Jessica Mason and Ameenah Oke

Challenges faced by framers of the constitution

Intro paragraph:

This is about the challenges faced by the framers of the constitution. The Framers of

the American Constitution were visionaries. They did not just address the specific challenges

facing the nation during their lifetimes, but they established a foundational principle that

would sustain and guide the nation into an always uncertain future. The group that met

during the Constitutional Convention included some of the most prominent men of the

revolutionary and post-revolutionary era. George Washington attended the convention (and

was elected its president) along with Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison, among others.

The framers of the Constitution were wealthier and better educated than the average

American. Most of them had experience in state and national problems and also fought in the

revolution.

The U.S. Constitution(1787)

On May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia at the

Pennsylvania State House.

There were 55 delegates in attendance, representing all 13 states except Rhode Island

which refused to send representative because it didn't want a powerful central

government interfering in it business.

The delegates who became known as the framers of the Constitution were a

well-educated group that included farmers, merchants, lawyers and bankers

The U.S. Constitution established Americas fundamental laws and national

government, and guaranteed certain basic rights of the citizens.

 Jessica Mason and Ameenah Oke

The delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches-

the executive, the legislative, and judicial- along with a system of checks and balance

to no branch will have too much power over the other.

The Constitution was signed September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional

Convention in Philadelphia presided over by George Washington.

Major leaders of the Constitutional Convention

James Madison(1751-1836)

James Madison was one of the 55 delegates that met in Philadelphia in May 1787.

He represented Virginia and had previously helped develop Virginia's Constitution.

His Virginia Plan served as the basis for debate in the development of the U.S

Constitution.

James Madison introduced the first amendments to the Constitution, which are known

as the Bill of Rights.

He originally drafted 19 amendments, 12 of which was passed on to the states for

approval.

He was known as the Father of the Constitution

Bill of Rights

In 1787, delegates from the 13 states came together in Philadelphia and drafted a

blueprint for self-government (the Constitution of the United States).

The constitution was flawed because it did not include a specific declaration or bill of

individual rights. It only specified what government could do but not what it could not

do. Also, the constitution did not apply to everyone.

 Jessica Mason and Ameenah Oke

Thomas Jefferson then argued that A bill of right is what people are entitled to

against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just just

government should refuse or rest on inference

The Bill of Rights inspired by Jefferson was drafted by James Madison and was

adopted and became the law of the land in 1791.

The Bill of Rights include;

Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press

The Rights to Bear Arms

The Quartering of Soldiers

Protection from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

Protection from Right to Life, Liberty, and Property

Rights of Accused Person in Criminal Cases

Rights in Civil Cases

Excessive Bail, Fines, and Punishments Forbidden

Rule of Construction Regarding the Constitution

The Rights of the States Under the Constitution.

George Washington(1732-1799)

He led the colonial forces to victory over the British and became a national hero.

In 1787, he was elected president of the convention that wrote the U.S Constitution.

He created an atmosphere that allowed the convention member to reach the

compromises needed to create a new, bold government.

Despite his belief that America should have a strong central government and a single

executive leader, he did not allow his bias to sway others delegates.
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He mainly participated in the Constitutional convention to keep order and provide a

deciding vote on varieties of proposals.

Two years later, he became the first President of America.

Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790)

He represented Pennsylvania at the Constitutional convention and he was the oldest

delegate at age 81.

Franklin helped to draft both the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration

of Independence.

He was one of the few men that took a public stand against slavery at the

Constitutional Convention.

He served as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of

Slavery and he also wrote many tracts urging the abolition of slavery.

He petitioned the U.S Congress to end slavery and slave trade.

Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia.

He invented electricity, bifocals, lightning rod, swim fins, and glass armonica

amongst others.

The Legislative Branch (U.S. Congress)

This branch of the federal government consists of two houses: the Senate and the

House of Representative.
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Under the constitution, the powers granted to Congress include the power to borrow

money, levy taxes, regulate interstate commerce, convict and impeach the president,

declare war, and determine its rule of procedure.

1. House of Representatives

The House of Representative is chosen by the direct vote of the electorate in

single-member districts in each state.

The number of representative given to each state is based on its population as

determined by the decennial census.

They may impeach a president or another official by a majority vote. Trials of

impeached officials are conducted by the Senate, and a two-thirds majority is

necessary to remove the individual from office.

Members of the House of Representative must be at least 25 years old,

residents of the states from which they elected, and previously citizens of the

U.S. for at least 7 years.

They serve two-year terms, and there is no limit on the number of terms they

may serve.

2. The Senate

Individual states select to Senators and they must be at least 30 years old

They serve six-year terms, which are arranged so that one-third of the Senate

is elected every two years.

The vice president serves as president of the Senate, casting a vote only in

case of a tie.
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When a vacancy occurs in the representation of any state in the Senate, the

Governor of that state issues a writ of election to fill the vacancy.

The Executive Branch

The president is the head of the executive branch and must be a natural born citizen of

the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the country for 14 years.

The president is elected by the people through the Electoral College System for a four

year term.

The formal responsibilities vested in the presidency include negotiating treaties;

serving as commander in chief; appointing federal judges, cabinets officials and

ambassadors.

The presidential powers have expanded to include formulating foreign policy, leading

the president's political party, and conducting personal diplomacy.

The members of the cabinet are appointed by the President with the approval of the

Senate.

Judiciary Branch

This branch is headed by the Supreme Court of The United States which interprets the

Constitution and federal legislation.

The Supreme court consists of nine justices (appointed to life terms by the president

with the consent of the State.

To become a Supreme court judge, there are no specific qualifications but must have

been trained in law.

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The U.S. President can nominate anyone, but the Senate must approve of the

nominee.

Major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention

The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

There were 4 versions of the Articles of Confederation in total, but the fourth one,

originally written by John Dickinson, was the one approved by Congress, after a lot of

revision on their part.

By 1779, all states with the exception of Maryland had approved these articles

although there were many issues with them.

The charters of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Rhode Island

had confined these states to only a couple hundred miles of the Atlantic ocean

These states believed that the West belonged to the United States and tried to

persuade Congress to recognize these claims

Maryland was also concerned about this issue because the nearby state of Virginia

would dominate it if its claims were accepted

Eventually, Thomas Jefferson convinced Virginia to relinquish its claims to the West

Maryland then approved the Articles and they officially went into effect on March 1,

1781

The Articles taxed states by their populations, including slaves, which several

southern states took issue with and wanted population to be based off of the number

of white people in each state.

To appease the southern states, Congress decided that taxes would be based on the

value of the land rather than the population.

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The articles stated that there would be a unicameral congress, with each state being

given 1 vote and delegates would be elected by the state legislatures.

After the first two Constitutional Conventions, Congress was still left with relatively

little power and could not impose taxes or regulate commerce.

No state was allowed to restrict movement across state lines.

After the Constitutional Conventions, the Continental Army was created and

maintained.

However, while Congress was allowed to request men and resources for the Army,

they could not force the states to give these resources and men.

When Congress wanted to do certain things such as making war or making treaties,

they were required to get approval of 9 states and amending the Articles required the

approval of every state.

The rights of states to govern themselves (federal system)

Most states had established their own constitutions at this time.

Some states constitutions favored a more traditional, ruling class, with representation

coming from a narrow hierarchy of offices that involved strict property guidelines, or

required certain religious qualifications in order to be eligible for office.

These traditional and more conservative constitutions did not hold up well against the

growing democratic politics.

Executive power was dwindling, elections were being held each year with limited

terms, and legislatures were quickly approving new representatives with little to no

experience.
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Pennsylvania established a vastly different constitution, with a unicameral legislature,

voting rights given based on the amount of taxes a resident paid, and an oath of

loyalty to their constitution that excluded all political opponents as well as Quakers.

However, all of the new state governments had to deal with major issues such as: the

massive debt from the Revolutionary War, the overuse of paper money and

depreciation of it, economic depression of many states, and how to best treat loyalists

after the war.

The Great Compromise

This is perhaps the greatest debate at the Constitutional Convention.

The debate was about how many representatives each state should present in the new

governments lawmaking branch, the U.S. Congress.

Delegates wasn't sure what to do delegates from larger, more populous states

supported the Virginia Plan, which called each state to have different number of

representatives based on the state's population.

Other delegates from smaller states supported the New Jersey Plan, which called each

state to send the same number of representatives to Congress.

Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, proposed a two-house legislature which

consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

The senate having an equal number of representatives from each state, satisfying the

states with smaller population.

The House of Representative would include one representative for every 30,000

individuals in a state, satisfying states with larger population.

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These two-house legislature became known as the Great Compromise after it worked

for all states.

Slavery (Three-Fifths Compromise)

The Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by James Wilson and Richard Sherman

and stated that when determining the population of states for representatives, each

slave would be counted as of a white person.

The compromise had originally come about because of the way states were taxed on

their land.

They used to be taxed based upon the value of the land, until some states began to

depreciate the value of their land to lessen their taxes.

A committee was held to fix this and decided to base taxes on the states population,

which then gave rise to the issue of how to count slaves in the population.

During the Constitutional Conventions, the issue had come up about who was eligible

to be counted for the population when establishing the number of representation.

Those in favor of slavery wanted slaves to be included in the population count

because it would give them more representation in the House and the Electoral

College.

During the committee, the ratio had been suggested by James Madison, but it was

not until the Constitutional Convention that this compromise was adopted because it

had not previously been approved by all states.

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Bibliography

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History.com Editorial Team. (2009). George Washington . Retrieved September 9, 2017 from

http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/george-washington

History.com Editorial Team. (2009). Articles Of Confederation. Retrieved September 11,

2017 from http://www.history.com/topics/articles-of-confederation

Sawe, Benjamin. (2017, April, 25). What was the Great Compromise. Retrieved September

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http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-was-the-great-compromise.html

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Ushistory.org Editorial Team. (1995, July, 4). The Electric Ben Franklin. Retrieved

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What was the Three Fifths Compromise? (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from

http://constitution.laws.com/three-fifths-compromise
 Jessica Mason and Ameenah Oke