Notes from 3/08/01

American History I
Notes from 3/8/01

Twelve out of the thirteen states attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia that began in May, 1787. (Rhode Island did not send anyone.) After initial debate, it became clear that instead of merely amending the Articles of Confederation, they should draft a whole new constitution. There were 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, all white males, mostly wealthy farmers, lawyers and merchants. Many were college graduates, and most had prior political experience. In other words, it was a very elite group. [SEE CHARTS]

Therefore, the delegates did not try to create a pure democracy, which many at the Convention associated with mob rule. Instead they wanted to create a national government that gave the people only limited direct control. Only the House of Representatives would be directly elected by the people. Senators were appointed by state legislatures, and the President would be chosen by an electoral college. This was part of the so-called Madisonian Model, keeping as much out of the direct control of the people as possible.

The 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were divided on a number of issues. There was a division between large and small states. Large states favored proportional representation in the Congress (basing the number of representatives on each state’s population – Virginia Plan). Small states argued for equal representation (New Jersey). Under the Connecticut Compromise, the delegates agreed that the House of Representatives was to have proportional representation, while in the Senate each state would have two votes regardless of its size.

There were also important compromises regarding slavery. The delegates agreed that the importation of slaves could be prohibited by Congress after 1808, but that slavery would remain legal. They also agreed to count each slave as three-fifths a person for determining representation in the House.

Once the constitution was drafted, it had to be ratified by each state. Despite the fact that the delegates had compromised on many issues, there were still people who vigorously opposed the new constitution. People in favor of the constitution were called Federalists; those who opposed it were called Anti-Federalists. During the fall and winter of 1787-88, the Federalists went on the offensive. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote a series of essays in defense of the proposed constitution, which would become known as the Federalist Papers. In states like New York, where it appeared that the vote on ratification would be a close one, federalist and anti-federalist arguments dominated to press.

By July, 1788 eleven out of the thirteen states had ratified the constitution:

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However, many Anti-Federalists remained concerned about whether the new federal government would protect individual and states’ rights. Delegates like Thomas Jefferson wanted the Constitution to specifically guarantee that the new federal government would not make laws limiting religion, speech or assembly, and that it would respect basic liberty interests. The two states that had not yet ratified the constitution (Rhode Island and North Carolina) wanted such guarantees before they would join the union. Federalists initially argued that such specific guarantees were unnecessary, because the government could only do the things that were specifically set out in the constitution. However, to ensure that all states would ratify the new constitution, the federalists agreed to propose a Bill of Rights, which are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Once the Bill of Rights proposed by Congress (September, 1789), North Carolina and Rhode Island joined the other states in ratifying the constitution.

With the constitution ratified, the new government could get going. George Washington was the unanimous choice to be the first President; he was inaugurated in 1789.