Objective: To examine the events surrounding the creation of the Bill of Rights.

Do Now: Complete the worksheet, “Jefferson, Madison, and the Constitution”.

From left to right: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton

Federalists vs. Antifederalists

Federalists Antifederalists

• supported the Constitution

• wanted a strong national government and weaker state governments

• opposed the Constitution

• believed that the Constitution made the national government too strong and states too weak

• thought that the President had too much power

• believed in the need for a strong executive branch

• Jefferson felt that the Constitution should have a Bill of Rights.

Formation of the Bill of Rights

• Thomas Jefferson was in France during the Constitutional Convention.

Among the prominent men who were not elected as delegates to the Constitutional Convention were Thomas Jefferson (left) and John Adams (right), who were on diplomatic service in Europe.

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison

December 20, 1787.page 1

page 2

• Federalists, such as Alexander Hamilton, were against the Bill of Rights, claiming it was unnecessary since all state constitutions already had a bill of rights.

Formation of the Bill of Rights

Alexander Hamilton: Against the Bill of

Rights

Thomas Jefferson: Favored the Bill of

Rights

• Amendments to the Constitution are ratified if the legislatures from ¾’s of the states approve the amendment.

Formation of the Bill of Rights

The burning of an American flag in San Francisco, California — an act that could have been banned if the proposed constitutional amendment had been approved.

June 22: Tim Russert of NBC's "Meet the Press" talks with the "Today" show's Campbell Brown about the rejected constitutional amendment banning the desecration of the U.S. flag.

Wed., June. 28, 2006WASHINGTON - A constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration died in a Senate cliffhanger Tuesday, a single vote short of the support needed to send it to the states for ratification a week before Independence Day.

The 66-34 tally in favor of the amendment was one less than the two-thirds required. The House surpassed that threshold last year, 286-130.

The proposed amendment, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, read: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

• James Madison wrote the first ten amendments in 1791, which are known as the Bill of Rights.

Formation of the Bill of Rights

James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights and 4th President of the United States.