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Shays' Rebelion
Violent attacks on government building in Massachusetts by former revolutionary war soldiers exposed the flaws of the Articles of Confederation of not being able to compel states to form a military. -
Attempt to Alter the Articles of Confederation
After the events of the Shays’ Rebellion, Maryland and Virginia invited all members of the Confederation Congress to revise the Articles of Confederation but it failed because not all members were present, proving how hard it was to change the document. -
The First Constitutional Convention
After the previous meeting had failed, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton proposed a new meeting in Philadelphia which again did not have the requisite members to proceed so the remaining members concluded that a new government needed to be formed. -
George Washington Chosen to Lead Convention
Because of this leadership shown during the revolutionary war, George Washington was the clear choice to lead the convention and then to lead the nation as the first president -
The Connecticut Compromise
The larger states proposed the Virginia plan in which there would be a bicameral legislature and the number of legislators would be proportional to the number of people. The smaller states proposed the New Jersey plan which would have a unicameral house where every state had one legislator. The Connecticut plan was adopted where the traditional House and Senate were formed. -
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The three-fifths compromise decided that for purposes of representation every enslaved person will account for ⅗ of one free person. This also enshrined slavery into the constitution. -
Separation of Power Debate
The framers argued over how large the federal government would be to avoid a tyrannical government and settled on three co-equal branches of government. -
Debate over Federal vs. State Authority
The federal government size and scope was debated between federalists and anti-federalists which resulted in some limited powers of the federal government like tax collection, currency creation, defense of the nation, but all other items falling to state control. -
Constitution Sent to the States
After the convention had concluded the first US Constitution was sent to each of the 13 states for ratification. -
Constitution was Ratified
After 9 of the 13 states had ratified the constitution, it became the law of the land
