Questions-1

1) Who were some important individuals at the convention.
George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and James Madison.
2) Who were the delegates?  What did they have in common?
Wealthy, white, politicians.
3)  What were the key agreements?
Key agreements were the idea of limited and representative government, the powers should be divided into the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branch, they needed to limit the states coining money, limit the interference of creditors rights, and all agreed that they needed to strengthen the national government.
4) Compromises - briefly outline or explain the following compromises:
A) The Virginia Plan
A government based on three ideas. They would have a strong national legislature with two chamber, the lower on to be chosen by the people and the upper one to be chosen by the lower. They would have the power to bar any laws deemed unconstitutional. They would also have a strong national executive that would be chosen by the legislature. They would also have a national judiciary that was appointed by the legislature. Large states favored this due to population sizes.
B) The New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey plan kept major features of the Articles of Confederation. The legislature would have one vote per state while Congress would be strengthened because they would be able to impose taxes and regulate trade. They would have a weak executive that had more than one person elected by Congress. The national judiciary would have limited powers and would be chosen by the executive.
C) The Connecticut Compromise
The Compromise had the idea of having a House of Representatives where the states would be elected by population size. This is where taxes and spending concerns were started. They also would have a Senate where each state would have two representatives from each state. States would elect their senators.
D) The 3/5 Compromise
The three-fifths compromise was made for southern slave owners that lived in states made up mostly of slaves. It stated that only three-fifths of the slaves counted for taxes and for representation.
E) The Slave-Trade Compromise
This was another compromise that stated that the slave-trade could not be banned until 1808. In 1808, Congress was given power over interstate commerce (trade among the states) and foreign commerce.
F) The Slavery Question
The Slavery Question was answered by the fact that while the North states were willing and had rid themselves of slavery they knew the Southern states would never accept the Constitution if it affected slavery.
G) The Electoral College and Presidential Term
The Electoral College was designed so that the votes would not be from the people but instead by the officials elected by the state. The Presidential Term originated as another compromise between the people who wanted longer terms and those who wanted shorter.
5) What was the Anti-Federalists strongest argument?
The Anti-Federalists strongest argument was that the Constitution lacked a Bill of Rights.
6) Who wrote the Federalist papers?
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote the Federalist papers.