies declared its independence from England. When all powers are accumulated into the same hands, that’s the definition of a tyranny. The Articles of Confederation was the existing constitution. However, a new constitution was needed since the AOC lacked a strong central government, an executive leader, a court system, and much more. In May, 1787 fifty-five delegates from 12 states met in Philadelphia to fix the problems with the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution guarded against tyranny by dividing power amongst three branches, creating different levels of government (National, State, etc.), electing an executive leader, and giving power to the people.

After winning independence from Great Britain in 1776, the United States was in need of an organized national government, clearly defined in written form. The first Continental Congress drafted the Articles of confederation the following year, though it would not be ratified until 1781. The Articles provided the framework for a centralized government but ultimately were not strong enough to enforce its own requirements. A new constitution was needed. Congressional leaders began the process of drafting another document that would strengthen the weak federal government while continuing to ensure individual liberties. The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1787 after much debate and compromise. (Charters of Freedom A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution

The next compromise that came into question was the appropriate balance of representation between large and small states. At the time every state had a vote but it did not seem fair to the state with a larger population. Many small states proposed maintain equal representation. This ran tensions high until Connecticut proposed the Great Compromise. This plan established a Congress with two houses: The House and the Senate. This gave the Senate two senators for each state and the House representation was based on

In 1781, John Dickinson and the Second Continental Congress worked together to create the Articles of Confederation. This document was written to establish the United States of America’s governmental functions after the country declared their independence from Great Britain. Although the Articles of Confederation were a good start, there were many weaknesses present in the document; therefore, the United States Constitution was ratified in 1788 in replacement of the Articles of Confederation. The U.S. Constitution was a response to the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation as it allowed for an increase in Congressional power in order to place more taxes on foreign countries.

Have you ever wondered why we have a Constitution or what would happen without it? Before the Constitution, we had the Articles of Confederation as our first federal document we lived by. We had to get the Constitution because the Articles of Confederation was too weak and made it so tyranny was possible. Tyranny is “The accumulation of all powers…in the same hands, weather of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” Written by James Madison. Two of the problems with the Articles of Confederations that there was no Chief Executive, and there was no court system. For these reasons, the thirteen colonies decide that we needed something stronger, to replace the Articles of Confederation. Twelve of the thirteen representatives gathered in Philadelphia in the year 1787 and signed the document that Americans know as the current day constitution. Tyranny is prevented through the constitution through Federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the big state large state compromise.

Recognizing that government changes needed to be made, political leaders assembled at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to create new federal laws that would rule sovereign states. There was much controversy over states rights and the range of federal government powers. Delegates at the Convention drafted the U.S. Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation and became the country’s governing document in 1789. The sovereignty of individual states that had been established by the Articles of

There’s was an issue among the 13 colonies. Virgina want to make two parts in the congress. They want to do have a House and Senate. New Jersey wanted it to stay the same and each state should have one vote. The New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral (one-house) legislature in which all states had the same number of representatives no matter what the population was. This plan was, not surprisingly, the favorite of smaller states, which stood to gain power from it. Smaller states of course had a lower population than the bigger, more populated states. How would the votes be far to have the votes deal with population when other states have more people than smaller states.

Big states vs small states came to an agreement that each state shall be given the number of representatives depending on the population of the state as said in document C “Representatives … shall be apportioned ... according to [population]...” Small states like Rhode Island and Delaware were given one representative due to their small population. Other bigger states like Virginia with its vast population has ten representatives. This dissection befitted the bigger states more than the smaller states since they would have more of a say during meetings. Although they may have had more power in the house in the senate all

The most significant meetings began in May 1787, where 55 delegates met in the Pennsylvania State house. The Demographic make-up of Constitutional Convention delegates consisted of important leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton, as well as lawyers, merchants, and planters. From this meeting, the delegates agreed to create a new government. In order to solve the problem of unequal representation of states based on population, James Madison proposed the Virginia plan, which suggested a bicameral legislature, in which members of house would be elected based on population. This proposal was mainly objected by the smaller states, fearing the loss of influence to larger states. In the other hand, William Paterson proposed the New Jersey plan, where each state had an equal vote, which was favored by the smaller states. The complication was solved when Roger Sherman proposed the Great Compromise. It called for a two-house Congress. The upper house, or the senate would have equal representation, while the size of the population would determine the lower-house, or the House of Representatives. This proposal both satisfied the big and small states as the voters had the power to elect representatives while preserving the power of the

In 1780 one person proposed an idea to reconstruct our government; Alexander Hamilton proposed a general convention to frame a new constitution (Beard 3). The Article of Confederation was failing and the several men wanted a change to form a stronger national government. Some states excelled under the Article of Confederation while others struggled, there was no whole as a nation only sovereignty for the states. In 1787 the “Framers” changed the future of the United States of America and formed the constitution; which we still currently use.

The Articles of Confederation laid down some of the fundamentals of our national government, but still it had many flaws, such as an inability to regulate commerce and an inability to tax, among others (Scholastic Update, 2). The main players in the organizing and writing of the Constitution are Alexander Hamilton of New York, James Madison of Virginia, and George Washington. They believed in a stronger national government and Congress’ right to regulate trade. In response to Shay’s rebellion which consisted of farmers protesting taxes, a convention was called for by Madison and Hamilton to be held in Philadelphia in 1787. It was during this convention that the foundations for the Constitution were worked out. A completely new government was created and put on paper between May 25 and the final signing of the Constitution on September 17. The document was debated for sometime between Federalists and Anti-Federalists, but in December 1971 ten Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution in order to give rights to the citizens of the United States. This pleased both sides, and the Constitution was ratified (Scholastic Update, 4). The document produced from this convention has been the effective law of the land for over 200 years. “...out of the chaos of the 1780s emerged the Constitution, perhaps the most effective model of government ever devised. It was written by a small group of quarreling people under intense pressure. They knew how difficult their job

After the Colonists gained their freedom from Great Britain, delegates from the colonies gathered and drafted the first written body of law for the United States, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation had many flaws, like not instituting an Executive branch to enforce laws and not allowing Congress to tax Americans. It created a weak central government . Realizing this, fifty five delegates representing twelve out of thirteen states, met up in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. Too many disagreements upon revising this document led the delegates to draft a brand new document, the United States Constitution. The constitution was made to divide power equally among the states’ and central government, while also giving the people power and preserving their rights. The United States’ Constitution, thus, . The constitution prevented the United States from being ruled by tyrants and/or corrupt leaders because it adapted the concept of federalism, created a separation of powers among the branches of government, applied a checks-and-balances system to the branches of its government, and compromised the needs of big states and small states.

Declaring its independence from Great Britain, to form the beginning of a government. The Articles of Confederation, that did not good for its economy. It to be a failure, we did not have common currency, nor the right to collect tax, and lacked the military power. Besides, the government only have one branch, Congress. Causing a lack of national court system and presidency. The Virginal and New Jersey Plan called for a strong national government with three branches . Delegate consider to revise the Articles of Confederation and call it the Constitution. The outcome, Great Compromise, provided a bicameral congress and a House of Representative. George Washington elected chairman and Benjamin Franklin as a calm and unifying influence. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wanted a new document. Hence, people were frighten that the officials will seize and abuse their power. James Madison wanted the Constitution to be base on a system of checks and balances. Delegates believe in a system with checks and more critics. The Constitution change slavery, trading, and representation. Constitution enabled a state to shut-off slave importation if it wanted, after 1807. Delegate have to ratify the Constitution with a favorable vote of 9/13 states.