Unit 3:

The U.S. Constitution

1. After the Articles of Confederation had failed, many Americans became convinced that they needed a stronger central government. Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? Let’s look at the following clues: -Judicial Branch? -Executive Branch? -Legislative Branch? -Taxes? -Relationships between states? -Crimes across state lines?

2. The delegates of the Constitutional Convention had originally assembled to only revise the Articles of Confederation. Within a few days, however, they agreed that the Articles were not worth saving.

-Why was it easier to just start over?

-Logically, it seems like revising the Articles would be easier.

3. When the constitutional convention began the delegates unanimously chose George Washington to preside over the meeting.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let’s figure out why the delegate chose Washington by looking at his past: What special skills would Washington need for each of the following jobs that he held?--------------------------------------------------------------------A. Messenger for the British during the

French and Indian War.B. General for the Colonists during the Revolutionary War.C. Think about physical traits as well.

Left:

Washington during the French and Indian War, when he was a messenger for the British

Above: George Washington the smurf.

Below: Washington as a General during the Revolutionary War.

4. The delegates at the constitutional convention worked in secrecy because they did not want public pressure to slow down their work. Because of this secrecy we have no written records of the convention.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let’s think about other reasons that made secrecy necessary.

A. Creating a new constitution was risky.

B. The public was not invited. Why did this happen?

C. There had already been one failed constitution.

D. Think of more than one reason.

5. The Virginia Plan (A) and the New Jersey Plan (B)

A. The Virginia Plan stated that our legislature would have “two houses.” More importantly it stated that each house of congress would be based on each states population.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gave states with big populations an advantage such as New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. -These states had an advantage because they would have more people to vote on issues and could out vote the small states. -Can you think of any other reasons why these states had an advantage by the Virginia plan.

B. The New Jersey Plan on the other hand called for a one house legislature in which states would have equal representation.

_____________________________________________-Gave states with small populations such as Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware an advantage. -These states had an advantage because they would have one person to represent a very small amount of people. -This person could do a better job than a representative from a big state. -Can you think of any other reasons why these states had an advantage from the New Jersey plan?

6. The Connecticut Compromise or The Great Compromise called for a two house legislature. The upper house would have equal representation and the lower house would have representation that is based on the states population.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Today our upper house is called the Senate, we have equal representation in the Senate because regardless of a state’s population, there will always be two Senators, which plan does our Senate’s representation resemble-Today our lower house is called the House of Representatives. We have representation that is based on the population because larger states have a greater amount of Reps. Examples. California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois have a lot of representatives. Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and the Dakotas have a small amount of representatives.

Above: James Madison, 4th President of the United States, proposed the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention.

Left: William Patterson, proposed the New Jersey Plan at the Constitutional Convention.

Right: Roger Sherman proposed the Connecticut Compromise, or Great Compromise to satisfy small and big states at the Constitutional Convention

7. A compromise is an agreement in which each side agrees to give up something to get something more important. -How do couples compromise?

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8. The group that supported the new Constitution were the Federalists. They argued that the national government should be strong.-Our government has three levels.-What level of government does the term “federal” refer to? National, state or local?-How do these three levels of government work together?-Federalists, supported the constitution without a bill of rights because they did not want states to have too much power like they did under the Articles of Confederation.-Some people accused the Federalists of wanting a monarchy.-John Adams and Alexander Hamilton were the two most well known Federalists.

Alexander HamiltonJohn Adams

9. The Anti-Federalists felt the constitution gave too much power to the national government and took too much power away from the states. -This group later became known as the Democratic-Republicans. -The most famous Anti-Federalists was Thomas Jefferson.-Anti-Federalists wanted to block the passage of the constitution because it did not offer a Bill of Rights to citizens or to the states. -Anti-Federalists believed that states should be given more power than the federal government.-Anti-Federalists did not want a strong national government because that would resemble the government that was present during the days of the monarchy.

10. Exports are goods sold to other countries. -Think about a computer analogy. When you send information out of your computer to another one, are you importing or exporting? When you bring information in to your computer from another one, are you importing or exporting? -When you export are you buying or selling? When you import are you buying or selling?

-Import taxes.

11.The Constitution is the highest authority of our nation, it has both legal and political force.-Who is the President’s boss?-How does the constitution have legal force? Give examples.-How does the constitution have political force? Give examples.

12.The Executive Branch consists of the President and the Vice- President and their assistants. This branch makes sure that laws are carried out. -What do we call the President’s assistants?-Originally there were four cabinet positions today there are 19.-The king of England had a cabinet.-To execute means to carry out. What does the word execute mean in this scenario?“While announcing a game, Marv Albert, said that the Suns execute the pick and roll very well.”

Above: George Washington and his cabinet.

Below: George W. Bush with his cabinet during his first term.

13. Under the system of Checks and Balances each branch of the government is able to check or limit the power of the others. -What is the meaning of the word check in this phrase? “Check yourself before you riggity wreck yourself?”-Checks means that the branches ensure that no other branch can gain more power than the others.-Balances means that all three branches have an equal amount of power.

14. Veto- when the President can reject a bill Congress proposes and keep it from becoming a law.-While watching the reality show Big Brother, contestants play for the Power of Veto. What can contestants with this power do in the game?-How does the President’s veto power work? Which branch of government has its power checked by the veto?Explain exactly how this branch’s power is checked by the veto?

15. Override- to defeat the President’s veto.-Which branch of government has the ability to override a President’s veto?What does this branch have to do to be able to override a veto? (There are two things).

16. The writers of the Constitution believed that a government should not be allowed to do certain things, even if the majority of citizens feel that the government should do them. They felt that the power of the government should be limited.-America was founded on the idea that too much government is bad. -Limiting the power of one thing gives more power to something else. Since the government’s power is limited, who gets the rest of the limited power?

17. Enumerated powers are those powers the Constitution specifically gives to the national government. ex. Passing national taxes, declaring war, coining and printing money.

18. Reserved powers are those powers that the Constitution gives to the states. States have the right to regulate and control anything that affects only the people within its borders. -To collect taxes -To borrow money -To establish and maintain courts -To make and enforce laws

• 19. Any changes in the Constitution is called an amendment.-The constitution has been amended 27 times since it was ratified. -The first ten amendments which are known as The Bill of Rights were passed in 1791 to satisfy the wants of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. -The 27th Amendment had been up for ratification for almost 200 years when it was passed in 1992.-Today there is discussion of passing an amendment about marriage, stating that it should be between a man and a woman.

20. An amendment may be proposed in either of two ways: by a vote of two-thirds of the members of both houses of Congress or by a national convention.-Amendments typically get passed by the two thirds vote in Congress because gathering people together for a convention is difficult.21. The writers of the Constitution deliberately made the amendment process difficult. -Therefore, the Constitution cannot be changed without the overwhelming support of the people.-Why do you think that the Framers of the Constitution wanted to make the amendment process difficult? -Why were they trying to prevent by making the process difficult? -What were they trying to protect by making the process difficult?

22. Powers not specifically listed in the Constitution are known as implied powers. -What does it mean to imply something?-A person with a strict interpretation of the Constitution believes that we should read the constitution for what it says and should only follow what it states to.-A person with a loose interpretation of the Constitution believes that we should interpret the Constitution to fit our needs today since the Constitution is nearly 120 years old.

23. The writers of the Constitution wanted to change the existing structure of the central government by giving the states and the national government equal power.