The United States ?onstitution was dis?ussed and formed from the ?onstitutional ?onvention of 1787. The ?onvention took pla?e in the Pennsylvania State House. The thirteen states that were in existen?e at that time attended the ?onferen?e. The ?onvention took pla?e all summer long, and all the members were never present all at the same time. Among those who dire?tly parti?ipated were the president of the ?onvention, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Di?kinson, Roger Sherman, and James Madison who is ?ommonly known as the Father of the ?onstitution. The ?onvention was held in an attempt to res?ue the government from the ?laws of powerlessness over the states.
Some states wanted to abandon the Arti?les of ?onfederation all together, ?laiming that a stronger national government was needed. Others wanted to merely amend the Arti?les seeing no need to destroy and start from s?rat?h. All the delegates, however, did realize that signifi?ant ?hanges needed to be done for an effe?tive government. And so the delegates began to work. As mentioned earlier, James Madison was ?alled the father of the ?onstitution be?ause of his ?ontribution to the debate, his Virginia Plan whi?h be?ame the first issue of the ?onvention and the fo?us of dis?ussion against whi?h all other ideas were weighed. The Virginia Plan ?alled for the ?reation of a bi?ameral, or two-house, national legislature (the House and the Senate) ?reating the legislative bran?h of their proposed government. Ea?h state would send representatives on proportion to the number of its ?itizens. That meant that a state with a large population would have more representatives in both ?hambers that a state with a small population, giving the larger state (in terms of population) more voting power in the legislature. Along with the legislative bran?h, the government would also have an exe?utive bran?h and a judi?ial bran?h. It would also have the right to tax its ?itizens (right that wasn?t in?luded in the Arti?les of ?onfederation making it ineffi?ient) and the power to veto, or overturn any a?t of a state legislature. This power made many oppose the Virginia plan be?ause it would give the national government greater power than the states. The ?ompromise ?ombined the major points of the New Jersey and Virginia Plans. It established the present day arrangement in whi?h the legislative bran?h would be made up of two houses (?alled for in the Virginia Plan): the House of Representatives and the Senate. But in one ?hamber, the House of Representatives, ea?h state would have a number of representatives that ?orresponded to the size of its population. The ?ompromise was approved on July 16, settling the arguments and disputes among the delegates, but arising a question among the states.
