The First Constitutional Convention May 25- September 12, 1787.
By the spring of 1786 it was clear that both the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation the laws by which it governed were simply not up to the job of keeping the newly Independent Colonies now styling themselves the States united and working together for the common good. In August 1786 the states of New York and Delaware Called for a Convention to discuss possible alteration of the Articles of Confederation to fix the flaws that were already showing. The delegates would meet in Annapolis Maryland from October 2, 1786 to November 5, 1786. The results of this Annapolis Convention would be the call for a second convention to be held in the spring. All the states would send a delegation of less than two and no more than five members. This convention was to find common ground and common approval for amendments to the Articles of Confederation.
The spring convention would convene in the Pennsylvania State House on May 25, 1787; however, many of the delegates didn’t arrive till mid-July. The list of Delegates was:
New Hampshire: Nicholas Gilman and John Langdon.
Massachusetts: Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. Connecticut: Oliver Ellsworth, William Samuel Johnson, and Roger Sherman.
Rode Island would abstain from sending any.
New York: Alexander Hamilton, John Lansing Jr, and Robert Yates.
New Jersey: David Brearley, Jonathan Dayton, William Huston, William Livingston, and William Paterson.
Pennsylvania: George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Benjamin Franklin, Jared Ingersoll, and Thomas Mifflin.
Maryland: Daniel Carroll, Luther Martin, James McHenry, John Francis Mercer, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer.
Delaware: Richard Bassett, Gunning Bedford Jr, Jacob Broom, and John Dickinson.
Virginia: James Madison, George Mason, Henry Lee III, Patrick Henry, and James McClurg.
North Carolina: William Richardson Davie, William Blunt, Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Hug Williamson.
South Carolina: Pierce Butler, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney and John Rutledge.
Georgia: Abraham Baldwin, William Few, William Houstoun, and William Pierce.
The elderly statesman Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania was appointed the President of the Convention.
The real work would start on July 19, 1787. The item of the floor that day was a proposal compiled by the Virginia delegation. This plan referred there after as the Virginia Plan.This Plan called for a more powerful central government consisting of three branches with each branch providing a check on the other two's power.
The Legislative branch would consist of a unicameral Congress in which the states had representation based upon the size of their population. The Congress would have the power to levy taxes to pay off national debts, maintain interstate commerce, and the defense of the nation. Most importantly the congress no longer needed a two thirds majority to pass all laws, a simple two vote majority would pass all bills, pass a declaration of war, or ratify a treaty ratification.
The Executive Branch led by a President who would be elected by the Congress by a two vote majority. The President would serve a single 9 year term, after which he could not serve again in the national government. The president would be the commander in chief of all armed forces of the country on land and at sea. He would have the final vote on any bill passed by the congress, if he approved and signed the bill it would become law. If he disapproved then he could line item veto the parts of the bill that he didn’t agree with and send it back down to congress, for a redraft. The President also appointed all judges to the federal courts, members of the cabinet, and ambassadors to other countries; judges would have to be approved by the congress before taking their new positions.
The Judicial Branch would be made up of one federal court for each state. These courts would rule on cases in which federal laws were in contradiction to state laws, treason and customs cases, and act as final appeals court for state court convictions.
The thing that would be the major difference between this plan and that that would follow was that under this plan federal laws acted as mere guidelines for the states to create laws that would be used to administrate and enforce the policies set by the federal government. This plan left the states with a good deal of power while creating a stable and functioning Central Government.
The next plan presented was the New York Plan created by Alexander Hamilton. The New York Plan was similar to the Virginia Plan in that it created a new central government system consisting of three branches Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
The Legislative branch was modeled on that of Rome. The Legislature called the Senate would take the place of the Congress. The new Senate would have three Senators from each state, giving all states equal say in the government. The senate would be headed by the Consul who would be chosen by the majority faction in the senate and would have a tie breaking vote if the senate became deadlocked. The Senate would create and pass all legislation in the government. Once more only a simple majority was needed to pass all legislation besides foreign policy legislation. Once a bill was passed the Senate it would be presented to the President.
The Executive Branch would be made up of the President and his cabinet. The President would be elected by the Senate with a two vote majority; he would serve a four year term but he could be reelected to office for as long as he wanted to run and could win the votes in the Senate. The President would appoint all cabinet positions, judges to federal courts and diplomatic post. All appointments were final. He could veto any legislation passed by the Senate, unless he did so it would become law of the land with his seal. The President was also the commander and chief of the armed forces on land and at sea. Lastly he could issue executive orders that would act as the law of the land without going through the Senate. These orders would expire after the end of each presidential term unless the senate passed legislation that would make it a true law.
The Judicial branch was set up much like the one in the Virginia plan with each state having a federal court that presided over the state courts. However under this plan the Federal courts reviewed all state court rulings and could overturn any ruling of a state court without an appeal case being brought before it.
Lastly the Federal government assumed almost total power over the state governments. Under this plan state governments were reduced to mere enforcement agencies to administer federal law, with little legislative power of their own state laws would pertain solely to enforcing federal law.
However neither of these plans succeeded in gaining any traction with the delegates at the convention. There was simply too much discomfort among the delegates when it came to the idea of creating a bigger more powerful central government, after all hadn’t they just finished a seven year was to get out from under such a government.
Both were quickly countered by William Paterson’s New Jersey plan. This plan would do what the convention was called to do fix the Articles of Confederation. “This body was summoned to fix the current body of laws not replace them.” Paterson said in his introduction to his plan.
Benjamin Franklin due to his age was unable to control the debate; and soon the delegates became hostile to each other and the convention overall dysfunctional. Finally in August a vote was taken out of 55 delegates 37 voted in favor of simply amending the Articles of Confederation on September 17, 1787 the New Jersey plan to the Amended Articles of Confederation was adopted. It was a major victory for the budding state nationalist delegates. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton were both down heartened and Benjamin Franklin was heard to say “This is not the end, or maybe it is merely the beginning of the end. I don’t see this patch work holding everything together for very long. If only Washington had survived the war.” Even with the new amendments it was hard for many to see how the current government could function as it should. Regardless one thing was clear the government under the Articles of Confederation would continue for the near future at least.
Under the New Jersey plan the Continental Congress gained new powers in addition to the existing powers under the Articles of Confederation. these powers were
The authority to raise funds via tariffs and other measures, and to regulate interstate commerce and commerce with other nations. Cases involving these powers would still be heard by state courts unless appealed to the federal judiciary.
The authority to collect taxes from states based on the number of free inhabitants and 3/5ths of slaves in that state.
Congress elects a federal executive, consisting of multiple people, who cannot be re-elected and can be recalled by Congress when requested by the majority of executives of the states. Federal executives to be named Consul(s).
The federal judiciary is represented by a Supreme Tribunal, appointed by the federal executive, which has authority in federal impeachment cases and as the appeal of last resort in cases dealing with national matters (such as treaties).
The Articles of Confederation and treaties are the supreme law of the land. The federal executive is authorized to use force to compel non-compliant states to observe the law.
A policy of admitting of new states should be established.
A singular policy for naturalization should be established.
A citizen of one state can be prosecuted under the laws of another state in which the crime was committed