One thing the Articles of Confederation accomplished was the implementation of western ordinances in the mid 1780s to organize newly acquired "western" - today's midwestern states. The Ordinance of 1785 & the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 made settlement of the Northwest Territory organized and stable. But still, the call to revise the Articles led to the Constitutional Convention that began in May 1787 in Philadelphia. Of the 55 delegates in attendance, Native Americans, African Americans and women were not represented. George Washington was chosen to preside over the meetings. Issues would be decided by majority - not unanimous voting. We reviewed the VA & NJ Plans that led to the "Great Compromise". It was the first of many examples of compromise that contributed to the framing of the new government. Another compromise is disturbing as it pertains to slavery. The southern states wanted to include enslaved people in their population counts to gain representation in the new House of Representatives. Northern states objected because enslaved people were not citizens at this time. However, northern states needed the southern states' support for the new government. Delegates decided on a Three-Fifths Compromise in which southern states could count each of the slaves as 3/5 of a person. Another issue at the Convention was the slave trade. By 1787, Northern states wanted to prohibit the slave trade while the Southern states did not. The compromise on this issue was that Congress could limit the slave trade beginning in 1808.