1. The Constitution
American leaders created the Constitution as a blue print of government for the united States
More then 200 years after the Constitution remains the guiding document for our government

2. 2nd Constitutional Convention 1787
1786 Articles of Confederation
First form of government
Weak, many problems
No clear leadership
Government had no power

3. Problems with Articles of Confederation
1)One house of Congress and no separation of powers.
2 government under the Articles was too weak since the majority of the power rested with the states.
3) Congress, did not have the power to tax
4)Changes to them was nearly impossible
5)Laws were hard to pass and harder to enforce
6) Congress did not have the power to regulate commerce or trade so states printed their own money

4. Need for Strong Government
Articles of Confederation was very weak and did not work
Shays Rebellion
Protest of ex-soldiers who did not get paid but were required to pay taxes
Soldiers formed a mob and burnt down banks and killed tax collectors
Rallied the congress to form a new religion to deal with problems people were facing

5. Virginia Plan Virginia Plan Bigger states get more members in congress
Bigger states felt they deserved more power then smaller states
Based on Population
Proportional Representation

6. New Jersey Plan
Smaller states wanted each state to have equal members in Congress
Equal Representation

7. Arguments Big states and small states could not agree
Big states wanted more votes cause of population
Small states believed each state had contributed equally to independence so each state should have equal votes

8. The Great Compromise Senate: equal votes for each state (2)
House of Representatives
Each state gets votes based on their population
Bigger states got more votes then small states
They adopted both plans

9. Slavery? Southern slave state wanted their slaves counted as people
They wanted more representatives in the house
Are slaves people?
Could they vote?
Did they have rights?
Larger, northern states refused to count them

10. Three Fifths Compromise
Each slave would be counted as 3/5ths of a person
This would benefit smaller states who would now agreed to sign the Constitution

11. Federalism
The delegates created a division between state and federal governments
Federalism: power is divided between a national government and state government

12. Assignment Complete the following
Terms and names: define or summarize pg 79
Questions 5 and 6 page 80
Finish the key conflicts chart pg 69
Strong central government vs. strong states
Large states vs small states
North vs. South