Abstract
This paper compares of two articles dealing with the Constitutional Convention process and North-South differences. It looks at the issue of slavery and the three-fifths clause to accommodate the South. It also examines the negotiation process at the conventions and the role of James Madison.

Tags:constitutional convention

James Madison, delegates, slavery

slavery

Federalism

Abstract
This paper provides two brief essays; one arguing that the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia was elitist and the other arguing that the same convention was more pluralistic in nature.

From the Paper
"Despite creating a then radical new form of government, the Constitutional Convention that resulted in the U.S. Constitution, is characterized more as elitist than as pluralist in nature. One of the most significant reasons for this is that the members to the convention were all European wealthy members of the upper-class that sought a strong central government to solidify their own power. While the Convention was allegedly held to modify the Articles of Confederation which had been guiding government individuals like Alexander Hamilton and..."

Tags:Hamilton, Madison, Articles of Confederation, congress, wealth, upper classes, monarchy, compromise, checks and balances, power

Abstract
This paper offers four brief essay answers to questions related to the elitist and pluralist nature of the individuals who attended the Constitutional Convention and were responsible for shaping the new government of America and the U.S. Constitution.

From the Paper
"This argument's major strength is the fact that it validly points to a number of examples and outcomes of the Constitutional Convention that clearly prove a significant degree of pluralism was at work in shaping the U.S. Constitution. From the different plans offered by different groups to the four basic principles of the Constitution, the argument makes a soundcase for pluralism, characterizing the workings of the Constitutional Convention. Despite this strength, however, the argument has one overriding weakness. It fails to consider the group..."

Tags:wealthy, power, pluralism, elitism, education, democracy, liberty, special interests, checks and balances, separation of powers

Abstract
This paper examines how the forces for and against slavery, the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the slave rebellions, the free black issues and the ACS, the abolitionists and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments greatly affected the issue of slavery through the end of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. It looks at how all of these actions eventually led to the abolishment of slavery and the creation of civil rights for the newly freed black slaves and how these events and actions will always stand out as a turning point in American history.

From the Paper
"The issues and demographics surrounding slavery were greatly debated at the convention. The states of the deep south wanted it maintained; the North and the middle south was opposed. However, alliances between states kept some of the Northern states voting with the deep south, and any prohibition in new slave imports or import taxes were defeated (USConstition.net at http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_ccon.html). In exchange for a prohibition on export taxes, the South agreed to allowing the slave trade to continue for just 20 more years, and for imported slaves to be taxable. The Civil War, one of the most momentous events in American history, put constitutional government to its severest test as a long festering debate over the power of the federal government versus state rights reached a climax "

Tags:south, black, rebellion, amendment, civil, war

Abstract
By understanding how the Articles of Confederation were holding the country together by the barest threads, we can see how the 1787 Convention shaped the Constitution of the United States of America and brought the country nearer to the form of a Federally controlled power.

From the Paper
"This research paper examines the relationship between the issue of slavery and the political decisions made at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The institution of slavery of blacks (African Americans) in the original colonies which made up the new union was left intact as a result of the Constitutional Convention and in some important respects its constitutional status was buttressed. At the same time, partial limitations were placed on its spread by the constitutional phased in abolition of the importation of slaves into the United States and the contemporaneous Congressional ban on its spread into the Northwest Territory. These seemingly contradictory political decisions arose out of the dynamics of the debates at the Constitutional Convention which reflected conflicts between..."

From the Paper
"The 1789 constitution, at the time of its authoring, truly seemed a liberal and enlightened document. Although, at the time, it provided the most democratic system of government in the western world, the authors of the constitution, the founding fathers, certainly did not fail to provide for their own well being. The constitution was not only intended to keep the power out of the hands of the people, but it specifically addressed the grievances and purveyed the interests of the founding fathers. The constitution, though it provided a less tyrannical government that the colonists had endured as subordinates to the British, truly epitomized the self-interest of the authors. "

Tags:american, constitution, government, history

Abstract
This paper discusses the concept of individual rights and how this concept extends far back into early English history. The paper points out that, while the individual rights granted under the American Constitution have evolved and changed to include more than the original beliefs about individual rights, the authors of the Constitution were heavily influenced by early English and French philosophers and their ideas about rights and liberties.

From the Paper
"Although many individuals today might like to romanticize the origin of individual rights in America, suggesting that such rights began and ended with the passage of the current version of the United States Constitution that now governs the totality of the American land, the actual history of a private citizen's individual rights in America and England is far more checkered and complex. America's founding fathers owe a far greater debt to English and French philosophies of rights and liberties than were acknowledged at the time for the idea that the individual citizen possesses certain inalienable rights that cannot be impinged upon by the state. Also, the Articles of Confederation that were eventually passed contained the seeds of the later document that was to govern the land, even though it was too weak a document to provide the type of unity that the international politics of the time demanded to accord respect to the new American union and nation."

Tags:john, locke, life, liberty, property, inalienable, human, citizen, intrinsic, thomas, jefferson

Abstract
The paper examines how the U.S. government, under the Articles of Confederation adopted by the Thirteen Colonies in America, soon began to show serious faults and how Congress was powerless to enforce its legislation and was unable to obtain adequate financial support from the states. It looks at how at the Constitutional Convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and while there was general consensus for the creation of the Constitution, opinions concerning how the United State government should be managed differed dramatically from state to state. It discusses the plans presented at the convention, and how the Connecticut (Great) Compromise was finally reached to bridge the desires of states with different political objectives.

Outline
The Virginia Plan
The Pinckney (South Carolina) Plan
The New Jersey Plan
The Hamilton (New York) Plan
The Connecticut (Great) Compromise
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Wiliam Paterson proposed the New Jersey Plan on June 15, 1787. The New Jersey Plan was essentially a rebuttal to the Virgina Plan. Paterson and many of his small-state colleagues were concerned that the Virgina Plan favored larger states because everything it specified was proportinate to population. Smaller states such as New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and New Yorked feared that larger states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts would limit equal suffrage. Smaller states also believed that Southern states would soon become larger states with more voting clout. At the same time, the smaller states wanted just as much as the larger states to put an end to the rebellions and disorders that had arisen from the current state of the national government."

Tags:colonies, congress, conneticut, compromise, virginia, new, jersey

Abstract
In 1848 an abolitionist convention was held in Seneca Falls. This paper analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Seneca Falls convention's final product: The Declaration of Sentiments - a document which contains a comprehensive listing of gender based injustices all of which the women in the convention vowed to abolish. The author of the paper draws a comparison between the Declaration of Sentiments and the American Declaration of Independence and touches on how the document related to African-Americans.

From the Paper
"Every great social movement has a beginning. Very often, it is a great challenge to determine these exact origins. The women's rights or feminist movement is not different in this respect. It is not surprising that many ongoing discussions continue about this exact topic. The "Declaration of Sentiments" is probably not the very first piece of feminist writing, but it did signify that feminists would ac-cept nothing but a major change in the way that society treated women. The same was true for the Decla-ration of Independence. It was not the first pro-independence work created, but it did finalize the Continental Congress' decision to leave English rule. The Seneca Falls Convention is a significant event in the history of the abolitionist movement thus it is worthwhile to consider it closely."

Tags:abolition, Ellen, DuBois, constitutional