Why was it held? What were its objectives? How successful was it? What impact did it have? Consider all of those questions and more here in this thread.
The Constitutional Convention was held from May 25 to September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.It was held to address problems in the US following independence from Britian Although it was supposedly intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton knew from the beginning that they were there to create a new government rather than "fix" the existing one.We needed a new government because the Articles of Confederation was lacking taxing authority.Also, it gave each state one vote for major issues.Lastly, it created a weak national government that was only good for managing the Revolutionary War. One of the major plans proposed was the Virginia Plan.It included a bicameral legislature, both houses membership was determined proportionally, the lower house elected by the people and the upper house was elected by the lower house.Under this plan, the legislature was powerful, an executive branch was planned and a judiciary branch was formed.In response to the Virginia Plan was the New Jersey Plan.It called for more powers for Congress, a multi-person executive branch, a judiciary with life-long terms, Congress took precedence over state law and a unicameral house with each state having one vote.
Do you think that the ideas of Alexander Hamilton and james Madison were good? The Virginia plan gave Congress precendence over state law, but were you saying that the Articles of Confederation created a weak national government or the ideas that they put forth at the Constitutional Convention?
The Great Compromise (a.k.a the Connecticut Compromise) was also made during the Constitutional Convention...the House of Representatives would be based on population, and the Senate would consist of an equal amount of Senators from each state.
I would pick the Virginia Plan because it favors big states and it makes a strong national government. That was the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
