Ratifying the Constitution Americans Across the Nation debated whether the Constitution would produce the best government

Key Vocabulary and Key People Key Terms  Federalism  Federalists  Antifederalists  The Federalist Papers  Bill of Rights Key People  George Mason

Fed up with the government  As the Constitution was debated in Connecticut the campaign to ratify it spread across the United States  To help ease worries of a strong national government, the framers of the constitution spread word of federalism  Federalists, those who favored shared government between the federal government and the states, debated the antifederalists who thought the constitution took too much power away from the states

Fear Factor  Some feared the president would turn into a king, or the senate would create an aristocracy  Anti-federalists though that powers gained in the revolutionary war would be lost and spread their word in newspapers and pamphlets  Anti-federalists also tried to stir peoples emotions using the fear of losing their liberty

Grudge Match Federalists  Favored removing some powers from the states  Favored giving more powers to the National Government  Favored dividing powers among the three branches of government  Wanted ONE person to lead executive branch Anti-federalists  Wanted important powers to remain with the states  Wanted Legislative Branch to have MORE power than the Executive Branch  Wanted Bill of Rights in the Constitution to protect people’s rights

Extra Extra read all about it!!  The Federalist Papers began to answer the attacks on the constitution through the newspapers  James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay appealed to reason and emotions to gain support for ratification  While MOST newspapers favored the Constitution Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York, and Virginia were still needed to pass the document

Its up to YOU New York…New York  Early On the ratification process was successful in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts  While nine states had ratified the constitution New York and Virginia needed to approve the document  George Mason and Patrick Henry opposed the constitution unless a Bill of Rights was added

Peer Pressure  When James Madison recommended a bill of Rights be added to the constitution, Virginia Ratified it  When New York saw that the promise of a Bill of Rights was close they ratified the constitution as well  North Carolina and Rhode Island Ratified the Document by 1790 forming a new National Government

Due Bills  Supporters of the constitution wanted a Bill of Rights to list and protect rights of Americans  James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights and placed it at the end of the Constitution  Three-Fourths of the states would have to ratify the rights to make it law  The Bill of Rights were ratified by the country in 1791 and were made of Ten Amendments

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