George+Washington-2

Alex Hopkinson George Washington = George Washington = Introduction: The Constitutional Convention was started to create a strong central government. It took place in the State House in Philadelphia in 1787. 55 delegates met coming from several of the states. After getting their freedom from Great Britain, the government had been under the Articles of Confederation. Unfortunately, there were many problems with the Articles of Confederation. They were too weak to control the conflicts between states. At the Convention, the delegates decided to make a new government instead of revising the Articles of Confederation. This resulted in the Constitution of the United States. George Washington had a major part in forming the Constitution because he was the president of the Constitutional Convention. The Constitution formed a strong central government without letting anyone get too much power and it affects the way people live today.

Background Information: George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was Augustine Washington's first child with his second wife, Mary Ball Washington. He had two brothers who were very much older, Lawrence and Augustine. He moved to Ferry Farm in Stafford county when he was six years old. He was educated at home by his father and oldest brother. While he was a kid, he worked as a surveyor. He was chosen to represent Virginia in the continental congress. George became wealthy when his brother married into the Fairfax family which was very powerful. With this marriage he gained the patronage of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and the Proprietor of the five million acre Northern Neck. I think that being wealthy might have given him some of the oppurtunitites he had, but he became so successful because of his own hard work. He was fortunate enough to get a good education and have a good job. He had such a major role in the Constitutional Convention as president because he was a great leader though, not because he was wealthy. Prior to the Constitutional Convention, he was involved in the Virginia House of Burgesses 1759-1774, the Continental Congress 1774-1775, and Commander in Chief of Continental Army 1775-1783. He had a lot of experience in the government before being elected president of the convention.

Role in Constitutional Convention: George Washington had the role of president in the Constitutional Convention. It was a unanimous vote to make him president. He had an important part in the meetings and the signing of the constitution. Although he only spoke to everyone once, he still had a good influence on the direction of the discussions that went on. He wanted to form a government that would make people happy after he had led them to independance and freedom. George Washington was a great leader and made a big difference in forming the Constitution of the United States.

DBQ: How did the Constitution guard against tyranny?:

George Washington was a believer in Federalism. Federalism is a compound government that shares national and state powers.He was a federalist by supporting the Constitution being made and the type of government that would come with its creation. Ratifying the Constitution brought a federal government so supporting it made him a federalist. His opinion was important to people because he had authority as president. Federalist values were also shown in his administration. George Washington believed in having a strong central government and establishing a federal system brought that to the United States.

George Washington also believed that the government needed separation of powers. Separation of Powers breaks the government into three branches. He thought we needed to have different branches of government that work together. Having three seperate branches means that no group can get too much power. Each branch has its own powers but can't have all the power of the government. He wanted the government to be changed by people showing their opinions rather than decisions being made by force. George Washington wanted the government to be able distribute the power between the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches to prevent any one person or group from gaining too much power.

George Washington also believed in Checks and Balances because it helped to control the power of the three branches. Checks and Balances is a system that allows the three branches to restrain each other's powers. This guard against tyranny goes along with Separation of Powers because it keeps the branches from having too much control. He wanted to avoid tyranny by letting each of the branches have some control over each other. They can check each other's powers and change some of their decisions. He thought that the only way to maintain this system was for every generation to continue with it. He said, "To preserve them is as necessary as to institute them". George Washington thought that the system of Checks and Balances is essential to maintaining a limited and balanced form of government.

George Washington helped to come up with the Virginia Plan to control the representation of the states in the government. He was part of the Virginia delegation who came up with the plan of having the legislative branch be made up of two houses, both based on population. This plan benefitted the larger states because they had more people which meant more representatives. The smaller states objected to this plan because they thought that they would be outvoted by the larger states. They came up with the New Jersey Plan which would give each state one vote. George Washington was a supporter of the Virginia Plan when it came to representing each state fairly in the leglislature.



Attendance Record: The Constitutional Convention met 89 times to plan a new stronger central government. George Washington was present for everyday of the Constitutional Convention. It was important for him to be there because he was the president and led the meetings. He must have wanted to be there because he knew it was his responsibility. He was very involved with the Convention and wanted to make sure that the United States got a strong central government. He wanted the constitution to guard against tyranny too. George Washington's perfect attendance record to the Constitutional Convention shows that he cared a lot about being involved with forming the government.
 * || Present || Absent || Probably Present || Probably Absent || Unknown ||
 * Act I || 22 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 ||
 * Act II || 30 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 ||
 * Act III || 23 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 ||
 * Act IV || 14 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 ||
 * Total || 89 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 ||

Primary Sources:

Constitution- George Washington would agree with the system of Checks and Balances. There are three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial. T his system gives the three branches the ability to restrain each other's powers. Although it makes government less efficient, it prevents anyone from getting too much power or abusing the powers that they do have. Washington was passionate about making a government that would prevent tyranny but still have control over the nation. He would have agreed to Checks and Balances because they create a perfect way to have three seperate branches have government that can still control each other enough.

Bill of Rights- The first amendment of the Bill of Rights was: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there-of or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This means that people have freedom to believe in whatever they want. George Washington would agree with this because he fought for the independance of the United States. He led people to declaring their independance from England where they were forced to believe in a certain religion and did not have freedom of speech. George Washington would have been happy with the first amendment because it gave freedom to the people of the United States.

Works Cited: Separation_of_Powers.2C_and_Constitutional_Amendments>.
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