2.4 Notes - Civics

George Mason

He was an American planter, politician, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution.

Commerce and the Slave Trade

- A third compromise resolved a dispute over commerce and the slave trade—not slavery itself, but the continuing trade of enslaved people. The Northern states wanted the federal government to have complete control over trade with other nations, but the Southern states were afraid that the federal government would interfere with the slave trade. Depending heavily on agricultural exports, the Southern states also feared that business interests in the North would have enough votes in Congress to impose export taxes or ratify trade agreements that would hurt the South. - To compromise, the delegates determined that Congress would have the power to regulate both interstate commerce (trade between the states) and commerce with foreign countries, but Congress could not ban the slave trade before 1808. To protect the South's exports, Congress was also prohibited from imposing export taxes. As a result, the United States is one of the few nations in the world today that does not directly tax the goods that it exports.

The Connecticut Compromise

- Finally, a special committee designed a compromise. Called the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, this plan was adopted after a long debate. - The compromise suggested that the legislative branch be bicameral, or have two houses—a House of Representatives, with the number of representatives based on each state's population, and a Senate, with two members from each state. - The larger states would have an advantage in the House of Representatives, where representation would be based on population. - Congress would be able to impose taxes, and all laws concerning taxing and spending would originate in the House. - The smaller states would be protected in the Senate, with equal representation and state legislatures electing the senators.

The New Government Begins Its Work

- Once the new government was established, George Washington was elected president and John Adams vice president. Voters also elected senators and representatives. - On March 4, 1789, Congress met for the first time in Federal Hall in New York City, the temporary capital. - To fulfill the promises made during the fight for ratification, James Madison introduced a set of amendments during the first session. Congress approved 12 amendments and the states ratified 10 of them in 1791, which became known as the Bill of Rights.

The Virginia Plan

- The debates opened with a proposal from the Virginia delegation, which laid out a plan for a strong national government. - The plan proposed a government based on three principles. First, the government would have a strong national legislature with two chambers—the lower one to be chosen by the people and the upper chamber to be chosen by the lower. - The number of legislators would vary from state to state and would be determined by how many people lived in the state. - Furthermore, the legislature would have the power to bar any state laws it found unconstitutional. Second, a strong executive would be chosen by the national legislature. Third, a national judiciary would be appointed by the legislature. - The delegates debated the Virginia Plan for more than two weeks. Delegates from the smaller states quickly realized that the larger, more populous states would be in control of a strong national government under this plan. The smaller states wanted a less powerful government with more independence for the states.

The New Jersey Plan

- The delegates for the small states made a counter-proposal. The New Jersey Plan called for keeping two major features of the Articles of Confederation. First, the government would have a unicameral legislature with one vote for each state. This made all states equally powerful, regardless of their population. Second, the nation would continue as a confederation of sovereign states. - Congress, however, would be strengthened by having the power to impose taxes and regulate trade. A weak executive, consisting of more than one person, would be elected by Congress, and a national judiciary with limited power would be appointed by the executive. - As the summer wore on, the convention became deadlocked over the question of the representation of states in Congress. The debate was bitter, and the convention was in danger of dissolving.

The Federalists and Antifederalists

- The question of ratification quickly divided the people in the states. - One group, known as the Federalists, favored the Constitution and was led by many of the Founders. Their support typically came from merchants and others in the cities and coastal regions. - The other group, called the Anti-Federalists, opposed the new Constitution and drew much of their support from the inland farmers and laborers, who feared a strong national government. The Anti-Federalists criticized the Constitution for having been drafted in secret. They claimed the document was extralegal, not sanctioned by law, because Congress had authorized the convention only to revise the old Articles of Confederation and not to form a new government. They further argued that the Constitution took important powers from the states. - The Anti-Federalists' strongest argument, however, was that the Constitution lacked a bill of rights to protect citizens from their own government. The convention had, in fact, considered adding a list of people's rights. In their discussions, they concluded logically that it was not necessary to have a bill of rights, reasoning that the Constitution did not authorize the government to violate the rights of the people. - This was not good enough for the Anti-Federalists, who warned that without a bill of rights, a strong national government might take away the rights that were won in the Revolution. They demanded that the new Constitution clearly guarantee the people's freedoms. One of the strongest opponents of the Constitution was Patrick Henry, the passionate delegate from Virginia. - The Federalists, on the other hand, claimed that only a strong national government could protect the nation from enemies abroad and solve the country's internal problems. The Federalists also pointed out that eight states already had bills of rights in their state constitutions. Eventually, however, the Federalists promised to add a bill of rights as the first order of business when the new government met.

Compromises About the Presidency

- There was further disagreement over whether the president should be elected directly by the people, by the Congress, or by state legislatures. - As a compromise, the delegates finally settled on the Electoral College system, which is still used today. In this system, voters from each state select electors to choose the president. - The president's four-year term was a compromise between those who wanted a longer term and those who feared a long term would give a president too much power.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

- There was profound disagreement about how to count enslaved persons in matters of representation and taxation. - Almost one-third of the people living in the Southern states were enslaved African Americans. - Delegates from these states wanted enslaved persons to be counted the same as free people to give the South more representation in Congress. At the same time, the Southern states did not want enslaved persons counted at all for the purpose of levying taxes. Because few enslaved persons lived in the North, Northern states took the opposite position. They wanted enslaved persons counted for tax purposes but not for representation. - The Three-Fifths Compromise settled this deadlock. Instead of counting all of the enslaved people, only three-fifths were to be counted for both tax purposes and for representation. - Enslaved people were counted in this manner until 1868. By that date, the three-fifths provision had been nullified by the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment, which required counting a state's entire population for purposes of representation.

Progress Towards Ratification

- With the promise of a bill of rights, the tide turned in favor of the Constitution, as many small states ratified it quickly because they were pleased with equal representation in the new Senate. - By 1788, the legislatures in Virginia and New York had not yet held a vote on the new Constitution. Everyone knew that without the support of those two large and powerful states, the Constitution would not succeed. The Federalists won in a close vote in Virginia on June 25, 1788. - To help win the battle in New York, vocal supporters published more than 80 essays defending the new Constitution. - Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wrote most of the essays, called The Federalist Papers. In The Federalist No. 39, Madison defined a republic as "a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices. . . for a limited period." Madison brilliantly answered the opposition's fears that a republic had to be a small government. In The Federalist No. 10, he wrote: "Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens." - On July 26, 1788, the Federalists in New York won by three votes.

James Madison's notes...

... tell us that the delegates disagreed about how to handle slavery. At the time of the convention, several Northern states were working on plans to abolish slavery. Many delegates were opposed to slavery and some wanted it abolished, but it was clear that the Southern states would never accept the Constitution if it interfered with slavery. In the end, the delegates did not deal with the issue. The Constitution mentions the slave trade and escaped enslaved persons but does not address the legality of owning slaves. In fact, the Constitution doesn't include the word slave anywhere. Instead of saying "slave" or "slavery," the Constitution refers to the "importation" of people, and "persons held to service or labor."

In May 1787, ......

.....the Constitutional Convention began the daunting task of crafting a new system of government. The state legislatures sent 55 delegates to Philadelphia, many of whom had a great deal of practical experience in politics and government. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin both played active roles in the debates at the convention. Two other Pennsylvanians made important contributions, too. Governor Morris wrote the final draft of the Constitution, and James Wilson did important work on the details of the document. James Madison of Virginia was the author of the basic plan of government that the convention eventually adopted. His careful notes are our major source of information about the convention's work.

The Convention began by...

....unanimously choosing George Washington to preside over the meetings. It was decided that each state would have one vote on all questions, and a simple majority of the states present would make decisions. The public and press were prevented from attending the sessions, in the hope that the private setting would enable the delegates to talk freely.

By September 17, 1787...

...the Constitution was complete. Thirty-nine delegates signed the document, including the aging Ben Franklin, who had to be helped to the table to sign. Before the new Constitution could become law, however, it had to be ratified by 9 of the 13 states. - The Constitution went into effect in June 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it. However, the political debate over ratification lasted until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island became the last state to ratify.

After deciding...

...to abandon the Articles of Confederation, the delegates reached a consensus on many basic issues of forming a new government. They all favored the ideas of limited and representative government and agreed that the powers of the national government should be divided among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. They all believed it was necessary to limit the power of the states to coin money or interfere with creditors' rights. And all of them agreed that they should strengthen the national government.

The delegates...

...were under no illusions that their compromises on slavery had permanently solved the question. While they compromised in order to create the new government, their refusal to deal with slavery left it to later generations of Americans to resolve.

Essential Question

What influenced the development of our government institutions?