After the American Revolution, the nation was a confederation of states. However, American leaders came together to write the U.S constitution. Following this, the ratified constitution then became America’s basic law. The men who participated in writing the document included James Madison and George Washington of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Alexander Hamilton of New York. The constitution was a product of balance and order among the States, the nation as a whole, and the American people. As a result, compromises were made for a common ground to be reached. The role of James Madison in this process has been crucial to historians as he was the chief recorder during the Philadelphia Convention where the constitution was written. His handwritten notes are what historians have come to rely upon. Another critical figure in the founding of the constitution is Richard Beeman. He is a professor who offers a scholarly account of the convention that oversaw the writing of the constitution. The account of Madison and Beeman shows how the constitution was forged from compromises made on the sovereignty of states and new national government, equality in representation of states, and how slaves would fit in this new system of governance.
In 1787, the constitution of the United States was created in Philadelphia. The convention attracted delegates from all states except Rhode Island. The main agenda was revising the Articles of Confederation, but the delegates agreed to create a new constitution instead. It involved long and hard debates on the contents of the Constitution due to various contentious issues. A group of delegates felt that the constitution gave the federal government too much power. Their pundits were of the opinion of protecting the rights of the States, hence a weak central government ("James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787 - James Madison Papers, 1723-1859", 2017). Additionally, Delegates from large states wanted their states to be granted greater Congress representation than theirs maller counterparts while the small–state delegates aggressively demanded equal representation (Beeman, 2010). Finally, on September 17, 1787, the delegates reached an agreement. America’s founding fathers came up with a system of government which not only satisfied the opposing views but was also flexible enough to be employed to the present day.
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Beeman explains that the first major balance came as the extent to which the farmers would retain the confederation of thirteen sovereign states or form a national government (2010). Edmund Randolph, a delegate from Virginia put forth the concept that rendered state governments distinctly inferior to the national government (Beeman, 2010). The convention, however, diluted the national government’s sovereignty to a level that balanced with the sovereignty of the states. The principle behind this was that powers of the national government did not come from an agreement made among the states but from the people.
The delegates faced predicament on whether every state should get an equal vote in the legislature or should the votes be proportional to the population ("James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787 - James Madison Papers, 1723-1859", 2017). Larger states disagreed with the less populous ones on the national legislature representation. The bigger states supported the Virginia Plan as it proposed population in the determination of how many representatives a state would have in the legislature. On the other hand, smaller states vouched for the New Jersey Plan. It proposed for all states to have equal representatives. Beeman explains that James Madison felt that the fight for creating a system of representative government whose ultimate sovereignty depended on the nation as a whole and not in the states would rely on the formation of a national legislature of proportional representation (2010). The result was a struggle between the large and small states. Eventually, a compromise was reached where the Senate had equal votes per state. The House of Representatives was however proportioned by population. This came to be known as the Great Compromise.
Another compromise was on the issue of slaves and how they would affect the representation. The Southerners argued that slaves should be counted for appointments were to be made based on population. Madison who was a slave owner proposed the counting of slaves ("James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787 - James Madison Papers, 1723-1859", 2017). According to Beeman, Madison wanted to send a message to his militant Southern colleagues that the national government would not threaten their interests (2010). On the other hand, Northerners argued against it as the provision would reward an increased slave importation. The compromise was achieved through James Wilson, a Pennsylvanian lawyer who proposed a mathematical balance where three-fifths of the slaves would be counted when calculating representation.
The issue of the legality of slavery was another bone of contention that created a rift between the Northern and Southern states in the drafting of the constitution. Northern states were for granting Congress the power of forbidding foreign slave trade. Their main agenda was the abolishment of slavery. Due to this, Southern States felt this would be awarding Congress too much power. Through a compromise, the constitution was drafted limiting Congress of the power to regulate slaves until 1808 (Kelly, Harbison & Belz, 2008).
Lastly, the delegates’ conclusion was for each state to hold a special convention for discussing and voting on the constitution. Additionally, after nine states had approved the document, the constitution would start being implemented.
The U.S constitution came as a result of a tremendous amount of compromises. Even though disputes nearly ended the Philadelphia convention, they shaped the constitution into what is today. Documentation by Beeman and Madison have shed light into how the American constitution was writen.
References
Beeman, R. (2010). Plain, honest men . New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.
James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787 - James Madison Papers, 1723-1859 . (2017). The Library of Congress . Retrieved 2 October 2017, from https://www.loc.gov/collections/james-madison-papers/articles-and-essays/james-madison-and-the-federal-constitutional-convention-of-1787/
Kelly, A., Harbison, W., & Belz, H. (2008). The American constitution . [Ventura] (AIPI).
