Constitutional Convention Pros And Cons

A Constitutional Convention was called in Philadelphia Pennsylvania earlier this month to address problems in the governing of the United States of America, and to revise the Articles of Confederation. Debates included arguments over representation in Congress, slavery, and the new executive branch. The purpose of this convention was to create a better government, and word has it that they have concluded the convention with the agreement of establishing a United States Constitution.
The people who attended the convention were the educated and wealthy elite. 55 delegates from various states, who were either wealthy landowners or lawyers, attended the convention. This might have shaped the decision making process because they were powerful …show more content…
The larger states supported the Virginia plan of proportional representation, which gave larger states more power than smaller states. The smaller states opposed this plan because they feared they would be overpowered by the representatives from the larger states. Therefore, the smaller states supported the New Jersey plan of equal representation, which in result, gave a citizen in the small state a more influential vote than a citizen of a larger state. The larger states opposed this idea because they didn’t feel it was fair for the citizens from the smaller states to have more power in their votes than the citizens from larger states. After much discussion and arguments, the enactment of the Great Compromise (aka the connecticut compromise), has been announced. This compromise includes a proportional representation as well as equal representation to fit both the smaller and larger states requests. There are many pros and cons for both the larger and smaller states, but the Great Compromise resulted in an overall more equal source of power between states. The pro for the larger states was that they received a house based on proportional representation. The pro for the smaller states was that they received a house based on equal representation. The con for the larger states was that they had to give up some power by having a house based on equal representation. The …show more content…
The Constitution had popular support. Five states voted their approval of the constitution immediately. The first four states to support the Constitution were smaller states who would benefit from the powerful national government. For the larger fifth state, the anti-federalists in Pennsylvania were forced to attend the convention against their will so that there was enough people to enable the convention to take place in the state; the votes resulted in Pennsylvania's acceptance to the Constitution. Massachusetts voted in favor for the Constitution after a strong divide in opinion between the Federalists and Antifederalists. John Hancock was originally opposed to the Constitution, but ended up shifting his opinion, and leading a ratification movement. Thereafter, every following state convention chose to ratify the constitution (with the exception of Maryland). After the nine required states approved the constitution, it could finally become