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A New Look At The Constitutional Convention And State Ratifying Conventions: How Reason And Interest Played A Role, Nicole Carroll

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award

Although there have been amendments added over time, we continue to follow the foundation laid out in the Constitution over 200 years ago. However, there currently remains disagreement among scholars over the motivation behind decisions made during both the Constitutional Convention and the State Ratifying Conventions. Some scholars argue that the Constitution was the final result of thoughtful deliberation in which reason and principle prevailed. Other scholars suggest that reason had little to do with the Convention and both individual and state interests drove the decisions that were made. Some scholars come in with a third point of view, but …