Constitutional Convention Notes

• What was the original goal of the Constitutional Convention?

  Revise the Articles of Confederation
• How did that goal change?

  It needed to be replaced
• How many delegates were there to the convention?

  53 delegates
• Where and when did they meet?

  Philadelphia, summer of 1787 at Independence Hall
• Who was at every meeting and is credited with writing a large portion of the Constitution?

  James Madison
• Who supported the Virginia Plan?

  States who had a large population
• What does "bicameral" mean?

  2 houses
• How did this plan work?

  One house was elected by voters, the second house was elected by the first house
• How was it determined how many Congressmen a state would have?

  Determined by state population
• Who supported the New Jersey plan?

  States who had a smaller population
• How did the New Jersey plan work?

  Each state would have the same number of Representatives or votes
• How did the New Jersey plan work?

  Each state would have the same number of Representatives or votes
• How did the Great Compromise reflect parts of both plans?

  House of Representatives; number of reps based on states population

  Senate; each state gets 2 reps
• Why did slavery become an issue at this time?

  Made up 1/3 of the population so the southern states wanted to use them for more Representatives
• Why did people of the North not want slaves to count toward the population of the southern states?

  In the South, slaves were treated as property, not people
• What was the 3/5 Compromise?

  Only 3/5 of the number of slaves were allowed to count towards a states population (60%) (5 blacks = 3 whites)
• Branch: Legislative

  Represented by: House of Reps, Senate (Congress)

  Function: Congress makes laws
• Branch: Executive

  Represented by: President

  Function: Carry out laws
• Branch: Judicial

  Represented by: Federal court system

  Function: Interpret laws