Creation of the American Constitution :: American America History

Creation of the American reputationA constitution is the legal structure of our semipolitical system, establishinggovernmental bodies, determining how their members are selected, andprescribing the rules by which they make their decisions.The nations founders, fifty-five men, met in Philadelphia in the summerof 1787 to write a new constitution and to form a new government. GeorgeWashington was elected chairman of the convention.The founders were allvery well-educated. Over half the delegates had collage degrees, which wasrare in the North American continent at that time.They also had experience in governing. More than forty of the delegatesheld high offices in state governments, including three who were governors.The founders believed in the idea that the purpose of government was theprotection of several(prenominal) life, liberty and property.Following the election of George Washington as chairwoman of the convention,Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented a draft of a newconstitution .The Virginia Plan proposed a two house legislature. A scornhouse directly elected by the people of the states based on the population,and an upper house elected by the lower house.The congress was to havebroad legislative power ,with veto over laws passed by state legislatures.The President and cabinet would be elected by legislature. The guinea pigjudiciary would be elected by legislature , and their would be a Councilof Revision with power to veto laws of Congress.Delegates from New Jersey , New York and Delaware did not check over to theVirginia Plan due to the great power delegated to the national government.William Paterson of New Jersey submitted a counterproposal .The New JerseyPlan proposed a one-house legislature, with equal state facsimileregardless of population. Congress had some legislative power, includinglevying some taxes and the regulation of commerce.The plan also proposedseparate executive and judicial branches , elected by Congress and extr actible by petition from majority of state governors.The judiciary wasappointed by the chief executive .The plan also included the supremacyclause , stating that the Constitution and federal laws would supersedeover state constitutions and laws .After several months of debate , Roger Sherman of Connecticut came forwardwith a compromise.The Connecticut Compromise proposed a two-houselegislature , with numeric representation in the directly elected Houseand equal state representation in the indirectly elected Senate. It alsogave Congress broad legislative power, including the power to levy taxesand to regulate commerce . It proposed a single executive , chosen by anElectoral College .The judiciary would be appointed by the president andconfirmed by the Senate .It also included the Supremacy Clause.