Verfassungskonvent der Vereinigten Staaten
The Philadelphia Convention (now also known as the Constitutional Convention or the Federal Convention, but in the newspapers of the time the "Foederal Convention" [1] or the "Grand Convention at Philadelphia") took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, to address problems in The United States of America following independence from Great Britain. Although it was purportedly intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention of many of the Convention's proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was from the outset to create a new government rather than "fix" the existing one. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. The convention is considered one of the founding events in the history of the United States.
Historical Context
After the Constitution was drafted, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists both agreed about the government's failure to deal with commerce. Virginia and Maryland had made an effective agreement about navigating the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and wanted Delaware and Pennsylvania to join. Such an agreement, however, was illegal without the consent of the Confederal Congress assembled under Article VI of the Articles of Confederation. Frustration over the deal led to the Annapolis Convention, where only five states came to discuss possible trade remedies. At the convention, the date for Philadelphia in 1787 was set. Two events took place that increased the Philadelphia Convention's legitimacy. First, New York vetoed Robert Morris' 25-year plan to raise revenue after all other states had agreed (many with reservations). The nation was in desperate need of revenue to pay foreign debts to France and the Netherlands, soldiers who were fighting Indians in western lands, and general costs of running a government. The 1786 impost requested $3.8 million dollars and received only $663 in requisitions. Second, Shay's Rebellion shook the country. The rebellion to capture an arsenal in Massachusetts was suppressed relatively easily, but news of the event scared people in all states and exposed the Articles' weaknesses. In the ratification debate, Federalists exaggerated the desperate need for a new government. Frenchman Louis Otto noted that the brief recession of 1786-1787 had "happily arisen," and historian William Findley argued that the Federalists' cries were "convincing a man in health he is sick." After ratification, Alexander Hamilton noted in his First Report on Public Credit as Secretary of the Treasury that the economic recession was a "rehearsal" for future problems.
Deliberations
Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan was the unofficial agenda for the Convention. The Virginia delegation arrived before the other delegations to Philadelphia and began meeting for hours a day to discuss plans for the new government. All but the first resolution was written by James Madison, and was first reported to the Convention by Edmund Randolph. It included:
- A bicameral legislature
- Both houses' membership determined proportionately
- The lower house was elected by the people of the several states
- The upper house was elected by the lower house out of nominations from state legislatures
- The legislature was very powerful
- An executive was planned, but would exist to ensure the will of the legislature was carried out, and was so chosen by the legislature
- Formation of a judiciary, with life-terms of service
- A Council of Revision consisted of the executive and some of the national judiciary and would have the power to veto and revise national legislation, subject to override
- The national legislature had a negative on state laws
New Jersey Plan
Some, like William Paterson, thought that if too much power was given to government, or to larger states, then they could swallow up the smaller states and take over the House, and the smaller states would have little influence in future issues in the country. The New Jersey Plan was largely a response to the Virginia Plan. Paterson reported the plan to the Convention on June 15, 1787. It included:
- The current Congress was maintained, but granted new powers. For example, the Congress could set taxes and force their collection
- An executive, elected by Congress, was created - the Plan allowed for a multi-person executive
- The executives served a single term and were subject to recall based on the request of state governors
- A judiciary appointed by the executives, with life-terms of service
- Laws enacted by the Congress took precedence over state law
Hamilton's Plan
On June 18th Alexander Hamilton reported his own plan for the US government. In a marathon speech, Hamilton outlined a plan calling for a president and Senate that would be elected, but serve for life on "good behavior," and a House of Representatives directly elected for three year terms. It was largely based on the British form of government, which still had a number of admirers in America, and hinted of Monarchy. The plan was never seriously considered by the convention. Although the delegates had agreed that the debates of the convention were to be confidential, in later years, Hamilton's political foes leaked elements of his plan in an effort to cast Hamilton as a monarchist.
Hamilton left the convention soon after, only to return to sign the Constitution near the end of the Convention.
Dickinson's Plan
John Dickinson also formed a plan. He never formally presented it in its entirety, but his notes reveal his general ideas. Because he owned substantial property in a large state and in a small state, he anticipated the debates over representation. Dickinson proposed a resolution that based representation upon financial contribution. Historians speculate that Dickinson was going to present the rest of his plan if his first resolution was generally accepted. He did not want to follow Hamilton's five hour-long oration, and he fell ill, complaining of a "severe headache," shortly after he planned to present it. Delegates objected to the first resolution on the basis that some states without ports would have no source of revenue and therefore would be taken over in the government by wealthier states. New Jersey was a "cask tapped at both ends" according to Madison, and North Carolina was a "patient bleeding at both arms." His plan was not adopted, but Dickinson supported the final Constitution.
The Great Compromise
Roger Sherman was well liked in the convention, and he had the respect of many of the other members. Earlier on June 11, Sherman proposed: "That the proportion of suffrage in the 1st. branch should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants; and that in the second branch or Senate, each State should have one vote and no more." This was largely disregarded as too radical at first. Later when neither side would give into the other, they made a compromise, known as The Great Compromise following Sherman's plan of having the House of Representatives be based on population and in the Senate each state would get an equal amount of Senators. This was also known as the Connecticut Compromise.
Slavery
How would slavery work in the new government set up by the Constitution? On June 11th Sherman suggested that only free persons should be counted, but the southern states wanted slaves to be counted as well. James Wilson suggested that only three-fifths of the population of slaves would be counted. It was later agreed to, and became known as the Three-Fifths Compromise. It was also decided that the new government could not ban the slave trade for at least 20 years (January 1, 1808). In effect they postponed the decision on the slave trade because of its contentious nature. The delegates to the Convention did not want its ratification to fail because of the conflict over slavery.
Drafting and signing
In late July, the convention appointed a committee to draft a document based on the agreements that had been reached. After another month of discussion and refinement, a second committee, the Committee of Style and Arrangement, headed by Gouverneur Morris, and including Hamilton, William Samuel Johnson, Rufus King, and Madison, produced the final version, which was submitted for signing on September 17. Morris is credited now, as then, as the chief draftsman of the final document, including the stirring preamble.
Not all the delegates were pleased with the results; some left before the ceremony, and three of those remaining refused to sign: Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. Of the 39 who did sign, probably no one was completely satisfied, but such is the nature of compromise. Their views were ably summed up by Benjamin Franklin, who said, "There are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. ... I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. ... It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies..."
Delegates Who Attended
The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the outstanding leaders, or Founding Fathers, of the new nation. Thomas Jefferson said, “It is really an assembly of demi-gods.” about the convention. They represented a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and stations in life, although the vast majority of them were wealthy landowners, and all were white males. There were thirty-two lawyers, eleven merchants, four politicians, two military men, two doctors, two teacher/educators, one inventor, and one farmer. The Convention was mostly made up of Christian faiths (and Deism) including Congregationalist, Deist, Dutch Reformed, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, and Roman Catholic. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not attend; they were abroad in Europe, but they wrote home to encourage the delegates. Patrick Henry was also absent, he refused to go for he "smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy."
- Connecticut
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- No Appointment
- South Carolina
- Virginia
(*) Did not sign the final draft of the U.S. Constitution
See also
References
- ↑ Catherine Drinker Bowen, "Miracle at Philadelphia", Bantam, 1968