CHAPTER 2 SECTION 3 A New Constitution Essential Question: What went into creating and approving the U.S. Constitution?

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AND HISTORY Written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787 This constitution has governed America for 228 years Is the world’s oldest constitution still in effect today

BRITISH PRINCIPLES INFLUENCE THE DELEGATES America delegates who wrote the U.S. Constitution took ideas (principles) from well known written British government principles Many ideas came from 3 British government principles 1) Magna Carta of 1215: free people could not be arrested, prisoned, or deported without a trial by jury of citizens 2) English Bill of Rights of 1689: citizens had the right to petition or request the government to improve or change laws, citizens had the right to fair punishment if found guilty of a crime 3) Parliamentary Government: the lawmaking decisions of government (Congress) will have to be approve by two departments (House of Representatives and the Senate) Parliament: the lawmaking body of British government

DELEGATES HOLD THEIR MEETINGS IN SECRET The delegates wanted to discuss their ideas without being pressured by outsiders so they held their meetings secretly Some delegates wanted open public debates, but acknowledged it would make resolving controversial issues very difficult What we know about these meetings today comes from James Madison’s journals of the proceedings Madison is referred to as the Father of the Constitution

WRITING THE CONSTITUTION Framers (people who help write the constitution)of the Constitution wanted a stronger central government with states still having some own governing powers They established this through a government system known as federalism Federalism: a system of government in which the powers of government are divided between the national government, which governs the whole country, and the state governments, which govern the people of each state The delegates settle their disputes about the federal system in compromises Compromise: an agreement in which each sides gives up part of its demands in order to reach a solution to a problem The Great Compromise of 1787: determine state votes in the two lawmaking departments would be granted differently. The House of Representatives votes would be granted by population size and the Senate would be granted by equal authority (each state gets the same amount of votes). This is known as a bicameral legislature.

GOVERNMENT BECOMES STRONGER National government’s powers were increased The national government could create a currency, military, regulate interstate and foreign trade, and tax. The national government now had an official (the president) to enforce national laws The national government now had a judicial system (the Supreme Court) to established interpret laws when debated

THE CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED Framers signed their approval of the Constitution on September 17 th, of the 42 framers signed No delegate was completed satisfied by the Constitution, but they agree it was the best constitution possible

APPROVING THE CONSTITUTION The constitution had to be ratified by 9 of the 13 existing states them to go into effect Ratification: approval by formal vote Each state set up it’s own convention of special delegates to vote People quickly took sides for approving the pending constitution and informed others by pamphlets, newspaper letters, speeches The pending constitution was widely debated in public

FEDERALISTS, ANTIFEDERALIST, AND RATIFICATION People who favored the Constitution were called Federalists Federalists: people who favor a strong national government Federalists leaders were Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, & James Madison Federalists Papers were a series of published articles the Federalists used to increase support of the Constitution People who opposed the Constitution were called Antifederalists Antifederalists: people who favor states rights, they opposed a strong national government Antifederalists believe the Constitution would not protect states’ or people’s freedom

THE CONSTITUTION IS RATIFIED Federalists gradually gained support, but most citizens still wanted rights of the people list (Which later become the Bill of Rights) The required 9 th state approval (ratification) came in June 1788 The new and current U.S. government (the Constitution) started in March 1789 North Carolina and Rhode Island didn’t approve the Constitution until after it was operating April 30 th, 1789, George Washington was sworn as the first president under the new and current Constitution