U.S. History IFrom Confederation to Constitution (1781 to 1800)D2.Civ.3.9-12

The Constitutional Convention

In 1787 delegates in Philadelphia replaced the Articles; the Great (Connecticut) Compromise blended the Virginia Plan (seats by population) and the New Jersey Plan (equal seats), and other compromises dealt with slavery and the presidency.

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After Shays' Rebellion, twelve states sent delegates to Philadelphia (Rhode Island stayed away). From May 25 to September 17, 1787, 55 delegates met in the same building where the Declaration had been signed, with George Washington presiding. They were sent to revise the Articles. Instead they wrote a new constitution.

Key idea

The Virginia Plan (James Madison's ideas) wanted a strong government with seats in Congress by population. The New Jersey Plan wanted equal votes for every state. The Great (Connecticut) Compromise did both: the House by population, the Senate with two members per state. Other compromises dealt with slavery, trade and the presidency.

Why it works

Big states and small states each had a fair point. Virginia said a vote should count the same for every citizen, so more people should mean more seats. Delaware said the states were equals that had joined by choice, and a small state would be swallowed. Two houses let both principles stand. The vote on July 16, 1787, passed by a single state.
Where does each idea belong?

The compromises over slavery

Nearly one in five people in the states was enslaved, most in the South. Southern delegates wanted enslaved people counted for seats in the House; Northern delegates did not want them counted for seats if they were not counted as people with rights. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted "three fifths of all other Persons" (enslaved people) for House seats and direct taxes. The Convention also barred Congress from banning the slave trade before 1808 and required that people who escaped slavery be returned. The word "slavery" does not appear in the Constitution of 1787.

Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 held the three-fifths rule. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) replaced it.

Worked example: Working the three-fifths rule

A state has 300,000 free people and 100,000 enslaved people. What population counts for its House seats under the three-fifths rule?
  1. Count every free person: 300,000.
  2. Count three of every five enslaved people: 100,000 × 3/5 = 60,000.
  3. Add: 300,000 + 60,000 = 360,000.

Answer: 360,000

Common mistake

A common error is to say the Constitution declared enslaved people "three-fifths of a person" in law. The clause was a counting rule for House seats and direct taxes. It gave the slaveholding states more seats, while enslaved people themselves had no vote and no rights under it. Check: whose power grew because of the count? The slaveholders'.

The delegates also invented a single President chosen by electors, gave Congress the power to tax and regulate trade, and set up a Supreme Court. On September 17, 39 delegates signed. Then the fight over ratification began.

Practice

Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.

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