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The Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention. Constitutional – related to the constitution Convention – meeting Therefore it is a Constitution Meeting. The Constitutional Convention. A meeting in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation, to fix the government - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention
• Constitutional – related to the constitution• Convention – meeting
• Therefore it is a Constitution Meeting
The Constitutional Convention
• A meeting in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation, to fix the government
• Only 12 states sent representatives• Rhode Island did not send anyone
The Constitutional Convention
• Everyone decided:– The Articles of Confederation were too weak– The Articles of Confederation had many mistakes– Time to write a new national constitution
The Constitutional Convention
• Ideas for the new federal government– Will have three branches (parts)– Government needs to make laws– Government needs power to carry out the laws– Government needs power to judge the laws– The government needs the power to get money to do its work
The Constitutional Convention
• States disagree about:– How to set up each branch– How many votes large and small states get
The Constitutional Convention
• Compromises the states made to each other:– The Great Compromise– The Three-fifths Compromise– The Slave Trade Compromise
The Constitutional Convention
• The Great Compromise– The federal government has 2 houses of Congress• In the Senate – all states get 2 votes each – equal• In the House of Representatives – states with more
people, get more votes
The Constitutional Convention
• The Three-Fifths Compromise– States with slaves can count 3/5 of their slaves to
help with the population count– This helps get more votes in the House of
Representatives
The Constitutional Convention
• The Slave Trade Compromise– Congress could not end the slave trade for at least
20 years– Congress could make all the rules about trade
The Constitutional Convention
• The Constitution was DONE!!!
Next…
• The constitution had to be ratified [accepted or approved] by at least 9 states
Ratifying the Constitution
• Some people wanted to ratify/accept the constitution
• Some people did not want to ratify/accept the constitution
Ratifying the Constitution
• Federalists – wanted to ratify– Liked the strong national government– Felt the constitution was fair, some power for the
national government, some power for the states• Included:– Lawyers– Doctors– Ministers– Wealthy business men– Newspaper owners
Ratifying the Constitution
• Anti-federalists – against the constitution– Felt the constitution took too much power away
from the states– Felt the rights of the people would be taken away
• Included:– Farmers– Small business owners– townspeople
Ratifying the Constitution
• The Federalist Papers• Written by – James Madison– Alexander Hamilton– John Jay
• Explained the meeting in Philadelphia • Explained the constitution
Ratifying the Constitution
• December 1787, Delaware was the first state to ratify
• Delaware is now called “The First State”
Ratifying the Constitution
• By summer 1788 – 9 states had ratified the constitution
The Constitution
• Now the supreme (top) law of the land
• All 13 states ratified the Constitution
• 1791 – The Bill of Rights became the first amendment to the Constitution
