The Philadelphia Constitutional Convention: A Detailed Analysis

This report provides an analysis of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787. The report begins by discussing the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which led to the convening of the convention. The report highlights key issues, including the Virginia Plan, debates on representation, and the powers of the congress. The report also discusses the compromises made, such as the establishment of a bicameral legislature and the handling of the slave trade. The report references the decisions made by the congress and how it was granted new powers to tax and control commerce, regulate currency and the national defense. The report details the convention's impact on the formation of the US government and the key decisions that shaped the future of the country.

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Conduct of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention
The articles of confederation were the foundation document for the United States of
America after independent. By 1786, Americans realized that the articles of confederation
were not sufficient to guide the operations of the country (McDonald, 7). There were several
reasons for this. One was that the articles did not give the congress any power to collect
taxes. In addition, the congress did not have the power to control commerce. It followed that
the congress would have to depend on the states’ contribution for financing. The states often
rejected the financial requests by congress. This left the congress with no ability to pay the
soldiers who had participated in the revolution war. In addition, the federal government could
not settle its foreign debts. The country became bankrupt in 1786 (McGuire, 14). It was due
to these issues that it became necessary to review the articles of confederation and come up
with a more favourable document. This led to the Philadelphia constitutional convention in
1787 (Pope, Jeremy and Shawn, 21).
George Washington was elected the president of the convention. The convention had
delegates from all the states apart from Rhode Island. The Virginia plan had been established
by James Madison and advocated for a strong national government. The government would
have two branches both with representatives elected by the population. The delegates form
the relatively large states advocated for proportionate representation while those form the
smaller ones advocated for equal representation. The delegates took a period of three months
discussing the competing ideas with an aim of establishing a concrete plan that is favourable

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for all the states. The convention began by a discussion raised by the governor of Virginia
who advocated for adoption of the Virginia plan.
Results of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention
The convention came up with some compromises. The congress was granted new
powers. This meant that the congress could now have the power to tax and control commerce
(Flanagan, 154). The congress was also allowed to regulate the currency and the national
defence. There was one request that was rejected however. The representatives of the
congress had requested that it be given veto powers over the new state laws. This was
rejected. The southern states insisted that the congress should be denied the power to control
slave trade. Due to this, congress was denied the power to control slave trade for at least 20
years. Perhaps the most important decision made was that concerning representation in the
congress. As indicated earlier, the smaller states advocated for equal representation while the
larger ones advocated for proportionate representation. To ensure fairness, it was decided
that two houses would be formed. The two houses would be the house of representatives and
the senate. For the house of representatives, representation would be based on population.
This means that the representation would be proportionate. On the other hand, senate would
have equal representation. Therefore, every state would have an equal two senators to
represent it in the house.

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References
Flanagan, Christopher. "A Revolution for Empire: Ideas of Empire and the Making of the
Constitution." Journal of Early American History 8.2 (2018): 153-177.
McDonald, Forrest. We the people: the economic origins of the Constitution. Routledge,
2017.
McGuire, Robert A. "The US Constitution in American Economic History." The Oxford
Handbook of American Economic History 2 (2018): 149.
Pope, Jeremy C., and Shawn Treier. "Voting for a Founding: Testing the Effect of Economic
Interests at the Federal Convention of 1787." The Journal of Politics 77.2 (2015):
519-534.