1. The Constitution of the United States SOL USI.7b: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the challenges faced by the new nation by: b) describing the historical developments of the Constitution of the United States

2. Basic Information: 1) The development of the Constitution of the United States was significant to the FOUNDATION of the American republic. 2) The Constitution of the United States of America established a FEDERAL system of government based on power shared between the NATIONAL and STATE governments

3. Confederation to Constitution 1) WEAKNESSES in the Articles of Confederation led to the effort to draft a new constitution

4. Constitutional Convention of 1787

5. 1) State delegates met in PHILADELPHIA and decided not to revise the Articles of Confederation but to write a new constitution. 2) George Washington was elected PRESIDENT of the Constitutional Convention 3) Delegates debated over how much POWER should be given to the new government and how large and small STATES should be represented in the new government.

6. Constitutional Convention of 1787  4) The structure of the new national government included THREE separate branches of government. The three branches of government are: A) Legislative, B) Judicial, and C) Executive  5) “The Great Compromise” decided how many votes each state had in the SENATE and the House of Representatives.  6) The Constitution of the United States was SIGNED at the end of the convention in 1787

7. Ratification of the Constitution 1) Nine of the thirteen states had to vote in favor of the Constitution before it could become LAW.

8. Bill of Rights 1) Based of the Virginia Declaration of Rights that was written by GEORGE MASON and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that was written by THOMAS JEFFERSON. 2) The Bill of Rights is the first TEN amendments to the Constitution. They provide a written guarantee of individual RIGHTS (examples include: freedoms of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly).

9. Bill of Rights The First Ten Amendments of the United States Constitution- The Bill of Rights James Madison- The 4 th President of the United States and the author of the Bill of Rights