The document summarizes key events and compromises that occurred during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Delegates from each state met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. They debated plans such as the Virginia Plan, which proposed a strong central government, and the New Jersey Plan, which wanted to keep power with the states. The Great Compromise created a bicameral legislature to balance power between small and large states. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation to balance Northern and Southern state interests. These compromises helped establish the foundation of the US government with three branches and systems of checks and balances.

1. Chapter 8 Section 3 Notes The Constitution

2. Chapter 8 Section 3 Terms Const. Convention Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan Great Compromise Three-fifths Compromise Federalism Legislative branch Executive branch Judicial branch Checks and Balances

3. The Constitutional Convention In Feb of 1787, delegates from each state went to Philadelphia to revise the Articles The whole thing was kept secret James Madison was the driving force behind the convention Washington and Franklin were also there African Americas, Native Americans and women were not invited Jefferson and Adams were not there because they were overseas.

4. The Virigina Plan The Big State plan, proposed by Madison Set up a strong central government with three branches Representation would be based on population (which made big states happy and small states mad)

5. The New Jersey Plan Wanted to just revise the Articles, give the Confed Congress a little more power to tax and regulate trade Have legislature with representation the same for every state

6. The Great Compromise Some delegates wanted to just revise the Articles, while others wanted to throw the thing out and start over To solve the issue of representation between big states and little states, the compromise created two houses: one (Senate) with two reps from each state and one (House of Reps) with representation based on population.

7. Three-Fifths Compromise The Southern states had an economy based on slavery They wanted their slaves to count in the population so they could get more representatives in the house The Northern states didn’t like this because they feared if the South had more people in gov, it could get what it wanted all the time The Three-fifths Compromise said that all slaves would count as 3/5s of a person for population The word “slave” was left out of the Constitution

8. Checks and Balances Federalism is the distribution of a governmental power between a central authority and the states that make up the nation Legislative Branch passes laws Executive Branch administers laws Judicial Branch interprets laws Checks and Balances prevents one branch from getting more powerful than the others