Edmund+Randolph

Name: Alison Bradley Delegate: Edmund Randolph Edmund Randolph Introduction: In 1787, 55 delegates from 13 states, all went to Philadelphia to have for meeting to form our government. These meetings were known as the Constitutional Convention. The delegates at the meeting later made the Constitution, the laws we follow in government today. The Constitution was made effective March 4, 1789. James Madison was the father of our Constitution. The first ten amendments were known as the Bill of Rights. Background: Edmund Randolph was born in Tazewell Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia on August 10, 1753. Randolph attended college and studied the law under his father's tutelage. His father John Randolph was a Loyalist who followed Lord Dumore to England in 1775. He then went to live with his uncle Peyton Randolph, a prominent figure in Virginia politics. Randolph became mayor of Williamsburg and Virginia's attorney-general. Randolph married Elizabeth Nicholas in 1776. During his retirement, he wrote the history of Virginia. While visiting Nathaniel Burwell at Carter Hall, at the age of 60, 1813, Randolph died after suffering from paralysis, His body is buried in the graveyard of the nearby chapel.  Role at Constitutional Convention: Edmund first served as an aide-de-camp to George Washington during the war. He attended the convention that adopted Virginia's first state constitution in 1776. Randolph was 23 years old at the time, and he was the youngest member there. Randolph was elected to the Continental Congress in 1779. He also became governor of Virginia in November of 1786. In 1786 he was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention. He presented the Virginia plan. Only four days after the opening of the Federal Convention. The Virginia plan was a big part of the Constitution. Randolph was all for the idea of the amendments and the Constitution. He wanted his state’s approval to enforce the Constitution, so he said, "The accession of eight states reduced our deliberations to the single question of Union or no Union." Later Randolph became Attorney General of the United States under President George Washington. In 1794-1795, Randolph took the place of Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State.


 * Attendance:**

Edmund Randolph was a big part of the Constitutional Convention. He was very involved. He was at the meetings 75% of the time. He was only absent one time out of the eighty-nine meetings. There were twenty-one meetings were people weren’t sure if he was there, but they think that he was probably was present.

I think that Edmund Randolph would disagree with the third basic principle of the Constitution. The first rule is Separation of Powers. He was uneasy about a one man executive, President, and he wanted a three-man council instead. He also was for his idea of the Virginia Plan. He wanted the larger states that were more populated to have more representation and power. He got all of Virginia to vote to pass this plan. He wanted his own state to have their own power, and not have one government ruling over everyone. Edmund Randolph was mainly supporting the sixth amendment. The sixth amendment is that everyone criminal is entitled to a trial. He was for this amendment because he was a lawyer, and believed everyone was innocent until proven guilty. He would defend criminals in court, and try to prove them not guilty.
 * Primary Source: **

Edmund Randolph was a big part of the Constitution. He contributed many ideas to the Constitution that are still in effect today. His biggest idea was the Virginia Plan. This plan said that each state should get representation for the New Legislatures should be based on population of the state. He was a big supporter of the Virginia Plan because he was a governor of Virginia, which was a big state back then. Being a big part of the Constitution made Edmund Randolph a federalist, but he was also an anti-federalist. Even though he had a big role in the Constitution, he refused to sign it, which made him an anti federalist. It didn’t say much about whether Edmund Randolph and the separation of powers. But, it did say that Edmund Randolph was on the edge about having a one man executive. He thought a “three-man council” would be better and more effective. Edmund Randolph thought had one thought on checks and balances in the Constitution. He believed that they were insufficient. He refused to sign the Constitution because of that. Edmund Randolph and his state of Virginia had a lot to do with the big state vs. little states in the Constitution. He was for the big states, because Virginia was one of the biggest states of the thirteen colonies at the time. Randolph was the one who introduced the Virginia plan. All the big states were for it, but the little states were all against it. The littler states were for the New Jersey Plan. This plan gave each state two houses of Congress, no matter what the size or population of state was. 
 * DBQ: **

"Edmund Randolph." //ushistory.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. . "The Constitutional Convention as a Four Act Drama." //TeachingAmericanHistory.org -- Free Seminars and Summer Institutes for Social Studies Teachers//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. . ratification, the time of the Virginia convention for, and Randolph supported the Constitution. "Biography of Edmund Randolph." //Laughter - Lawter Genealogy Research Center//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. . MLA Format
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