Constitution Compromises

1)   Who were some important individuals at the convention.

a.     James Madison

b.     B. Franklin

c.      James Wilson

d.     Gouverneur Morris

e.     G. Washington

f.      A. Hamilton

2)    Who were the delegates?  What did they have in common?

a.     Wealthy, white, politics-experienced men

b.     Experienced & Educated

3)   What were the key agreements?

a.     Limited and representative government

b.     Limit power of states to not coin money, interefere w/ creditors’ rights

c.      National government should be divided into three branches

4)   Compromises - briefly outline or explain the following compromises:

a.     The Virginia Plan     

                                               i.     Presented the idea for a legislature w/ two houses, a single national executive, national judiciary promoted by the legislature

                                              ii.     Complete plan made the Virginians more able to control hoe the session went

                                            iii.     Large sates favored this

b.      The New Jersey Plan

                                               i.     Based on keeping the unicameral legislature ie one vote per state

                                              ii.     Small states favored this

c.      The Connecticut Compromise

                                               i.     Suggested the two house legislature with one house based on population and one with two members from each state

d.     The 3/5 Compromise

                                               i.     Southern states wanted the slaves to be counted as people for numbers, but not for taxes

                                              ii.     Northern states wanted the opposite

                                            iii.     Compromise: a slave equals 3/5 of a person

e.     The Slave-Trade Compromise

                                               i.     Southern states didn’t want Congress to control trade since they were heavily invested in slaves and exports

                                              ii.     Compromise: Congress could limit/control interstate and foreign trade; the Congress couldn’t ban slave trading until 1808

f.      The Slavery Question

                                               i.     Some states were phasing out slaves, these knew the Southern states wouldn’t ratify a constitution banning slavery

g.     The Electoral College and Presidential Term

                                               i.     The electoral college would elect the president because the Congress didn’t trust the people to vote for the “right” person

                                              ii.     Federalists wanted a longer presidential term, state right advocators wanted a shorter term, they came to the agreement on a four year presidential term

h.     What was the Anti-Federalists strongest argument?

                                               i.     They claimed the constitution was made in secrecy ie extralegal

                                              ii.     There was no Bill of Rights

i.       Who wrote the Federalist papers?

                                               i.     John Jay

                                              ii.     Alexander Hamilton

                                            iii.     James Madison