In early 1787, the United States realized that the Articles of Confederation were not working. Congress could not collect taxes, enforce its own laws, or control trade within its boundaries. The states argued with each other and showed no sign of respect or union. It was determined that the nation government was too weak. So a call went out to each state, asking for its best political minds to meet in Philadelphia to determine the steps the United States would take to ease the turmoil caused by the Articles.
So on May 25, 1787, fifty-five delegates from all the states but Rhode Island came to Philadelphia for what would be known as the Constitutional Convention. The first and foremost goal hoped to be achieved by this meeting was to fix and revise the failing Articles of Confederation. There were many disagreements along the way concerning how to deal with specific issues, especially between large and small states, the north and the south, and nationalists and anti-nationalists. But instead of leading to the collapse of the convention, these conflicts led to compromises that helped shape the country and its format into what it is today.
At first some delegates were reluctant to stray too far away from the current form of government. The early discussions revolved around a similarly structured government. The in-depth talk began once the hot issues arose. These included representation, counting of slaves, control of commerce, and protection of rights. These needed to be worked out immediately with no help from past experience.
James Madison of Virginia was the first to propose a new plan of government. Based on the ideas of the French philosopher Montesquieu, the idea called for three separate branches, including a bicameral legislature, and also a system of checks and balances, which would prevent one branch form gaining too much power.
The first issue that called for debate was the representation of states in the government.
