The Constitutional Convention...

The Constitutional Convention was held from May 25th to September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia.  Delegates from 12 of the 13 states (Rhode Island did not participate) came together to write a set of rules for the country.  The plan was to revise The Articles of Confederation, but they ended up writing an entirely new government.  A lot of things were discussed at the convention including: The Virginia Plan, The New Jersey Plan, The Connecticut Compromise, The 3/5 Compromise, and the Commerce- Slave Compromise.

Signing The Constitution

#1 The Connecticut Compromise

The Connecticut Compromise combined parts of both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.  It is also known as "The Great Compromise".  This compromise said that the legislative branch of government would be bicameral, or have two separate houses.  Each state would sent two senators to one house and representatives would be based on the population of each state. The value of equality works in this compromise also because both the large and small states would send only two senators to one house, no matter the size of the state. Popular Sovereignty is a huge value in this compromise because each states sent senators and representatives to represent their state, so that the power is coming from the people.

#2 The Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan for three separate but equal branches. The three branches were to be Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. This is making the Congress bicameral, meaning we would have The Senate, and The House of Representatives. The number of representation in each house, was determined on the states population. Not only was it determined by the population, it was also determined by how much money the state gave the government; making it equal. The powers of the Congress were determined on what it said in the Articles of Confederation. Equality works in this compromise because it called for three separate but "equal" branches. The common good works in this also, because making Congress bicameral, made it so that the government was not too powerful.

#3 The New Jersey Plan

The New Jersey Plan was an alternative to The Virginia Plan proposed by William Peterson.  It called for a unicameral government, which means there would only be one house.  Small states feared that larger states would be much more powerful, because they had larger populations.  The New Jersey plan said that each state would be equally represented in the government.  This means that each state would get one vote in Congress.  It also gave the government new powers such as the ability to control commerce.  Although this plan was not accepted, parts of it were added to the New Jersey Plan, which was accepted. Popular Sovereignty is a value in this compromise, because it gave the people power in the government, with them being able to have a say. Another value that works in this compromise is common good, because they all worked together to benefit the entire country, by giving the small and large states equal representation. For example, giving each state only one vote in congress gave the small and large states equal representation.

#4 3/5 Compromise

The 3/5 Compromise was based on the number of seats in the House based on population and whether slaves should be counted. The southerners wanted slaves to be counted, so they could have more representation, however the north thought the opposite. The population in the south was larger do to the slave trade, than in the north. The north wanted equal representation so the north and south made a compromise. The compromise was that three out of five slaves were counted in the population, but in return the southerners had to pay a price in taxes for three out of the five. Equality is a major value that works for the 3/5 Compromise, because it gave the north and south equal representation.  The 3/5 Compromise works with the value of the common good, because it made both the south and north equal, preventing problems in the near future.

#5 Commerce- Slave Trade

Many Southerners were fearful that Congress would try to pay for the new government by taxing exports. Southern Tobacco was the major export in America, and the southerners were fearful that Congress would pay for the new government with the money. The Commerce and Slave Trade compromise said that Congress was not allowed to interfere on the slave trade for at least 20 years. Congress was also not allowed to put taxes on exports of goods from the States. The core democratic value of common good is one value that works for this. The Commerce- Slave trade compromise was for the common good of the majority of people, this prevented the government from interfering with the slave trade, and making the southerners unhappy. Equality is another value that works, making the government and the southerners equal in this compromise.

#6 Bundle Of Compromises

The Constitution was often referred to as "The Bundle of Compromises." All of the different delegates had to come together to agree on basic issues, despite their different opinions. Some of the issues were the selection of the President, the treaty making process, the structure of the court system, and the amendment process. The Bundle of compromises said that treaties will be negotiated by the president and ratified by the senate.  The principles of checks and balances and the separation of powers, was one idea accepted by all. Popular Sovereignty is one principle of government being used here, giving the people power. The Framers all came together to agree on big issues, but often disagreed on the smaller issues. Benjamin Franklin said that the Constitutional Convention was "sawing boards to make them fit." Another core democratic value that has to do with the Bundle of Compromises is justice. Justice is basically fairness, and equality between the states, making sure that not one state has more power over another.