5 6 authors of liberty writing the US constitution

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Scott Foresman Social Studies

Nonfi ction Draw Conclusions • Captions

• Headings

ISBN 0-328-14896-2

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Fascinating Facts

health was so poor that he had to be carried to the sessions

in a chair Still, he rarely missed a session

Declaration of Independence At the time the declaration

was signed, he was in New York serving as the commander

of the Continental Army

Convention were lawyers or had studied law

Scott Foresman Social Studies

Nonfi ction Draw Conclusions • Captions

• Headings

ISBN 0-328-14896-2

ì<(sk$m)=beijgh< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

Fascinating Facts

health was so poor that he had to be carried to the sessions

in a chair Still, he rarely missed a session

Declaration of Independence At the time the declaration

was signed, he was in New York serving as the commander

of the Continental Army

Convention were lawyers or had studied law

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Write to It!

Many agreements involve compromise Why do you think compromising is so important? Write two paragraphs in which you explain the importance of compromise Be sure to give examples, other than the Constitution, to support your argument

Write your argument on a separate sheet of paper.

ISBN: 0-328-14896-2

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Photographs

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Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©The Granger Collection, NY

2 ©The Granger Collection, NY

5 ©Library of Congress

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Vocabulary

delegate compromise legislative branch executive branch judicial branch checks and balances

ratify

In 1787 some of the smartest people in the United

States came together to address the problem of the

nation’s weak central government Through cooperation

and compromise, these leaders created the United States

Constitution In this book you will read about some

of the people whose contributions were critical to the

writing of this important document

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The Origin of the United States Constitution

When the American Revolution ended in 1783, the United

States was triumphant However, in the years that followed, the

young nation still struggled to stand on its own

The Articles of Confederation of 1781 had established a

weak central government with Congress as the only branch

Congress’s powers were so limited that it could not raise money

through taxes This meant that it could neither pay the nation’s

debts nor fund the government’s activities Congress also could

not establish a uniform money supply to be used throughout

the country As a result, every state had its own bills and coins,

causing much confusion about the value of money Congress

could not even make trade laws with other nations, and the

United States could not begin to form strong relationships with

the rest of the world

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Because of the weakness of Congress, the young United

Constitutional Convention in 1787 knew that Congress, as is, was ineffective They understood that the government needed to change Some of the delegates wanted the government to remain rather weak, to protect the people from the kind of tyranny they had suffered under British rule Others thought that a strong government was needed to ensure stability

Over several months the delegates created the United States Constitution The process involved many arguments and many

compromises The result was a strong central government with

three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch The Constitution also took steps to protect the people The delegates wrote a system of checks and

balances into the government But the Constitution also left

many powers in the hands of the states

The authors of the Constitution were among our nation’s smartest people of the time, but this did not mean that they always agreed with one another Who were these leaders who came together, hammered out their differences, and wrote the document that still forms the foundation of our country’s government? Read on to find out

When some of the nation’s early leaders came together at the Constitutional Convention in

1787, the Constitution was written.

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“The Father of the Constitution”:

James Madison

The most influential person at the Constitutional

Convention may have been James Madison of Virginia A

supporter of a strong central government, Madison came

to the convention with a powerful plan for the nation His

plan was called the Virginia Plan because Madison was from

Virginia, as were some of the other delegates who helped him form it

The Articles of Confederation had a unicameral Congress,

or one with only one house

The Virginia Plan featured a legislature with two houses, or

a bicameral one

Madison’s plan also suggested three branches of government, none of which would be permitted to become too powerful His plan supported the idea of a strong national government to unify the states

Madison’s Virginia Plan greatly influenced the Constitutional Convention

James Madison was a supporter

of a strong central government.

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The delegates rejected many of the details of Madison’s Virginia Plan, but its basic structure became the framework

of the Constitution As Madison suggested, the Constitution created a republic with three branches of government It put into place a system of checks and balances to keep each branch from becoming too strong

Madison frequently took the floor at the convention, and his Virginia Plan influenced the Constitution profoundly

Madison also contributed to the wording of the Constitution, and kept thorough notes on the debates that took place After the Constitution was signed, Madison worked hard to convince

the states to ratify it Madison was tireless in his efforts to create

a strong plan of government for the nation Today, Madison is known as “The Father of the Constitution.”

This is the first page of the Virginia Plan.

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The Leader of the Constitutional Convention:

George Washington

Lawyers, soldiers, farmers, businesspeople, and merchants filled

the seats at the Constitutional Convention Many of them had

fought in the Revolutionary War, and many had contributed to the

writing of their state constitutions Even among such distinguished

people, however, one stood out as the leader: George Washington

George Washington was an American hero As commander

of the Continental Army, he had led the Americans to victory

over the British He had led the United States to win its

independence The nation admired both Washington’s strength

and his modesty

Washington was a true American Patriot His ambitions were for

the country and not for himself He always put his own glory aside

to work instead for the good of the nation

Against all odds, George Washington led the Americans to victory in the Revolutionary War.

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In 1787 Washington feared that unless the national government was strengthened, the union of states would fall apart Like

Madison, Washington wanted to throw out the Articles of Confederation and create a new Constitution He was convinced that a more powerful national government was needed to bring stability and harmony to the young United States

The delegates unanimously elected Washington as the leader of the convention For many of them, Washington had the qualities of all that they wanted in a government: dignity, stability, authority, and restraint With the leadership of George Washington, the delegates found the means to come together, compromise, and create a government for the good of the people

George Washington’s wanted what was best for the country, not for himself.

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“The Sage of the Constitutional Convention”:

Benjamin Franklin

At the age of eighty-one, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was the oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention Franklin

agreed with Washington and Madison He believed that the country’s only hope for survival was a strong national government Though elderly and ill, Franklin managed

to contribute his wisdom and his experience to the framing of the Constitution

Today, Benjamin Franklin

is called “The Sage of the Constitutional Convention.”

Franklin had lived

a remarkable life As a writer, scientist, inventor, ambassador, and political leader, he had an unlimited curiosity,

an adventurous spirit, and a love of knowledge He was greatly

respected by the other delegates When tempers flared, which

happened rather often, Franklin worked hard to soothe the

emotions of the debaters He used his influence to encourage

compromise

Benjamin Franklin believed in a

strong national government.

Franklin had objections to the final Constitution, but he signed it anyway In his own words, “I expect no better because

I am not sure, that it is not the best.” He pleaded with other dissatisfied delegates to sign He knew that they faced an enormous challenge as they struggled to build the government described in the Constitution Franklin believed that it was important for the delegates to unify and face the challenge together despite their differences

Some of Benjamin Franklin’s inventions included the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, and bifocal glasses.

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The Champion of the Constitution:

Alexander Hamilton

New York delegate Alexander Hamilton believed strongly

in the need for a strong government Hamilton called for a

government in which the leader of the executive branch and the

senators served for life Hamilton’s beliefs were among the most

extreme at the convention

Hamilton admired the government of Britain Most of the

delegates were afraid of creating the tyranny of Britain again in

their new land, so they rejected many of Hamilton’s ideas

Alexander Hamilton believed the senators and the executive branch should serve for life.

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Not surprisingly, Hamilton had serious problems with the Constitution He worried that the new government would not

be strong enough to last However, Hamilton understood the importance of compromise The Constitution was better than the Articles of Confederation, and so Hamilton set his own opinions aside and signed it

Hamilton went on to strongly support the Constitution He wrote persuasive essays in which he explained the benefits of the new government One after another, the states agreed to ratify the document With the help of Alexander Hamilton, someone humble enough to sacrifice his own ideals, the Constitution became law

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote

a collection of persuasive essays called The Federalist in

support of the Constitution.

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Others Speak Out and Are Heard

Not all of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention

were in favor of a strong national government One delegate

who opposed those ideas was George Mason from Virginia

Mason’s basic concern was one voiced by many: a strong

government would threaten the rights of the people It would

turn the new nation into the same kind of oppressive nation

from which it had just won its independence Mason worried

that the President would become like a king He feared that

the states would not have enough power and that a strong

government would restrict the rights of the people, such as

freedom of the press or freedom of religion

Mason had many friends and supporters Unlike Mason,

Thomas Jefferson believed in a strong central government, yet

he agreed with Mason that the Constitution needed a bill of

rights Jefferson was not a delegate to the Constitutional Convention because he was

in Europe serving as the American Minister to France

He did, however, make his opinions known from afar

George Mason’s proposal to include a bill of rights in the Constitution was defeated.

13

Other delegates, and even citizens across the nation, joined Mason and Jefferson in the fight for a bill of rights An

influential Massachusetts writer named Mercy Otis Warren wrote a criticism of the Constitution in which she objected to its omission of a bill of rights

During the ratification process, most states insisted, as a condition of ratification, that Congress immediately add a bill of rights to the Constitution The Bill of Rights to the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and other basic freedoms

Mercy Otis Warren dedicated her life to the fight for civil liberties.

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Another major concern among

many delegates involved state

representation In fact, the issue of

how many representatives each state

had in Congress sparked one of the

convention’s biggest arguments

The larger states believed that the

number of representatives each state

had in Congress should be based on

population This would mean that

larger states like Virginia, for example,

would have more representatives than

smaller states like Delaware Not surprisingly, the smaller states

disagreed with this idea They insisted that every state have the

same number of representatives, regardless of population

Fortunately, a thoughtful voice spoke up Connecticut

delegate Roger Sherman reminded his colleagues that they were

considering dividing Congress into two houses, the House of

Representatives and the Senate He suggested that the number

of members in the House should depend on state population,

while the number of members in the Senate should be the same

for every state

The delegates debated, and eventually agreed Sherman’s

suggestion became known as the Great Compromise This

compromise saved the Constitutional Convention from

failure and made both large and small states more willing to

ratify the Constitution

Roger Sherman came up with the Great Compromise.

Standing Together

Whether the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were famous leaders, such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, or less well-known representatives, such as Roger Sherman, their contributions were beyond comparison

On September 17, 1787, thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates signed the Constitution For those who signed it, the document was a triumph of cooperation and compromise Almost all of the delegates had concerns about it but were determined to stand together They hoped that the Constitution would become the framework for a strong, free, and lasting nation

The Constitution became law in late summer of 1788 after Virginia and New York became the tenth and eleventh states

to ratify it Only nine states were needed for ratification, but everyone knew that the

Constitution could not work until the two largest and most powerful states had approved it For this valuable document, we must thank the delegates of the Constitutional Convention who came

together in the spirit of strength, liberty, cooperation, and compromise

The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787.

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Glossary

checks and balances a system in which each

branch of government checks the power of the other branches

compromise a deal in which each side gives up

something in order to reach an agreement

delegate a representative executive branch the part of the government

that is in charge of enforcing our nation’s laws

judicial branch the part of the government

that is in charge of interpreting our nation’s laws

legislative branch the part of the government

that makes our nation’s laws

ratify to approve