Conventional Controversy: Sacrifices Leading to the Constitution

     This was an essay for my government class at Tulsa Community College.

     "The year was 1787. The United States of America, after all these years, was finally a reality; but the young nation still had quite a ways to go on its road to maturity. The Articles of Confederation proved too weak and inadequate to serve the public’s needs effectively, as Shay’s Rebellion eloquently depicted. This called for a large-scale meeting to revise the Articles, which came to be known as the Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia.

     The opening of the convention was delayed from May 14 to May 25 by late arrivals, so James Madison and the rest of the Virginia delegation hustled to set the tone once things got underway, as Governor Edmund Randolph offered fifteen proposed changes to national governmental structure. These amendments included such specifics as a powerful two-part (bicameral) legislature based on state populations with the ability to void any state laws; This legislature would be in charge of appointing a national executive and selecting the judiciary members.
    
     The smaller states felt threatened by this proposal, so they responded with one of their own. New Jersey’s William Paterson argued that because the Articles of Confederation established state equality, the convention had no right to change the status quo. Based on this premise, the New Jersey Plan would make Congress the country’s supreme law, and give Congress(composed of both the House and the Senate)  the authority to select several people to form an executive office, which would then appoint a Supreme Court. This idea was generally met with criticism, to put it mildly. But the small states threatened to leave if the Virginia Plan was adopted; so Connecticut’s Robert Sherman proposed the following compromise: a bicameral legislature with the lower chamber representation appointed by population(House) and the upper chamber with two members each(Senate). The population was figured up by including all free persons and three-fifths of all others; as well as allowing unrestricted slave trade for the next twenty years; effectively punting the issue of slavery down the field of history for future lawmakers to wrestle with. At the moment, preserving the fragile Union was a higher priority than anything else, including the slavery debate. The executive became a single person, chosen by a group called the Electoral College. This members of this group were chosen by the states, and each state had as many members as they did in Congress. This process ensured that the presidency wouldn’t be settled by direct popular control, as many political players at that time feared, and also guarded against Congress holding too much power.

     The resulting setup that the government took was composed of an elaborate system of three branches – judicial, executive and legislative – working as independent-yet-cooperative bodies. Congress makes legislation and can override presidential vetoes of that legislation; Congress also has the power of the purse. The President can veto congressional legislation, as stated; he can also make treaties, propose new laws and nominate federal judges. The Senate must confirm or deny the President’s appointments and consent to the treaties the President negotiated with a two-thirds majority.  The Supreme Court can rule presidential and/or congressional actions unconstitutional. However, Congress can circumvent the Court’s rulings by rewriting the offending legislature."