Historical background of the US Constitution

What were the key events leading up to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention?

1607: 13 original British colonies along the eastern seaboard
- All had written charters setting out their form of government and rights of citizens
- Democracy was limited
Britain tightened its control over the colonies’ economic affairs
- Led to the War of Independence in 1775-1783
1777: Articles of Confederation adopted by the Continental Congress
- In force until 1789
- Articles were:
  - No overall president
    - Nobody in charge, no central representation
  - No judiciary
    - No legal backstop, no one to interpret the law
  - All states are equally represented
    - Some are larger than others
  - Each state had veto power
    - Takes forever and nothing will get done
    - Can protect individual interests of states
  - => All decisions had to be collective (unanimous)
1787: Shays’ Rebellion
- Farmers in Massachusetts rebelled against taxes levied by a distant gov
- Gov. responded by attempting to suppress rebellion
- Exposed weakness of gov. under AoC
- => many to call for strengthening fed gov to put down future uprisings

In resp. to boundary disputes and uprisings
Confederation Congress calls on states to send delegates
55 delegates from 12 of 13 states
Rhode Island did not participate
Overall aim was to create a strong government whilst protecting individual freedoms
It took four months to write the Constitution

The Virginia Plan
- Wanted representation based on population size
The New Jersey Plan
- Wanted representation to be equal per state
Led to the Connecticut Compromise
- Bicameral System – two houses of Congress
- Senate represented states equally
- House of Reps. according to population