How did the debate between the New Jersey Plan and Virginia Plan during the Constitutional Convention shape representation in Congress? Describe both plans in depth and how the Framers found middle ground in order to ratify the new governing document.
2. Briefly explain each Article in the Constitution (beginning with the Preamble).
3. List and define the six basic governmental principles listed in the Constitution. Include examples of how these principles are reflected in government action today.
4. Summarize the debate for ratification. Your response should contain detailed explanations of both the Federalist and Anti-Federalist arguments. What was added to the new document for both sides to agree to ratify?
5. Explain the process by which the Constitution can be changed. Please include the following: what section of the Constitution that allows for changes to be made, the methods by which changes can be proposed, and how these changes are ratified and become law.
Answers
Federalism is the theory or advocacy of federal principles for dividing powers between member units and common institutions.
Answer:
The Constitutional Convention[1] (contemporarily known as the Federal Convention,[1] the Philadelphia Convention,[1] or the Grand Convention at Philadelphia)[2][3] took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in the old Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation,[4] the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington of Virginia, former commanding general of the Continental Army in the late American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and proponent of a stronger national government, to become President of the convention. The result of the convention was the creation of the Constitution of the United States, placing the Convention among the most significant events in American history.
At the time, the convention was not referred to as a "Constitutional convention", nor did most of the delegates arrive intending to draft a new constitution. Many assumed that the purpose of the convention was to discuss and draft improvements to the existing Articles of Confederation, and would not have agreed to participate otherwise. Once the convention began, however, most of the delegates – though not all – came to agree in general terms that the goal would be a new system of government, not simply a revised version of the Articles of Confederation.
Several broad outlines were proposed and debated, most notably James Madison's Virginia Plan and William Paterson's New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan was selected as the basis for the new government. While the concept of a federal government with three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) and the general role of each branch was not heavily disputed, several issues delayed further progress and threatened the success of the convention. The most contentious disputes revolved around the composition and election of the Senate as the upper legislative house of a bicameral Congress; whether "proportional representation" was to be defined by a state's geography or by its population, and whether slaves were to be counted; whether to divide the executive power among three people or vest the power in a single chief executive to be called the President; how a president would be elected, for what term, and whether to limit each president to a single term; what offenses should be impeachable; the nature of a fugitive slave clause, and whether to allow the abolition of the slave trade; and whether judges should be chosen by the legislature or the executive. Most of the time during the convention was spent on deciding these issues.