Bell Ringer

• Why did delegates meet again in Philadelphia in 1787?To revise the Articles of Confederation

– How did Shay’s rebellion impact the country?Illustrated the weaknesses of having a limited federal or central authority (domestic rebellion could threaten national security)– What was the main weakness of the Articles of

Confederation?States were given all the power, limited national authority to govern the states

Constitutional Convention

• Philadelphia, May – September • Leads to the creation of a whole new

constitution • 55 delegates

Convention to revise Articles meets in Philadelphia 1787

I – Delegates to the Constitution

• Most were young men in their 30’s, many were from wealthy families

• Madison arrives prepared with many ideas on how to structure a new government

• His ideas most influential – Authors “Federalist Papers” which argued for a strong federal government

They call me “Father of the Constitution”

II. Debates over how to structure government

• Most agreed with Montesquieu’s ideas on separation of powers – (designed to keep any one person from having too much power)

III. How should we be represented?

Big states v. Small statesA - NEW JERSEY Plan – All states equally represented regardless of populationB - VIRGINIA Plan – All states represented according to population

State Populations ~ Census 1790

1. Virginia 691,737 692. Pennsylvania 434,373 433. North Carolina 393,751 394. Massachusetts 378,787 375. New York 340,120 346. Maryland 319,728 317. South Carolina 249,073 248. Connecticut 237,946 239. New Jersey 184,139 1810. New Hampshire 141,885 1411. Georgia 82,584 812. Rhode Island 68,825 613. Delaware 59,096 5

C. The Great Compromise

Developed by Roger Sherman

Why don’t we just

compromise?

(compromise – a settlement in which each side gives up

something in order to reach an agreement)

As a result, today we have a two house (bi-cameral) legislature (CONGRESS)

House of Representati

ves(Virginia

Plan)

Senate(NJ Plan)

a) Senate – two

seats per state

b) House of Representativ

es

– seats based on state’s population

Congressional apportionment in the House of Representatives

after 2010 census

Senate = Every state is equal

Every state gets 2!

Virginia gets 2, New Jersey gets 2

Every state gets 2!!

D. Slavery1) Slaves could not vote, so

northerners argued they should not be counted when assigning

representatives

2) Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of their population

State Free Total Population Population

Virginia 1 455,000 1 692,000

Pennsylvania 2 430,000 2 434,000

Massachusetts 3 378,000 4 378,000

New York 4 318,000 5 340,000

North Carolina 5 293,000 3 393,000

ZZZZZZ

3) North and South compromised by allowing states to count 3/5ths of their

slaves as part of their population

IV. SlaveryA) Some delegates wanted ban slavery but Southerners warned this would ruin their economy, so it remained LEGALB) Delegates agreed not to outlaw the slave trade (the buying selling of new slaves from Africa) for at least 20 years, then Congress could vote to regulate it or end itC) Agreed that fugitive slaves (seen as property) had to be returned to their owners

V. The Constitution is signed in Philadelphia

The Constitution is then given to the states for approval

9 of 13 states must

ratify (approve) the new form of

government

Each state holds conventions to vote on the new Constitution

Two groups form

a) The Federalists

supported the new

Constitution

b) The Anti-federalists opposed the new Constitution believing it gave too much power to a Federal or national

authority

Rhode Island 34 32 5 / 29 /90

North Carolina 194 77 11 / 21 / 89

New York 30 27 7 / 26 / 88

Virginia 89 79 6 / 25 / 88

New Hampshire 57 47 6 / 21 / 88

South Carolina 149 73 5 / 23 / 88

Maryland 63 11 4 / 28 / 88

Massachusetts 187 168 2 / 6 / 88

Connecticut 128 40 1 / 9 / 88

Georgia 26 0 1 / 2 / 88

New Jersey 38 0 12 / 18 / 87

Pennsylvania 46 23 12 / 12 / 87

Delaware 30 0 12 / 7 / 1787

Many people were fearful that a powerful government wouldn’t protect the people

The promise of a Bill of Rights convinced many to support the Constitution

Bill of Rights is added through the amendment process – an amendment

is a change or addition or to the original Constitution

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution = Bill of Rights

Bill of Rights lists the rights

to be protected by

the government

• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=shays+rebellion&view=detail&&mid=CD7D45893050698DF504CD7D45893050698DF504

• 38:00 – 43:00

Bill of Rights Rap

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlt6R1KD4E0

Video Recap!

• http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/the-constitutional-convention-the-great-compromise.html#lesson

What rights do you have??

• To say whatever I want, whenever I want?• To be searched?• To practice whatever religion I choose or none at all?• To be harmed as a punishment for a crime?• Do you know what rightsyou have??

Why does this matter?

http://www.icivics.org/games