1. Articles of Confederation
Chapter 7: Confederation to Constitution EQ: How do new ideas change the way people live?
Articles of Confederation
Constitutional Convention
Constitution

2. Timeline
1777
Patriots win the battles of Saratoga
Articles of Confederation Adopted
1781
Articles of Confederation go into Effect
British surrender at Yorktown
1783
Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War
1786 – 1787
Shay’s Rebellion in Massachusetts
1787
Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia
United States Constitution is written
1788
United States Constitution is Ratified
1789
George Washington becomes the first President of the United States

3. Creating a New Constitution
Chapter 7, Lesson 2
Creating a New Constitution
EQ: How do new ideas change the way people live?

4. Ch. 7, Lesson 2: Academic Vocabulary (pg.190)
depression
manumission
compromise

5. Constitutional Convention of 1787
Shay’s Rebellion and economic depression led to a convention in Philadelphia in 1787.
Delegates wanted to REWRITE the Articles of Confederation.
After much debate, they ended up trashing the Articles and writing an entirely new document: OUR CONSTITUTION.

6. 12 states sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
Rhode Island didn’t attend.
55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention became known as our Founding Fathers.
James Madison: known as the “father of the Constitution because he wrote it.

7. The delegates to the convention didn’t want to be pressured by the politics of the day.
They posted guards at the doors and kept the windows closed and locked to keep people from spying on the meetings and spreading news of what was going on.

8. May 29, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention got down to the business of forming a new government.
Challenge : How to set up a STRONG, but LIMITED federal (national) government?
Strong enough to keep the country together, but not so strong as to become oppressive like the kings in England.

9. Liberty Kids
As you watch the video, answer the questions.

10. The Virginia Plan Madison & Edmund Randolph wrote the plan.
STRONGER national government
Gov. would have 3 branches
Legislature = makes laws
Executive branch (President) = enforce the laws
Judicial branch = interpret the laws

12. Each state would have representatives in the legislature according to the population of that state.
PROBLEM: States with large population (Virginia) would have more representatives, than small states ( Connecticut)!!

13. The New Jersey Plan William Paterson presented the plan
Wanted a STRONGER State government
Small states didn’t like the idea of the bigger states having more of a voice in the government.
Each state would have an EQUAL # of representatives in Congress no matter how big or small the state.

14. The Great Compromise To keep both the big and small states =)
Delegates came up with a compromise.
Legislative branch would have 2 houses (bicameral), but representation would be different in each house.

15. Representation Based on population
The Great Compromise
Legislative Branch
(Congress)
Senate
Equal Representation
2 Senators from each State
House of Representatives
Representation Based on population

16. Slavery and the Constitution
Representation in the House of Representatives based on population
PROBLEM: Who would be counted in that population?
Slaves?

18. The 3/5th Compromise
Slaves counted for REPRESENTATION in the House of Representative.
However, slaves would have no rights guaranteed by the government
Once again, the delegates compromised. They agreed to allow the slave states to count 3/5ths of their slaves for representation in the House.

19. Activity: Constitutional Convention
Pretend you are a reporter who happens to be at the Constitutional Convention
Write a 2 paragraph newspaper article reporting on the Constitutional Convention
Write a quick draft using your Summary
Include information: Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, Great Compromise, and 3/5th Compromise
Proof read it
Write a final draft on the Newspaper template
Draw an image

20. Activity: Read pg. 212-215. Answer questions in complete sentences.
Why are the following ideas important?
Popular sovereignty
Limited government
What is the difference between enumerated powers and reserved powers? Give an example of each.
What are concurrent powers, provide one example.
What is separation of powers? Why is it important?
What is the purpose of the system of checks and balances?
Which individual right in the Bill of Rights is more important to you, and why?

21. Key Principles of the US Constitution
Popular sovereignty
Republic (representative government)
Limited government
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Individual Rights

22. Federalists vs. Anti-federalists
Constitution was written, but it had to be ratified (agreed) to by the states.
People in favor of the Constitution= FEDERALISTS.
People opposed to the Constitution =called ANTI-FEDERALISTS.

23. Federalism
A system of government in which power is shared between the central or (federal) government and the state governments.
Federal Government
State Governments

24. Federal vs. State Gov. Federalists Anti-federalists
Favor Federal gov. stronger than the State governments.
Constitution took too much power away from state gov.
Did not guarantee people’s rights.
Afraid that the federal gov. would become too powerful, like the kings.

25. Federalists Anti-federalists
Supported removing some powers from the states and giving more powers to the Federal Government
Wanted important political powers to remain with the states
Favored dividing powers among different branches of government
Wanted the Legislative Branch to have more power than the Executive Branch
Proposed a single person to lead the Executive Branch
Feared that a strong executive might become a king or a tyrant
Believed a Bill of Rights needed to be added to the Constitution to protect people’s rights

26. The Federalist Papers
Three politicians wrote The Federalist Papers and printed in New York newspapers.
The Federalist papers argued in favor of ratifying the Constitution.
John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers.

27. Nation was divided between Federalists and the Anti – federalists.
Federalists outnumbered the Anti-federalists.
Founding Fathers didn’t want the country to be divided.
So, they agreed to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution. This convinced Virginia and New York to agree to ratification. Finally, by 1790, North Carolina and Rhode Island joined the other states and everyone was in agreement.

28. The Bill of Rights
James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights and sent these ten amendments to the Constitution to the states for ratification.
In 1791 these rights became law.