The Constitutional Convention of 1787
- The Electoral College was created during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 held in
Philadelphia from May, 1787 through September, 1787. As you can imagine, the delegates
debated and disagreed over many issues before reaching a consensus.
The most well-known dispute concerned the representation of the states in the national legislature.
Generally, the small states favored equal representation by state and the large states favored
representation based upon population. However, the debate also focused on slave populations
and ideology. Eventually, the Great Compromise was reached which created the legislative body
now known as the United States Congress. As you know, the Senate is based upon equal
representation by state and the House of Representatives is based upon representation by
population.
The method for the selection of the president was also hotly contested. Early in the convention,
the delegates opted for the selection of the president by the national legislature. By the middle of
July of 1787, however, delegates favoring direct election by the people became more vocal and
the issue was once again before the convention.
James Madison of Virginia, Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, and James Wilson of
Pennsylvania argued persuasively for direct election by the people. For instance, Gouverneur
Morris argued that
It is necessary then that the Executive Magistrate [President] should be the guardian of
the people, even of the lower classes, against Legislative tyranny, against the Great and
the wealthy who in the course of things will necessarily compose the Legislative body.
Wealth tends to corrupt the mind and nourish its love of power, and to stimulate it to
oppression... The Executive therefore ought to be so constituted as to be the great
protector of the Mass of the people.
His argument was compelling then, and perhaps it is more compelling today where the percentage
of millionaires in the Congress far exceeds the percentage of millionaires among the citizenry.
Other compelling reasons were advanced to support the direct election of the president. Some of
these were made solely to defeat the possibility that the National Legislature would select the
president. These delegates reasoned that an executive selected by the legislature would be
beholden to the legislature. As such, the president would not be sufficiently independent and the
delicate balance the delegates sought to achieve among the branches of government would be
frustrated. There was also considerable concern that members of the legislature would exchange
their votes with potential candidates for positions in the cabinet or to gain support for parochial
interests that would frustrate the national interest.
The delegates opposed to the direct election of the president by the people set forth a variety of
rationales for their position as well. Some opposed direct election simply because they held elitist
views. In essence, they did not think the people were intelligent enough to choose their president.
Charles Pickney of South Carolina exemplified this view when he argued that direct election was
subject to "the most obvious and striking objections, one being that the people will be led by a few
active and designing men."
Other delegates opposed direct election because the they feared that the citizens were likley to
support candidates that advanced regional rather than national interests. Since there were no
political parties at the time, they argued that the presidential election would draw five or more
candidates who would split the national vote. As a result, the winning candidate would only have
the support of a minority of the total electorate and would thus have little national appeal. Many of
these delegates also believed that candidates from heavily populated states like Virginia and
Pennsylvania would be likely to win the presidential election most of the time.
The concept of a separate body of electors to elect the president emerged in the summer of 1787.
This additional proposal led to the creation of a committee to study the three most popular
proposals. On September 4, 1787, the committee recommended the creation of an Electoral
College as the body empowered to elect the president. With some minor changes, the committee's
proposal was adopted and included in the Constitution.
Suggested Readings
The Anti-Federalists Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates edited by Ralph Ketcham,
1986 Mentor
The Federalist Papers edited by Clinton Rossiter, 1999 Mentor
