Civics_Ch2_webquest_atyourconvention-secrecy


 * Meetings in secret - JUST LIKE THE FOUNDING FATHERS**

You decided like the Founding Fathers to hold your debates in secret behind closed doors. Despite the very hot summer of 1787, the delegates in Philadelphia kept the windows and doors closed to keep the public and press from hearing. The Founding Fathers believed that with the meetings being held in secret would allow the delegates to speak their minds and even change their minds during the debates. **James Madison** (__vocabulary__) took notes on the debates and discussions at the convention, which is how we know what took place at the Constitutional Convention. He would be called "Father of the Constitution." If the public were allowed to listen to the debates and/or the press cover the discussions, then the delegates may be less likely to speak their minds or change their minds. The delegates knew that their new written constitution would have to be ratified (approved) by the citizens in each of the states once it was completed. Therefore, their secret meetings wouldn't produce a corrupt or tyrannical system since the people would have to give their consent.

Return to the At your convention page