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The Articles of Confederation, you could say, was quite like the first constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation had a central government that consisted of 13 states with limited responsibilities. It was formed under one congress and could have up to 2 representatives from each of the 13 states, although only one vote was allowed per state. The Articles only allowed one vote from each of the states to give an equal amount of political influence. It also allowed each state to maintain its sovereignty to handle their own affairs. The Articles gave Congress a numerous amount of powers. It gave them the authority to deal with foreign affairs, borrow and issue money, and control things such as an army. Although Congress had many powers, it was not given the authority to enforce laws or tax. Major weaknesses in the Articles soon became clear after its ratification. The first major weakness was that in order to pass laws, nine out of the thirteen states had to vote in favor of it. The second weakness was that if a change wanted to be made to the Articles, a unanimous vote had to be obtained. One of the last weaknesses in the Articles was that there was no executive branch that made sure that the laws passed by Congress were being followed, so people in the states could disregard the laws, and yet not be penalized for not following them. And one last minor weakness was that there was no judicial branch to help states if a dispute arose between them. The Articles were unsuccessful because the power was not distributed into sections, but given just to one branch. It lacked an executive and judicial branch to help manage laws and settle disputes between states and people. Because what was the point of making laws, if people were not going to abide and follow them. To get so far and earn so much, when it could all fall apart.
 * Articles of Confederation **

The Constitutional Conventions was filled with many issues that interfered with the continuation of the convention. Many compromises had to be issued in order for the convention to continue. A representative from Connecticut named Roger Sherman, proposed a compromise that divided the legislative branch into two houses. The lower house, known as the House of Representatives, had representation based on the population of each state. The upper house, called Senate, was made up by two representatives from each of the 13 states. Sherman's compromise was agreed on among the delegates and was known as the Great Compromise. The other major issue among the large and small states that practically divided the delegates was the idea of slavery. The Southern states had the majority of the slave population and wanted them to be included in their population count so they could have more representation in the House of Representatives. Northern states had little to no slaves, and completely objected the idea of slaves counting as a full person in the population. With the population of slaves in some states reaching up to 290,000, the Northern states realized that if they were included in the population count, that they would lose political power. Northern delegates also brought up the idea that if slaves were owned and considered property, that they should be counted towards taxation not representation. After the "Grand Committee" discussed the problem, they came up with a solution. The solution was that every enslaved person would count be counted not as a whole, but 3/5 fifths of one, which meant for the every five slaves would equal three free people. Some Northern delegates also wanted to abolish the slave trade for the reason that they wanted to end the spread of slavery. The Southern states entirely apposed the idea of abolishing the slave trade because they depended on it economically. They opposed it so harshly, that some delegates threatened to leave. The Northern delegates finally agreed that they, or Congress, would not interfere with anything regarding the slave trade for twenty years, until 1808.
 * Constitutional Convention Compromises **


 * Founding Fathers **
 * a. (Virginia) ** James Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution because he was the author of the basic plan of government that was adapted as the Virginia Plan. He supported the constitution and helped organize the convention. He helped right the Federalist Papers, which were a series of essays that tried to persuade citizens to support the ratification of the Constitution. He took rigorous notes, which became the best record of what occurred at the convention.
 * b. (Pennsylvania) ** Gouverneur Morris was a powerful speaker and writer. He was a strong supporter of a strong national government and the Constitution and // actually // wrote the final draft of the Constitution. He spoke more frequently then any other delegate and was considered a true "genius".
 * c. (Virginia) ** Edmund Randolph was the governor of Virginia and a keen supporter of the Constitution. Although he supported the idea of a strong, central government, he refused to sign the Constitution. Randolph had also served in the Continental Convention.
 * d. (Virginia) ** George Mason was a strong supporter of a central government but resigned his support later on stating that the Constitution did not consider the interest of the people or states and the new government would result in a monarchy.
 * e. (New York) ** Alexander Hamilton was present at the signing of the Constitution. He was neither for, nor against the Virginia and New Jersey Plan and felt that both were inadequate. He proposed the Hamilton Plan which mainly proposed a "president for life".
 * f. (New Jersey) ** William Patterson was for the ratification of the Constitution and signed it as well. He is known for introducing the New Jersey Plan and arguing that some delegates had passed their usual authority.
 * g. (Delaware) ** John Dickinson supported the Constitution and signed it on September 17. He believed James Madison had gone too far in asking for proportional representation. He was known as a great speaker.

There were people who supported and objected the ratification of the Constitution. The Federalists supported the ratification and idea of a new, strong central government. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison developed a plan to convince nine out of the thirteen states to approve the Constitution. The plan was to write a series of essays, known as the Federalist Papers, which defended the Constitution and things like the division of government into three branches. Then there was the group, led by George Mason, that objected the ratification. These men were known as the Antifederalists and criticized the document heavily because it did not contain a bill of rights. Antifederalists believed that having such a strong government, like the one of England, would take away the individual rights of people and the freedoms they had earned during the Revolutionary War. Both sides seemed determined to stick to their own ideas. The Federalists believed that the Constitution stated and included everyone's individual rights and freedoms, while the Antifederalists believed that without a bill of rights, they would en up in a monarchy. Although all hoped seemed lost, compromise prevailed. Federalists decided to include a bill of rights after the Constitution was ratified, causing many Americans to favor the new form of government. Now began the // real // work of governing a new nation. []
 * Ratification **

Pictures of the Delegates(: