Constitutional Convention

Constitutional Convention
the convention in Philadelphia (1787) of representatives from each of the former Colonies, except Rhode Island, at which the Constitution of the United States was framed.

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(May–September 1787) Assembly that drafted the Constitution of the United States.

All states but Rhode Island sent delegates in response to a call by the Annapolis Convention for a meeting in Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation. The delegates decided to replace the Articles with a document that strengthened the federal government. An important issue was the apportioning of legislative representation. Two plans were presented: the Virginia plan, favoured by the large states, apportioned representatives by population or wealth; the New Jersey plan, favoured by the small states, provided for equal representation for each state. A compromise established the bicameral Congress to ensure both equal and proportional representation. The document was approved on September 17 and sent to the states for ratification.

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▪ United States history
 (1787), in U.S. history, convention that drew up the Constitution of the United States (Constitution of the United States of America). Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays's Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–Sept. 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation. All the states except Rhode Island responded to an invitation issued by the Annapolis Convention of 1786 to send delegates. Of the 74 deputies chosen by the state legislatures, only 55 took part in the proceedings; of these, 39 signed the Constitution. The delegates included many of the leading figures of the period. Among them were George Washington, who was elected to preside, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Oliver Ellsworth, and Gouverneur Morris.

      Discarding the idea of amending the Articles of Confederation, the assembly set about drawing up a new scheme of government but found itself divided, delegates from small states (those without claims to unoccupied western lands) opposing those from large states over the apportionment of representation. Edmund Randolph (Randolph, Edmund Jennings) offered a plan known as the Virginia, or large state, plan, which provided for a bicameral legislature with representation of each state based on its population or wealth. William Paterson (Paterson, William) proposed the New Jersey, or small state, plan, which provided for equal representation in Congress (Congress of the United States). Neither the large nor the small states would yield. Oliver Ellsworth and Roger Sherman, among others, in what is sometimes called the Connecticut, or Great, Compromise, proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation of the states in the upper house. All revenue measures would originate in the lower house. That compromise was approved July 16.

      The matter of counting slaves (slavery) in the population for figuring representation was settled by a compromise agreement that three-fifths of the slaves should be counted as population in apportioning representation and should also be counted as property in assessing taxes. Controversy over the abolition of the importation of slaves ended with the agreement that importation should not be forbidden before 1808. The powers of the federal executive and judiciary were enumerated, and the Constitution was itself declared to be the “supreme law of the land.” The convention's work was approved by a majority of the states the following year.

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Universalium. 2010.

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