James Madison And The Federal Convention

The United States had some fundamental problems in the late 1780 's. Many saw this and were looking for a way to produce a national government that would be more than the virtually powerless government the United States currently had. Pennsylvania was represented in the federal convention by a larger delegation than any of the other states.

Following the United States’ independence from Great Britain, delegates from each collective state set out to establish a body to govern the newly formed nation. From this came the Articles of Confederation, which was officially ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation proved to be a landmark in government for those days because it was a model of what a loose confederation could be. However, this soon failed because the official

My single story about the constitution was that it came right after America gained its independence. After deep analysis of James Madison quote about framing a government “We are in the wilderness without a single footstep to guide us” I learned that creating a government is trial and error and is more complex than I imagined. This quote was able to show me the fear of trying to carve out a new system of government. In eighth grade when I “learned” about the constitution it was about the amendments but not why the constitution was created (Articles of Confederation) and how the founding fathers were taking a gamble by forming a democracy. While creating the constitution the founding father had tried to appease the American people*. The constitution

James Madison wrote an essay called, “The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles.” He wrote a section called, “Federalist 39,” which talked about publicizing the Constitution, “partly federal and partly national .” James Madison argues with his claim because it was reliable with Dual Federalism.

The Article of Confederation was ratified in 1781. This Article was part of the formation of a national government in the United States. But, by 1787, a reform convention was held to address the Article’s weaknesses. This event also brought about tension in the country between two groups, the Federalists and Antifederalists. Federalists were a group of people that advocated for a system of government, while Antifederalists opposed the creation of a stronger America. The Article of Confederation  was designed as a loose confederation of 13 states, and reflected principles of the Declaration of Independence. But, difficulties began to arise with the new Constitution when economic weakness and farmers revolt proved the Article was a poor form of government, along with opposing views from Federalists and Antifederalists, verifying that an inadequate document had been created.

The Articles of Confederation became the first guiding principles of the original thirteen states. However, the weaknesses embedded in the articles became obvious, outweighing its positive impact and they were ratified in 1781. George Washington sated that the articles were "little more than a shadow without the substance."1 They limited the central government’s ability to work smoothly and adversely affected the economy. Lack of power left the government in dismay and they sought a fix to their problems without becoming a tyrannical monarchy. The founding fathers believed that replacing the articles with The Constitution was the best way to give the central government enough power to carry out its tasks. In 1787 delegates from all 13 states met in Pennsylvania to begin amending the articles. This process revealed many of the similarities and differences that were contained within The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution.

Colonists tried their best to get away from King George III, a tyrant, by organizing different kinds of protests. In 1787, fifty-five delegates met in Philadelphia to fix the current government system. The problem was that the existing government, the Articles of Confederation, was too weak. The Articles of Confederation did not provide a chief executive, a court system, or any way to force a state to pay taxes. A new constitution was needed to pull the nation together.

The time between the American Revolution and the presidency of George Washington was one of learning, experimentation, and confusion. No patterns existed to model the new government being established for the thirteen American states. Although it would be incorrect to say that the government of the Articles of Confederation was a complete failure, it would be logical to advance the idea that the more powerful national government established under the constitution of 1787 was essential to the survival of the American Union. Between the two documents there were some drastic differences of opinion on governing tactics as mentioned in the Articles of Confederation compared to the Constitution of 1787 (Doc. C). Major differences were composited

In 1787, a new form of government was created. A radical move from the articles of confederation began. When the articles of confederation moved to the U.S. Constitution it was not taken very well. Even though, the articles of confederation weakened the U.S. The articles were adopted on 1777 and were the combination of 13 states that includes New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Under the Articles, Congress had no way to avert war or to provide for national security against foreign intrusion. The government could not resolve the fight between states, manage interstate exchange, collect taxes, or uphold laws. These shortcomings of the confederation distressed political leaders. Accordingly, they requested an assemblage in order to revise the Articles and restore the fledgling country. The Virginia Plan, composed by James Madison and proposed by Edmund Randolph presented a government separated into three branches of

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention rejected James Madison’s proposal for an absolute federal negative by a convincing margin on June 8, 1787. This was not quite the end of the story, however. A narrower version of the negative, which would apply only to state laws that Congress believed violated the Constitution, lived on in the working draft of the document. Yet this clause, too, soon came under attack. On June 20, John Lansing of New York declared that if the federal government were granted a veto, even a narrow one, “the States must be entirely abolished.” Delegates debated the clause again on July 17 and ultimately voted it down, despite Madison’s pleas that it was “essential to the efficacy & security of the General

The Philadelphia Convention was an important meeting when Congress invited each state to send delegates. Between May and September 1787, 55 delegates from 12 states convened in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. Rhode Island was the only state that refused to send representatives to the Convention, because they did not want to revise or replace the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation had proven insufficient to cope with the challenges facing the young nation. The Convention discussed the debate over the size and structure of the federal government, and its result was the U.S Constitution. Though the Articles of Confederation had provided the framework for governance since the declaration of the American Revolution against Britain, many of the fledgling nation’s political leaders agreed that the creation of a stronger central government was essential to the development of the power and potential of the United States.

"The band which at present holds us together, by a very feeble thread, will soon be broken, when anarchy and confusion must ensue." George Washington said this while describing the current government of the United States. With the ratification of Maryland on March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into affect and all seemed well. Even though the Confederation had many accomplishments, it was hardly an ideal government. Problems began to arise soon following the enactment of the Articles. The Confederation lacked adequate powers to deal with interstate issues, while it lacked ample stature to be of an influence on other nations, making the Confederation unable to negotiate easily. Financial

Soon there was sufficient interest from the states to arrange an official meeting in Philadelphia to change the Articles of Confederation. During the 5 months that the delegates met in secrecy they worked together to create a checks and balance system to prevent any abuse of power. Resulting in the government’s power split between three very different branches of government from part of the Virginia plan called the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Under this adopted plan congress was given the power to veto laws passed by the state legislature and protect the harmony of the United States. The delegates of the Constitutional Convention came to what is known as The Great Comprise by adopting a two-house legislature. This compromise gave proportional representation to the House of Representatives and equal representation to the senate and established that three out of five slaves would be included in state’s critical headcount. Another measure to balance power in the legislator, the delegates created the Electoral College as a way to elect the president and vice president. On September 17, 1787 George Washington declared the Constitutional Convention had come to an end and they had completed writing the constitution. Needing the approval of only nine states the ratification of the constitution created many debates between the Federalist and Anti-Federalist about how and why the country would benefit from this new government structure. By June 25, 1788 the constitution had sufficient votes to become the new form of government. The newly adopted constitution allowed for the national government to regulate commerce and establish common laws between the states ensuring growth in unity as a nation. With the proper governmental organization put in place, westward expansion was the main

James Madison developed the constitution in Virginia 11 year’s prior and went on with the “Virginia Plan”, to create a strong government. Madison wrote 29 Federalist papers, debated on the way to unify would be to create a strong government for our country. James Madison Jr. 1751 born in Orange county Virginia, Madison was the oldest out of 12 siblings. Madison was the American statesman who drafted the U.S. Constitution and sponsored the Bill of Rights establishing a name for him self, “Father of the Constitution”. Madison went from secretary of the state and then later became our fourth president (1809-1817) of the United States of America. Madison the leader of political battles had a prosperous, well education, and began finding himself