Which State Did Not Attend the Constitutional Convention?

The Constitutional Convention was held in 1787 in order to provide more power and support to the newly created government and Articles of Confederation. George Washington presided over the fifty-five delegates that attended the convention. The only state that declined to appear was Rhode Island.

Rhode Island did not attend the convention because they did not agree with it. The state struggled with its own problems, including being run by debtors. The state government believed in forgiving all debt every thirteen years to prevent debtor uprisings that were seen in other states. In the end, thirty-eight of the fifty-five delegates signed the new Constitution containing the Connecticut Compromise into being. It was a compromise between the Virginia Plan which focused on federal control and the New Jersey plan which focused on more state control. Congress then send ihe new Constitution to be ratified by the other states.

Fortunately, the absence of Rhode Island from the delegations did not prevent the formation of the new Constitution.

Reasons to Update the Articles of Confederation

The first attempt at creating a governing body and constitution of the United States was known as the Articles of Confederation. Drafted in 1776, it took five more years to get each state to ratify the document for the newly created country. The compilation of the Articles of Confederation sought to placate those who wanted to keep a loose government structure with those who wanted to see more government. The original articles did not have much power behind them.

While the articles called for some compromises, such as the states agreeing to which states would be allowed into the union should they petition, other provisions were made in word but not in deed. For example, the new government was responsible for keeping an army and navy but had no way of making people from different states join. Since the country was still at war with Great Britain at the time, Washington saw this as problematic. Overall, the Articles of Confederation did little to help the new country and, in fact, weakened it in many ways.

In effect, the Articles of Confederation were more of a detriment to the newly formed country than a help. The government could not raise money or provide regulations for commerce. The government would have to ask the states for money, which they would usually deny. This meant that the states could not pay the soldiers currently fighting in the Revolutionary War or pay any debt to other countries that loaned the country money. Since the government had no power to regulate the states, they constantly fought for power amongst themselves. Other governments did not trust the fledgling country and often berated it.

Divergent Sides at the Constitutional Convention

In secrecy, delegates from different states met in order to make a constitution that would work for the states and the federal government and be sustainable into the future. The delegates themselves worked as lawyers, farmers, and merchants representing their areas and interests. The meetings became more than just a revision of the Articles of Confederation. After several months of negotiation, the group devised several potential plans: the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan. Two issues remained important during negotiations:

1. How were the people to be represented in the government? Would each state get one or more delegates? Should these delegates be based on population or some other criteria?
2. Should slaves be counted toward population counts and affect representation based on the first question?

Connecticut Compromise Created the Constitution

The Virginia Plan called for a strong federal government, with which many delegates disagreed. The New Jersey Plan called for more state control, with which other delegates disagreed. In the end, it was the Connecticut Compromise that was ultimately used for the second, more powerful constitution. The compromises consisted of the following:

• Slaves were to be counted in a 5 to 3 ratio for purposes of representation also known as the Three-Fifths Compromise. This meant that for every five slaves, three were counted for population numbers.
• The Senate would have equal number of representatives per state
• The House would have numbers based upon population numbers of each state
• The House would deal with any legislation that mandated taxation

The last three compromises are still in effect today.