Warm-Up
1. What governing document was signed by the
Pilgrims before landing at Plymouth?
2. Explain three beliefs of the Quakers.
3. Which region of the colonies was impacted the
most by the Intolerable Acts?
4. What was Thomas Paine trying to convince the
colonists to do in Common Sense?
5. Who wrote the Virginia Plan for the
Constitution?
Articles of Confederation
• Weak central government
• Changing government law needs an
unanimous vote.
• Can’t regulate trade or currency.
– Led to a economy weak
• Governs the growing western territory
– Land Ordinance of 1785
– Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Articles of Confederation
• Page 137
• Eight groups
• Each group will make a poster that contains
eight cartoons. Each cartoon will represent a
problem of the A of C. There are eight bullet
points in the chart that represent these
problems, make a cartoon for each.
• You have 30 minutes to complete this
assignment
Land Ordinance of 1785
• Established how land in the west would be surveyed.
• This was land won during the American Revolution.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• This ordinance broke the land into different
territories and determined how they would
become new states.
1. Congress appointed a governor and judges.
2. Territory would write a constitution and elect a
government after 5,000 people lived there.
3. Once 60,000 people lived in a territory it could
apply for statehood. Congress would approve.
Shays’s Rebellion - 1787
• Led by Daniel Shays
• Farmers in debt
– Many are war veterans
– They could lose their farms
• Led a rebellion of 1,200 to take the arsenal at
Springfield but failed.
• Shows need for stronger government.
• G. Washington – “What a triumph for our
enemies, to find out that we are incapable of
governing ourselves.”
Warm-Up
1. What was the name of the first government
in the United States?
2. Describe two weaknesses of the original
government of the United States.
3. Explain the Land Ordinance of 1785.
4. Explain the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Constitutional Convention, 1787
• Took place in Philadelphia
• James Madison, VA - Father of the
Constitution
• Wrote the Virginia Plan
Two Different Plans
• Virginia Plan = “Large State Plan”
– Bicameral legislature, based on population
– Benefits large states.
• New Jersey Plan = “Small State Plan”
– Each state gets one vote.
– Benefits small states.
The Compromise
• “The Great
Compromise” – Roger
Sherman
– Combines the two plans
(VA and NJ)
– Two part Congress House and Senate
Slavery
• Some Southern states threaten not to join the
Union if slavery was outlawed.
• 3/5 Compromise: A slave counts as 3/5 of a
person
– Used for taxes and representation
• Slave trade can be banned 20 years after
ratification.
The Ratification Debate
•
•
•
•
Federalists
For Ratification
James Madison, George
Washington, Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay
Strong central government,
promote economic
improvement
Checks and Balances keep it
from taking away peoples’
rights.
•
•
•
•
Anti-Federalists
Against Ratification
George Mason, Patrick
Henry, Thomas Jefferson
A strong central
government is dangerous, it
weakens and threatens
state power
Threatens individual rights
The Federalist
James Madison
John Jay
Alexander
Hamilton
The Federalist Papers
• Hamilton, Madison, Jay
• Federalist Paper #10
– Warned against factions.
• Groups who have views that would take away others
rights.
• Federalist Paper #51
– Checks and Balances.
– Separation of Powers
Warm-Up
1. Who wrote the Federalist Papers?
2. What were the two groups who debated
ratifying the Constitution?
3. What are checks and balances?
4. Define the Virginia Plan.
5. Explain the Great and 3/5ths Compromise.
Why the Bill of Rights?
• Many opposed to ratification were afraid of
losing individual rights
– Demanded a Bill of Rights to protect them
• Final compromise of the convention
Bill of Rights
• Written by James Madison
in 1789
• 1st Ten Amendments to the
U.S. Constitution
• Protected rights of
individual citizens
Madison
• Amendment I
• Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.
• Amendment II
• A well regulated Militia, being necessary
to the security of a free State, the right of
the people to keep and bear Arms, shall
not be infringed.
• Amendment VIII
• Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted.
Virginia Declaration of Rights
• Written by George Mason in
1776
• First document to protect
individual rights
• Influenced Jefferson while
writing the Declaration of
Independence
• Used as an example while
writing the Bill of Rights
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
• Written by Thomas Jefferson
in 1779, adopted in 1786
• Established freedom of
religion
– Government cannot establish
an official church
• Its ideas were used in the Bill
of Rights
Primary Source Reading
• Virginia Declaration of Rights
• Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
How does the new government work?
• Three Branches
– Legislative
• Congress – the House of Representatives and the
Senate
– Executive
• President
– Judicial
• Court System
• Checks and Balances
– Each branch has ways to prevent others from
passing laws they do not agree with.
Examples of Checks and Balances
• Presidential Veto.
• Senate must confirm presidential
appointments.
• Supreme court and declare laws
unconstitutional.