The American Revolution is over…but now the colonists have to decide how

they want to frame their government. Take the first 5 minutes of class and

imagine that you were a colonist that just fought against the British. Take out a

sheet of paper and write a letter (using full sentences!) to George Washington

telling him what you want him to remember when the delegates are making our

Constitution.

Hints: taxes, voting, your region, religion, etc.

(I will be choosing people to share their answers!)

The Road to the Constitution

3

Quick Review

Declaration of Independence

Second Continental Congress

Approved July 4, 1776

The Articles of Confederation

1777, our first constitution

Weak federal government

Shay’s Rebellion, 1786-1787

Strengthening the National Government

1787

Problems with the Articles of Confederation

States sent delegates to Philadelphia to fix

the A.O.C.

Rhode Island did not go…they did not want

a stronger central government

The Constitutional Convention

May 25, 1787

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

An extraordinary group of men

55 men

Well-educated

Lawyers, merchants, college presidents, doctors,

generals, governors, and planters with

considerable political experience

Who was there? Who missed it?

Benjamin Franklin 81, oldest delegate

George Washington & James Madison Both would become president

Thomas Jefferson & John Adams Both were in Europe

Patrick Henry Prominent Virginian

He was invited but did not attend; he was against the convention

The Boss

Who was chosen to

preside over the

convention?

George Washington

Respected for his

leadership during the

Rev. War

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Procedures of the Convention

Each state was only allowed one vote

Majority votes from all states made

decisions

All discussions were a secret! Why…?

This way, delegates could speak freely, without

worry about how the public would react

Importance of the Constitutional Convention

“I would bury my bones in this city rather

than leave the Convention without anything

being done.”

-George Mason at the Constitutional Convention

*Everyone knew that failure could mean disaster*

What happened to the…

Articles of Confederation???

The throw it away, decided

to write a new constitution

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Two Opposing Plans

VS.

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Virginia vs. New Jersey

Two Opposing Plans

The Virginia Plan

James Madison

3 branches of government

Bicameral legislature (2 houses),

determined by population

Favored big states

Two Opposing Plans The New Jersey Plan

William Patterson

3 branches of government

Unicameral legislature (1 house) with

equal representation

Favored smaller states

Two Opposing Plans

What was the big issue?

How representation in Congress would be

decided

Larger states wanted more power, smaller

states wanted equal power

The Great Compromise Roger Sherman of Connecticut

comes up with the answer…a compromise

Lower House

House of Representatives

Determined by population

2 year terms

Favored larger states

Upper House

Senate

Equal representation

6 year terms

Favored smaller states

Also known as… The Connecticut Compromise

What is a compromise???

A way of resolving disagreements in which each side gives up something but gains something else

More arguing? What now?

Controversy over counting slaves as a part

of the population…

At this time, there were 550,000 enslaved

African Americans, mostly in the South

More arguing? What now?

Southern states said… part of the

population = more representatives for

southern states

Northern states said… slaves cannot vote

or participate in government, they should

not give the south more representatives

The Three-Fifths Compromise

The conflict was finally resolved…

Three-Fifths Compromise

Every 5 enslaved persons would count as 3 free

people

Used for representation in Congress & figuring

taxes

Another compromise

How to elect a president?

Some say… “Let Congress pick!”

Others say… “Let the people choose!”

The compromise…

Electoral College

A group of people would be chosen by

each state to choose the President

Each state given a certain number of votes,

determined by their representation in

Congress

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One last compromise

Conflicts over commerce & the slave trade

Congress could regulate (control) trade between

states & other countries

However, they could NOT tax exports or interfere

with the slave trade for 20 years

Finished…finally!

September 17, 1787, finished up the

Constitution

Delegates signed it, said the Constitution

would become the law of the land when…

9 out of 13 states ratified (approved) it

So everyone in the entire United

States of America loved the

Constitution and every state ratified it

immediately and we all had a big

party and we all lived happily ever

after, right…?

Wrong!

29

A Divided Public

Some people liked the Constitution, others did not

Federalists = supporters of the new constitution &

a strong federal government

Federalism = A form of government in which

power is divided between the federal (national)

government and the states

A Divided Public

Some Federalists wrote papers to rally

support for the Constitution

They were called the Federalist Papers

(duh)

Who wrote ‘em?

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay

A Divided Public

What about those who didn’t like the

Constitution?

Anti-Federalists = People opposed to the

constitution & a strong federal government

“Don’t forget individual rights!”

Reaching an Agreement Anti-Federalists wanted to add…

The Bill of Rights

The Federalists promised to do so, and did

New Hampshire, 9th state to ratify June 21, 1788

The Constitution went into effect

The last state to ratify…? Rhode Island, 1790

The Federalist Papers

The main defense used to support the

Constitution (power of media/press)

Essays supporting the Constitution written

under the name, Publius (Hamilton,

Madison, John Jay)

The authors tried to reassure Americans

that the new federal government would not

overpower the states.

The importance of the media…

Federalist Number 51

“If men were angels, no government would

be necessary.”

-James Madison

Federalist Number 51 continued

“In framing a government which is to be

administered by men over men, the great

difficulty lies in this: you must first enable

the government to control the governed;

and in the next place oblige it to control

itself.”

-James Madison

38

Who: Hamilton,

Madison, Jay

Patrick Henry

Central

Government

Strong:provide

protection

Weak : focus on

states

Interpretation Loose Strict

Bill of Rights Eventually Without a

doubt!!!!

Supporters Wealth/industrial common/farmers

Power of

President

Lots Little - no Kings!

Federalist Antifederalist Issue

39

40

Lesson questions

What does interpretation mean?

What does strict interpretation of the

constitution mean?

What does loose interpretation of the

constitution mean?

41

Founding Fathers The Framers of the Constitution

wrote a very generalized document.

Purpose?

To allow future Americans flexibility.

Look at Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the U.S. Constitution. Read it carefully.

The nick name of this passage is the Elastic Clause.

Can you tell why?

42

Competing interpretations Who interprets?

The Supreme Court!

How? Strict or literalist

Which Means? The Constitution

means exactly what it says!

Framers had an exact plan

43

Competing interpretations The counterpart of strict

interpretation is?

Loose interpretation

Which means?

Meaning of certain portions

of the Constitution can

stretched to the user’s

needs

Ticket out the door

1. What is a form of government in which

power is divided between the federal

(national) government and the states?

2. What did the Anti-Federalists want to add

to the Constitution?

3. Who was the father of the Constitution?

4. The Anti-Federalists thought that the

supremacy gives too much power to who?

5. Were the Anti-Federalists or the

Federalists mostly made up of older,

Southern men?

6. Who wrote the Federalist Papers?

7. What was one argument against the

Constitution by the Anti-Federalists?

8. What was one argument for the

Constitution by the Federalists?