+ and – of parents!

*Is life better with or without parents?

New fledgling nation…United States of America

• Who was our parent?– GB

• What did we just do to our parent?– Kicked them out

• But life is better with a parent, so what do we do now?– Adoption (find a new parent – Spain, France, etc.)– Make our own “parent”/government– Sheepishly return to our old parent (GB)

Which do we decide?

• To be our own parent and make a new government

• What kind of document establishes a government?– A constitution (not THE US CONSTITUTION)

What is a constitution?(not the U.S. Constitution)

A set of ideas (principles) that says the powers and duties of a

government

A constitution sets up the government and expresses what it

can and cannot do.

Take one…• Our first attempt at creating a new government…

• Did it work? – NO!

• How do you know? – B/C we do not use it today.

• Let’s figure out how they developed it and why it didn’t work.

If you were in charge of your own household, what would your rules be?

Be specificMin. of 5

*Are any of them the exact opposite of what you live under now? Why?

America is no different…

• Created a government that was exactly the opposite of what they had before– No kings– No national/federal military– Limited central authority– States and local government had all the power– Power by the people!

Articles of Confederation• First national constitution (each state also created their

own state constitutions)

– The A of C laid out what our national government would look like

• Passed by the Second Continental Congress on Nov. 15, 1777 (not officially, unanimously ratified until 1781)

Articles of Confederation

Single branch

of national

government

(Congress)

Each state had one vote in Congress (no matter how big or small your state – what’s the potential problem with this?)

Articles of ConfederationThe national/federal government that was created …

The good…• Was not like the British

monarchy (good b/c that’s what we just rebelled against)

• Was able to engage with foreign countries and sign treaties

• Was able to declare war and make peace

• Was able to coin (so were states) and borrow money

The bad…• Was weak• Could not collect taxes (in order to raise

money for the nation)

– Had to ask states for money – states could say NO

• Could not regulate trade (states traded based on rules that were best for them – Would the rules be the same in South Carolina and Massachusetts?)

• Could not force anyone to abide by its laws

• Had no executive branch (out of fear of a tyrannical king)

• Had no judicial branch/ national court system

• Could only ask states to provide a military

Who seems to have the greatest power in this situation:

Federal Govt. or State Govt.?

It’s the states (the people – the large) that have significant power

to govern, not the federal government (the small).

Who’s principles are being followed by such a government?

Thomas Paine (ouch)

With thirteen states “being in charge”…

problems quickly surface

So, advocates emerge

(both for and against the A of C)

Believers of the A of C are called anti-

federalists• Thomas Paine• Patrick Henry• Samuel Adams• Thomas Jefferson

Non-believers of the A of C were called

federalists

• Alexander Hamilton• James Madison• George Washington• John Adams• Benjamin Franklin

And so a Constitutional Convention was called..

for compromise

What Constitutional Convention?

Why was it needed?

We need to fix this problem…

Let’s take the good stuff from the British style

government…

And the good stuff from the A of C…

Hmm…what should we

call this new document…

Ta da!

Constitutional Convention

• May 1787• Philadelphia, PA

– Independence Hall• Goal: improve the Articles of Confederation

– Result – an entirely new constitution (the U.S. Constitution)

• Ratification: December 7, 1787 (DE); May 1790 (RI)

The 13 states that ratified the U.S. Constitution (in order)

– Delaware (December 7, 1787)– Pennsylvania– New Jersey– Georgia– Connecticut– Massachusetts– Maryland– South Carolina– New Hampshire– Virginia– New York– North Carolina– Rhode Island (May 29, 1790)

Notable Names!

President of convention:

George

Washington

Present and accounted for:James Madison

Present and

accounted for:

Benjamin

FranklinM.I.A.Patrick Henry

M.I.A.Thomas Jefferson

M.I.A.

John Adams

1.Washington, George, VA2.Franklin, Benjamin, PA3.Madison, James, VA4.Hamilton, Alexander, NY5.Morris, Gouverneur, PA6.Morris, Robert, PA7.Wilson, James, PA8.Pinckney, Chas. Cotesworth, SC9.Pinckney, Chas, SC10.Rutledge, John, SC11.Butler, Pierce, SC12.Sherman, Roger, CT13.Johnson, William Samuel, CT14.McHenry, James, MD15.Read, George, DE16.Bassett, Richard, DE17.Spaight, Richard Dobbs, NC18.Blount, William, NC19.Williamson, Hugh, NC

20.Jenifer, Daniel of St. Thomas, MD21.King, Rufus, MA22.Gorham, Nathaniel, MA23.Dayton, Jonathan, NJ24.Carroll, Daniel, MD25.Few, William, GA26.Baldwin, Abraham, GA27.Langdon, John, NH28.Gilman, Nicholas, NH29.Livingston, William, NJ30.Paterson, William, NJ31.Mifflin, Thomas, PA32.Clymer, George, PA33.FitzSimons, Thomas, PA34.Ingersoll, Jared, PA35.Bedford, Gunning, Jr., DE36.Brearley, David, NJ37.Dickinson, John, DE38.Blair, John, VA39.Broom, Jacob, DE40.Jackson, William, Secretary

* George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, and Roger Sherman.Signed both the D of I and the US Constitution

Coming to an agreement…

• Took months to come to an agreement– Why?

• Different opinions• Different states wanted different things

– Dictated by lifestyle (education, occupation, religion) and size (population)

• What did they argue about?

Executive Branchconstitutional debate

• Title: King? President?

• Length of term: Option of eternity? Limited?

• Vice President: Runner up? Running mate?

Legislatureconstitutional debate

• An official group of people that have the power to make laws– How many groups (houses) should be able to do

this?– How should we determine the number of people

in each group (representation)?

*And so people offered their ideas (of course offering ideas that benefit them best)

Virginia Plan(missteps along the way…)

• VA – big or little state?

• Edmund Randolph

• Bi-cameral legislature (two houses) w/ representatives based on state population (bigger the state population – the more representatives)

*If every representative gets one vote, who (big states or little states) would appear to have more power in a system like this?

*Who is likely to disapprove this plan?

New Jersey Plan(missteps along the way…)

• NJ – big state of little state

• William Patterson

• Unicameral legislature – one-house w/ an equal number of representatives from each state

* Who is going to have an issue with this plan?

If two sides (big states vs. little states) can’t agree on a single plan what do you propose

they do next?

Great CompromiseLook at the cartoon and explain the Great

Compromise in your own words…

The Great Compromise

Did it work?How do you

know?

Great Compromise

• Roger Sherman• Bicameral legislature

– Senate (upper house); two senators per state regardless of size (appealing to the smaller states)

– House of Representatives (lower house); the number of representatives would be determined

by state population (appealing to the LARGER states)

By the end, what did it say?

Is your state big or little?(in terms of population)

• Check the charts around the room

• Look at the two congressional plans (VA Plan and NJ Plan); which would your state have liked? WHY?

What does the U.S. Constitution say?

What did those Founding Fathers put down on paper?

Seven Articles of the U.S. Constitution

1. Creates the Legislative branch and gives Congress the power to make laws

Bicameral Legislature Senate (2/state) House of Representatives (based on state population)

2. Creates the Executive branch Explains how the President carries out the laws passed by

Congress

3. Creates the Judicial branch Federal Court System

Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Court Right to hear cases that involve the Constitution, federal laws,

treaties, disagreements between states, states and foreign nations

Seven Articles of the U.S. Constitution

4. Relations Among the States Each state must recognize the official acts of

other states

5. Amending the Constitution Constitution can be changed if necessary

6. National Supremacy National government trumps (outweighs) state

power/law

Seven Articles of the U.S. Constitution

7. Ratification (approval) Must require nine states to ratify the

Constitution (applied at the time of only thirteen states)

Next Constitutional Debate…

How should the Constitution be interpreted?

Anonymous Survey(answer in your head)

• Do you have rules in your classes?• Do those rules list every single thing you can and

can’t do?• Have you ever tried to do something that wasn’t

written out explicitly in those rules?– ex. Have you ever chewed gum in a class even if you

weren’t told whether you could or couldn’t?• Why did you try this “something?”

– To see what the boundaries are? To see what you can and can’t get away with?

Interpretation of rules

• When you recall your answers…• Would you say you have a loose interpretation

of the classroom rules…• Or a strict interpretation of those classroom

rules?

*Loose – these rules are just a guideline and if it doesn’t specifically say you can or can’t do something then it may be ok to try

*Strict – you do only the things that the rules specifically say you can do, all other things must be not allowed

Same applies to the U.S. Constitution

Interpretations of the US Constitution

• The US Constitution does not say every single thing the President, or Congress, or a Judge can and can’t do

• So….• Some presidents approach their job with a very

strict interpretation of the Constitution

While others approach their job with a very loose interpretation of the Constitution

• Either way is ok as long as you are consistent!(some Presidents/Congressmen/Judges say one thing and do another)

Hey, how does the Constitution handle our, individual, rights?

Bill of Rights

Hey, how does the Constitution handle our, individual, rights?

Write a paper.

How many of you are comfortable with that assignment as it was stated?

How many of you need to know MORE?

Write down any questions you may have about the assignment.

Same applies to the U.S. Constitution

Not everyone was satisfied with the ratified version. Many wanted specific

individual rights written out in plain language (not assumed).

Bill of Rights

Ratified: Dec. 15, 1791

Bill of Rights

• James Madison

• First ten amendments– Delegates took ideas from past grievances (abuses

by the King)– Created to guarantee citizens’ individual rights

Amendments

• Changes to the Constitution• Article V (of the U.S. Constitution)

– Provided a way to change the document when necessary to reflect the will of the people

– Amendments must be approved by 2/3 of both houses and then voted on and approved by ¾ of the states