part 3
The Achievement of the
Philadelphia Convention
points to remember
1. The initial task of the Constitutional Convention was to revise and
improve the Articles of Confederation, not to write a new constitution.
2. The delegates were soon persuaded, however, that the Articles
were fundamentally flawed and that a new constitution, based upon a
separation of powers among three branches of the national government,
and a division of powers between the national government and the
States, was essential.
3. One of the major difficulties that the Framers confronted was reconciling the differences between the large States and the small States.
This they accomplished by giving all of the States representation in the
national government, while at the same time giving a substantial share
of power to the large States.
4. The Framers of the Constitution were gentlemen of great learning
and ability and religious conviction. The Convention was an unusual
gathering of America’s greatest leaders of the day. They resolved their
differences by careful reasoning and thoughtful deliberation, not by
force or violence.
5. The form of government which the Framers sought to create was a
republic, or more specifically an extended republic that was both democratic and federal.
6. The Virginia Plan, the first proposal for a new political system debated at the Convention, favored a strong national government. The
delegates who opposed this scheme and wished to reserve most political power to the States rallied around the New Jersey Plan.
7. Under the ‘‘Connecticut Compromise,’’ the delegates satisfied the
demands of both the small States and the large States on the crucial
question of representation in Congress. The interests of the small States
were protected by giving all of the States equal representat