Convention constitutionnelle de 1787 (document en anglais)
Commentaire de texte : Convention constitutionnelle de 1787 (document en anglais). Recherche parmi 300 000+ dissertationsPar babybou • 11 Octobre 2014 • Commentaire de texte • 326 Mots (2 Pages) • 626 Vues
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called to revise the ailing Articles of Confederation.
However, it was decided that the best solution to the young country's problems was to set aside the
Articles of Confederation and draft a new constitution. Delegates from all of the states except
Rhode Island convened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Washington was chosen president of
the convention.
The men had a big task ahead of them. A huge problem was to decide how the legislature would be
structured. Some wanted representation to be based on population (Virginia Plan). Others wanted
equal representation (New Jersey Plan). Roger Sherman from Connecticut proposed a legislature
with two parts. States would have equal representation in the Senate. The population of states would
determine representation in the House. Three months later and after a lot of debate this "Great
Compromise" was agreed upon. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was
finally accepted by the delegates.
Nine states had to approve the Constitution before it could go into effect. The Founding Fathers now
had to get all the states to agree that this was a good document and that they should vote in favor of
it. This was the first great political question that faced Americans. People in favor of the
Constitution were called Federalists while those opposed were called Anti-Federalists. James
Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote a series of articles in favor of the Constitution
that became known as The Federalist Papers. Some of these articles explained about the system of
"checks and balances" in the Constitution wherein no one branch of government would have more
power than the other two.
On December 3, 1787, Delaware was the first state to ratify it. New Hampshire became the ninth
state to accept the Constitution on June 21, 1788, ending government under the Articles of
Confederation. It was not until May 29, 1790 that the last state, Rhode Island, finally accepted the
Constitution.
...