Constitutional Convention of 1787 and Federalism

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Table of Contents

Slavery
Representation of States in Congress
Federalism Interpretation
Works Cited

James Madison was the key player on the issue of commerce under the Articles of the Confederation. These Articles are the ones that governed the United States in periods ranging from 1777 to 1787. Getting the states to surrender control of national commerce to the federal government was not easy. Madison is the one who sponsored a resolution that gave the federal government the power to regulate commerce. George Washington, a fierce critic of a weak central government, supported Madison’s plan. He had seen how soldiers suffered because the states could not remit money to the central administration to pay them. So during the actual day of the convention, Madison came up with an entirely new alternative to the Articles, which redefined “independence” as well as “sovereignty” of the states (Rossiter 110).

Slavery

The issue of slavery bordered on representation and taxation. There had been a bitter debate in 1787 over South Carolina’s proposition barring the federal government from controlling the Atlantic Slave Trade (Beeman 46). It was therefore decided that the issue of the slave trade be left to the individual states. Though the constitution seemed to strengthen slavery temporarily, the strong central government created would eventually lead to its abolishment. Another controversy arose on representation since the population of the states had been factored in. The issue was now whether slaves should be considered as part of the population. It was then agreed that each slave should be taken as three-fifths of a person (Farrand 67).

Representation of States in Congress

There was also a dispute on state representation in Congress. Populous states favored representation based on population, while the other states vouched for equal representation across all the states (Larson 34). This impasse was solved under the Great Compromise. Under the compromise, the House of Representatives was to be based on population while the Senate would have the same number of representatives from each state (Hunt 23).

Federalism Interpretation

Lyndon Johnson

President Lyndon Johnson advocated for “creative federalism.” Under this kind of federalism, the president felt that the lives of Americans would be enriched. He wanted the states to maintain the standards for the success of the social programs he wanted to be implemented. These programs included improved cities, education, natural beauty, education, and many more emerging issues. In other words, the president never wanted an ugly nor poor America (Jillson 157).

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon came up with the concept of “the New Federalism.” In his vision, he advocated for overarching domestic issues agenda. In it, he expressed how power should be shared between the states and the federal government. He wanted the power to flow from Washington to the states than to the people. The same applied to funds as well as responsibility. These were also to reach ordinary citizens. Thus, the prescribed several changes and adjustments to welfare as well job training. He overhauled the Office of Economic Opportunity that usually controlled all the poverty eradication. Revenue was thus put in place. His driving philosophy was “more money and less interference” (Jillson 108).

Ronald Reagan

Reagan also advanced the “new federalism” model with a different proposal. He felt that this proposal would lead to the states and the federal government acting as “laboratories for change.” Thus, Federal grants that constituted 27 programs were introduced. Also, trust funds to be administered by the Treasury were established. Reagan also hoped that federal taxes would be reduced to spur economic growth. Full Medicaid would be the responsibility of the Federal government (Jillson 78).

Works Cited

Beeman, Richard. Plain Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution. New York: Random House. 2009. Print.

Farrand, Max. The Framing of the Constitution of the United States. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1913. Print.

Hunt, Gaillard. The Life of James Madison. New York: Doubleday.1902. Print.

Jillson, Calvin. American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change (5th ed.). Milton Park: Taylor & Francis. 2009. Print.

Larson, Edward, and Winship Michael. The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison. New York: The Modern Library.2005. Print.

Rossiter, Clinton. 1787: The Grand Convention. New York. W.W. Norton.1987. Print.

Stewart, David O. The Summer of 1787. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2007. Print.

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