Constitutional Convention Notes

1. The Constitution of the United
States
Blueprints for Democracy

2. Government During and After
Revolutionary War
In 1777 the government of the United
States was 13 separate governments.
Each state had their own government
running the individual states. The laws
of the state rested in a state
Constitution .
Constitution-A written plan of
government.

3. After the American Revolution the 13
states joined together to form the
United States of America. The
government being established was to
be a Republic .
Republic-any government not controlled
by a king or queen. The power is with
the people of the nation.

4. America’s First Government
The first Government for the USA was
the Articles of Confederation.
Confederation-a joining together.
In the case of the Articles of
Confederation it was a joining together
of states.

5. Articles of Confederation
Power was divided between the
national government and state
governments.
Most of the power went to state
governments.

6. Articles Continued
Under the Articles of Confederation there was
one body of National Government. This was
the Congress.
Regardless of size or population each
state had one vote in Congress .
Congress could: declare war,provide mail
service,enter into treaties,and coin money. It
could not: collect taxes or regulate trade.
Only states could tax Americans.

7. Problems with Articles
Congress had trouble raising money
Congress could not settle trade
disputes between states
Concern of foreign powers taking over
America again or states would set up as
a separate country.

8. Fixing the Problem
Constitutional Convention held in
Philadelphia to fix problems with
Articles of Confederation.
As Convention went on delegates
decided a change was necessary.

9. James Madison
Considered the “Father
of the Constitution”. He
was a delegate from
Virginia who brought the
idea of democracy to
the convention.
Democracy-the
people have a voice in
the government ruling
over them.

10. Compromises
At the Constitutional Convention the
delegates had to compromise on
many issues.
Compromise-agreements in which each
side gives up something it wants in
order to gain something else.

11. Virginia Plan
Proposed a gov’t with 3 Branches:
Executive-enforce laws
Judicial-interpret laws
Legislative-creates laws
Legislative Branch would have 2
houses (Upper and lower).
Representation based upon population

12. New Jersey Plan
Called for a single house congress
Every state has equal representation,
regardless of size
This plan was supported by small states

13. Great Compromise
Representation-in order for there to be equal
representation between big states and small
states the delegates agreed upon a two
house Congress.
Senate-every state regardless of size would
have 2 senators.
House of Representatives -the number of
representatives would be based on the
population of the state.

14. Three Fifths Compromise
There was a problem in terms of population of
slave states and non slave states. (Northern
and Southern) How would slaves be counted
in population?
Three Fifths Compromise-each slave would
count as three fifths of one whole person.
This made sure that slave states did not have
more representation in the House of
Representatives because they had slavery.

15. Ratification Process
In order for the Constitution to be
ratified each state held their own
convention to decide whether or not to
adopt the constitution.
Federalists-people who supported the
new Constitution. Argued that this
created a good balance between state
and national governments.

16. Antifederalists
Antifederalists -feared the new
constitution created a government that
left too much power with the national
government. Pointed out that the
Constitution was missing a Bill of Rights
to protect liberty of individual citizens.

17. Ratification Continued
In order for the Constitution to be ratified 9 of
11 states had to approve it before it became
law.
Pennsylvania, Delaware,Connecticut, New
Jersey and Georgia quickly voted to adopt
the Constitution.
The last two states to approve the
Constitution were North Carolina and Rhode
Island and both states threatened to become
their own country before finally adopting it.

19. First President
George Washington
was elected first
president of United
States. He was
sworn in as
president in 1789 in
New York City (the
first capital of the
US)

20. Comparing Articles to
Constitution
Articles Constitution
1 House of 2 House Congress
Congress Power shared
Power rested with between states and
states National
No strong National Government
Government