Creating a Nation Constitution Unit

Do Now: why did some states prefer representation based on population and others prefer it to be equal.

Economic Depression The United States went through a depression, ( a time when economic activity slows) after the war. Farms were destroyed in the south where the war had taken place and therefore could not produce as much rice. Farmers also could not sell as much rice and did not make enough money to pay taxes and debts so they lost their farms.

Shay’s Rebellion A farmer named Daniel Shay lead a rebellion because of these problems in the south. 1,000 farmers attempted to attack a courthouse in Massachusetts so their land could not be taken away. This led to violence when state militia and the rebellion met and four people ended up killed, while the rest scattered.

The question of slavery? After the war many people began working toward ending slavery. Many northern states made changes to end slavery. States south of Pennsylvania held on to slavery and felt their plantations needed slavery to survive. The abolition (removal) of slavery divided the country and the weak central government seen in the Articles of Confederation could not solve this issue. It would take another war in our country to answer the question of slavery.

Slaves in the United States. Slavery existed in the United States in nearly all areas after the Revolutionary War. Southern States depended on slaves much more than northern states because they relied on slave labor for their farms to make money. Slaves don’t get paid so all profits go to farmers.

Voting Rights In the United States, only white males could vote. If proportional representation is used, do you believe people that cannot vote should be used to count in the population? If slaves make up a large part of the population, would southern states want them to be counted towards the population? Who might have a problem with this?

Constitutional Convention

The Virginia Plan This plan was created by delegates named Edmund Rudolph and James Madison of Virginia. Details of the Plan Three Branches of Government: 1) Executive 2) Judicial 3) Legislative

The Virginia Plan Members of the House of Representatives, ( Legislative) would be voted in by the people and would then select members of the Senate ( Legislative) Congress, (Legislative) would then select the Judicial Branch and The President. ( Executive)

The Virginia Plan Congress, ( Legislative Branch) would consist of two houses. The House of Representatives and the Senate. In both of these houses, the number of representatives from each state would be proportionately based on its Population. Based on this plan, the larger your state was, the more votes it would have.

The New Jersey Plan This plan was created by a delegate from New Jersey named William Paterson. Details of the Plan Three Branches of Government: 1) Executive 2) Judicial 3) Legislative

New Jersey Plan Congress (Legislative Branch) would be selected by State leaders rather than directly by the people. Congress, (Legislative) would choose several people to serve in the Executive Branch. Members selected to be in the Executive Branch would have the power to select the members of the Judicial Branch.

A Time For Compromise With tempers flaring and Delegates ready to walk out, Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut came up with a compromise. This became known as THE GREAT COMPROMISE. He would take parts of both the Virginia plan and the New Jersey plan. The number of Representatives each state had in the House of Representatives would be based on the states population. The number of Representatives each state had in the Senate would be equal. Each State would have two.

Representation based on population After the great compromise the agreement of proportional representation in the senate and equal Representation in the House of Representatives was reached. It was established that only white males could vote.

Will the Southern States become too powerful? Southern states had a small population of whites capable of voting and a large population of slaves unable to vote. Should those unable to vote, count towards the states population and therefore increase the number of state representatives? Northern states said no because they felt it would make southern states too powerful. Southern states said YES. A compromise had to be reached.

A Compromise between Northern and Southern States. In order to solve the problem of slave representation a compromise was reached. Each slave would count as three-fifths of a free person for Taxation and Representation. So for every five enslaved people it would equal three free people. This solved the great debate dividing large and small states. This would become known as the Three- Fifths compromise. Can you explain how they came up with this name?

Balancing the Government The United States feared a government in which the government or one area of the government became too powerful. This caused the creators of the Constitution to create a system of checks and balances. Checks and balances simply means, one branch of government has the power to check other branches and make sure they are not getting too powerful.

Roots of the Constitution Many of the creators of The Constitution were excellent historians and took many ideas from European political writers and writers of the Enlightenment period. The British Government influenced The Constitution. The English Bill of Rights guaranteed individual rights and the Judicial System oversaw these rights were protected.

The Enlightenment The Enlightenment promoted knowledge, reason, and science as the way to improve society. Creators of the Constitution agreed with this.

Important European Philosophers. John Locke- An English Philosopher who held the belief that all people have the right to life, liberty, and property and that the government is an agreement or contract between the people and the ruler. Baron de Montesquieu- Believed a balance of power should exist in government, and powers of government should be clearly defined.

Federalists Vs Antifederalists Federalists: Individuals in favor of the Constitution. Antifederalists: Individuals who opposed the ratification of the constitution.