2.  1. Anti-Federalists- the people who did not support the Constitution in 1787  2. Compromise- both parties give a little to reach an agreement  3. Federalists- the people who did support the Constitution in 1787  4. Framers- the people who created the Constitution in 1787  5. Power- ability to control  6. Ratify- accept or approve  7. Veto- decline, not accept, disapprove

3.  Considered the nation’s first constitution  Written during the Revolutionary War  Meant to form a national government  Reflected a distrust in a powerful government  13 colonies became 13 independent states- each acted like an individual country.  Set up a Congress of Confederation to run the government- each state had varying number of members and each state had only one vote regardless of the number of members

4.  No president  No court system  Congress had limited power  States did not have to follow laws passed by Congress  1787 abandoned.

5.  Initiated by James Madison  Two purposes:  1. open free trade on the Potomac River  2. to make amendments to the Articles of Confederation.  Held September 11, 1786  All 13 states were invited but only 5 states attended.  New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia  Most states did not attend because free trade on the Potomac River did not affect their state.

6.  Only thing accomplished…  Alexander Hamilton proposed a meeting of all state delegates to be held in May 1787 in Philadelphia.  Object of the meeting is to consider changing the Articles of Confederation.

7.  Began on May 14, 1787  1. About a dozen delegates attended the first day.  2. Only business decided was to meet each morning until a quorum is present.  Quorum finally reached on May 25, 1787.  55 delegates attended.  Rhode Island declined to send delegates.

8.  First official business….George Washington voted to be president of the convention.  Rules established…  1. Each state has one vote- half of the delegates need to be present to cast a vote for the state. Majority needed to decide an issue.  2. One speaker at a time; when not speaking must be listening  3. Secrecy important; nothing spoken at the convention is to be printed or otherwise published or communicated.

9.  Why?  Avoid misunderstandings within the public.  Allow delegates to change their mind.

10.  Proposed by Edmund Randolph of Virginia  Called for national consolidation  Provided for a national government to operate at the level of the people rather than the states.  Provided for a national executive office to enforce the laws.

11.  Provided for a two house national legislature:  1. Lower house (House of Representatives) would be elected by the people  2. Upper house (Senate) would be nominated by the state legislature and voted on by the lower house  3. Members of each house vote as individuals not as a state.  4. Number of representatives would be based on population.

12.  Presented by William Patterson of New Jersey.  Introduced because the smaller states did not like representation based on population.  Wanted to keep Articles of Confederation but eliminate the flaws in it.  Wanted Congress to have the right to tax and regulate commerce.  Wanted equal representation in Congress regardless of the population of the state.

13.  President would be under control of the states.  Lower House would be elected by the people-  1. Representation based on population.  2. One representative for each 30,000 people in a state.  Upper House would be elected by state legislatures.  1. Each state has two members.

14.  Northern states opposed slavery.  Southern states wanted slaves counted in population when determining the number of representatives.  Southern states did not want slaves to count when figuring out a state’s taxes based on population.  Framers decided that all free persons and three out of five “all other persons” would be counted in the population for the purposes of taxation and representation in Congress.

15.  Framers did not want all powers given to government to be controlled by one man, or even a small group.  Created a system in which power would be shared.  Believed government has main jobs:  1. Making rules for the government and the people. Legislature  2. Carrying out the laws and making sure people obey the laws. Executive  3. Settling disagreements about the laws, and punishing people who do not obey the law. Judicial  Three branches of government.

16.  Prevent one branch from becoming too powerful.  Each branch controlled by two other in several ways.

17.  President is commander in chief of the army, navy, and state militias.  Makes treaties with foreign powers-needs 2/3 Senate to agree.  Chooses ambassadors, ministers, consuls, judges of federal court- need approval of Senate.  Power to veto a bill- two-thirds vote of both houses can override the veto.  Congress has the power to remove the president-  1. Impeached by the House of Representatives  2. Tried by the Senate  3. To be convicted must have 2/3 vote of the Senate

18.  Introduction called Preamble.  Signed September 17, 1787.  39 delegates signed the Constitution- Secretary of the Convention also signed it, making it a total of 40 people who actually signed.

19.  Framers had not been given authority to write the constitution so it had to be sent to each state for approval.  Anti-Federalists objected that a bill of rights was not included, felt the President had too much independence, the Senate was too aristocratic, Congress had too many powers, and the national government had too much authority.  Federalists supported the Constitution.  First political parties developed from these groups.  Special conventions held in each state to ratify the Constitution.  Needed 9 states to ratify.  All 13 states eventually ratified the Constitution.