The Constitutional Convention
After the United States won the revolutionary war, they continued to function under the Articles of Confederation for about four years. Under the Articles, the government had very little power over the states and was not able to solve many domestic or foreign problems. A change needed to happen, so Congress called upon all 13 states to send representatives to Philadelphia. Although Rhode Island refused to send delegates, the other 12 states sent fifty-five men in total, to what would soon be called the Constitutional Convention. Many leaders of the American Revolution were not present; Thomas Jefferson, John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Paine, and Patrick Henry were all absent. The delegates who were …show more content…
Large states wanted a population-based representation, but the small states wanted equal representation. Roger Sherman proposed a solution that there would be two houses of Congress. In Sherman’s solution, there would be a Senate with representation equal between all states and a House of Representatives with representation based on population. This was called the Great Compromise and the Connecticut Compromise. The next issue was between the northern and southern states regarding slaves. Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of the population for the number of representatives that they were allowed, but not for taxes to pay to the federal government. A compromise, known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, was reached. This compromise called for slaves to counted as three-fifths of a person for both purposes of determining representation and taxation. In addition, the southern states wanted slavery to be kept untouched, while the northern states wanted slavery to be abolished. Another compromise was reached by the representatives of the Constitutional Convention that allowed slavery to continue until 1808, when the issue would then be
After the United States won the revolutionary war, they continued to function under the Articles of Confederation for about four years. Under the Articles, the government had very little power over the states and was not able to solve many domestic or foreign problems. A change needed to happen, so Congress called upon all 13 states to send representatives to Philadelphia. Although Rhode Island refused to send delegates, the other 12 states sent fifty-five men in total, to what would soon be called the Constitutional Convention. Many leaders of the American Revolution were not present; Thomas Jefferson, John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Paine, and Patrick Henry were all absent. The delegates who were …show more content…
Large states wanted a population-based representation, but the small states wanted equal representation. Roger Sherman proposed a solution that there would be two houses of Congress. In Sherman’s solution, there would be a Senate with representation equal between all states and a House of Representatives with representation based on population. This was called the Great Compromise and the Connecticut Compromise. The next issue was between the northern and southern states regarding slaves. Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of the population for the number of representatives that they were allowed, but not for taxes to pay to the federal government. A compromise, known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, was reached. This compromise called for slaves to counted as three-fifths of a person for both purposes of determining representation and taxation. In addition, the southern states wanted slavery to be kept untouched, while the northern states wanted slavery to be abolished. Another compromise was reached by the representatives of the Constitutional Convention that allowed slavery to continue until 1808, when the issue would then be