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The Constitutional Convention
In 1787 Fifty-five delegates, from thirteen different states, met in Pennsylvania with the
objective to make the Articles of the Confederation stronger. These delegates, after much
deliberation, were able to construct the Constitution that we have today. Below will discuss the
achievements made by those delegates the summer of 1787.
The first large achievement that was made was the Great Compromise, which started due
to “Delegates from small and large states disagreed over whether the number of representatives
in the new federal legislature should be the same for each state—as was the case under the
Articles of Confederation—or different depending on a state’s population” (Britannica, n.d.).
The Great Compromise inevitably gave equal representation to small and large states.
(McClellan, 1989). Further, this aided in the creation of bicameral legislature which would be
composed of two bodies, a Senate and a House of Representatives. (McClellan, 1989). The
Senate would be composed of two senators per state aiding the smaller states, whereas the House
of Representatives would favor larger states due to being based on population. (McClellan,
1989).
The second achievement was the formation of the executive branch although “creation of
the executive office was more difficult, and not until the closing days of the Convention were the
delegates able to come to a complete agreement” (McClellan, 1989). This achievement was
difficult due to the “highhandedness of the royal governors” in which gave legislature most of
the power leaving the executive branch with minimal power (McClellan, 1989). The third
achievement, and the most important, was the “Three Fifths Compromise” which allowed
“Congress to prohibit the importation of slaves after 1808” (McClellan, 1989). Without that
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compromise in place, our country as a whole may not have progressed in the manner in which
we have for equal rights for all no matter one’s race.
As stated in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, that was constructed
by our Founding Fathers, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
(Hall, 2019, p. 58). This proves that there was a solid understanding, whether it was agreed upon
or not, that there should be a great separation of church and state. Further, Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison had a strong opinion that there would be no religious freedom if there was not a
separation between church and state. Additionally, this lead our Founding Fathers to understand
that religion promotes morality within society. As stated, it was “evident that most believed
governments should protect, promote, and encourage religion and morality” (Hall, 2019, p.88).
Each state observed religious morality differently, an example of this was Pennsylvania “adopted
religious test for office and used the power of the state to promote Christian morality”, whereas
in Connecticut had a requirement to all citizens “on the Lord’s-Day carefully to apply themselves
to duties to Religion and Piety, publicly and privately” (Hall, 2019, p.92). It is further stated that
the Founding Fathers believed, in regard of religion and morality that “it is necessary for the two
to be intermingled and mutually supportive” (Hall, 2019, p. 120).
References
Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Constitution of the United States of America. Encyclopedia
Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Constitution-of-the-United-
States-of-America
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Hall, M. D. (2019). Did America Have a Christian Founding?. HarperCollins
Christian. https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/books/9781400211111
