Constitutional Convention

Between the years 1765 and 1787, America had gone from British Colonies protesting against the British Parliament’s Stamp Act, to an independent Nation. During the Revolutionary War, Colonists wrote the Articles of Confederation, which acted as a set of rules and organized the government. Although the Articles of Confederation gave structure to the American government, it had ultimately set up America for failure as a thriving Nation. The states were given too much power and economic freedom in the Articles of Confederation, and were beginning to localize and feud with neighboring states, and the government had no independent source of income. Because America was no longer at War against Great Britain, the sense of equality in governmental power the Articles of Confederation brought to the states was no longer needed. What America needed was a new constitution, better fit for the independent Nation America had spent the past decade fighting for. In order to create a new and improved constitution, fifty-five Delegates from each state (except Rhode Island) met in Philadelphia to debate and then write what is now known as America’s Constitution. The Delegates’ varied experiences during the Revolutionary War and the four years following, under the Articles of Confederation, caused the Delegates’ opinions and fears to differ. This contrast of beliefs between the Northern state delegates, and the Southern state delegates founded the heated debates around representation in Congress. Under the Articles of Confederation,“each state [would] have one vote”(23) in congress. This Article was written to ensure that the states would feel that they had complete and equal control over the government. The writers of the Articles of Confederation feared a government similar to that of the British parliament would arise if the states and people living in them were not given any say in the government. This fear of tyranny caused America to go from “winning independence to overseeing