The Road to the Constitution. The Convention By 1787, many representatives in Congress agreed that the Articles of Confederation were too weak. Congress.

The Road to the Constitution

The Convention• By 1787, many

representatives in Congress agreed that the Articles of Confederation were too weak.

• Congress asked each state to send delegates to Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation to make it stronger.

The Convention

55 men, who had been chosen by their states as delegates, gathered in

Philadelphia.

All states except Rhode Island sent delegates to the convention.

What do you think these men were like?

The Convention

These men were well-educated and respected individuals.

The Convention

• Only white men were considered part of the political process during this time.

• Some notable delegates were Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and James Madison.

The Convention

• First, the delegates unanimously selected George Washington to preside over the convention.

• Next, Washington appointed a committee to set rules for the meetings of the convention.

Why do you think he did this first?

The Convention• The committee decided on these rules:

– Meetings could not be held unless delegates from at least 7 states were present.

– Decisions required a majority vote from the states to pass. Each state got one vote.

– All discussions were to be kept secret.

The Convention• The Secrecy Rule required all

the doors and windows to be shut, even in the summer, and banned the public from attending meetings.

• The delegates were not even to tell their families about what was discussed at the meetings.

Why do you think that the delegates had to keep all discussions secret? Do you think this was good

or bad?

The Convention

• The Secrecy Rule allowed the delegates to speak freely without fear of a response from the public.

• It also meant that there were no formal records of what happened at the meetings. Most of what we know comes from James Madison’s notes.

The Convention

• Congress had given the delegates the job of revising the Articles of Confederation.

• It was not long before the delegates agreed that they needed to get rid of the Articles of Confederation and write a totally new constitution.

The Constitutional Convention

• The delegates set out to strengthen the national government by creating a new plan for the government of the United States.

• Since they decided to draft a completely new constitution at this convention, we now call it the Constitutional Convention.