The Constitution
Objective: I can explain how the U.S.
Constitution incorporates basic principles
which help define the government of the
United States as a federal republic including
its structure, powers, and relationship with the
governed.
Partner Question
Put the objective in
your own words.
The Articles of Confederation
● Created during American Revolution to unify
states
○ Needed a single army under central
control
● Confederation-group of individual state
governments that band together for a
common purpose
○ “League of Friendship”
The Articles of Confederation
● One-house legislature
○ Each state has one vote
○ Control over army and authority to
deal with foreign countries on
behalf of the states
○ Powers quite limited
The Articles of Confederation
● Past experience causes the 13 states to refuse
two important powers to the Confederation Congress
 No power to enforce its laws
 No power to tax
o Congress could ask for money from the states
but not demand it
o In fact, Congress could not require the states to do
anything
The Articles of Confederation
● Perhaps the most significant achievement of
the Congress under the Articles was the
Northwest Ordinance
● Outlined the basis for the organization of the
new territorial gov’ts and set a precedent for
the method of admitting new states to the
Union
The Articles of Confederation
● The Northwest Ordinance included a specific
provision outlawing slavery:
o “There shall be neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude in said territory.”
● Present day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin
Weaknesses of the Articles
● Congress could not pass a law unless
nine states voted in favor of it
● Any attempt to amend, or change, the
Articles required a unanimous vote of all
13 states.
o Strict voting requirements made it difficult
for Congress to accomplish anything
Weaknesses of the Articles
● Even when Congress managed to pass a
law, it could not enforce them
● The Articles did not provide for an executive
or judicial branch to help enforce the laws
o If a state decided to ignore a law, the
Congress could do nothing about it
Partner Questions
● Why did the American colonists create the
Articles of Confederation?
● Describe the government created by the
Articles of Confederation?
● Why was it important for the government
under the articles to have those powers
which were not given?
Partner Questions
● Why was the Northwest Ordinance
important?
● Identify an important provision in the
Northwest Ordinance.
● What were the weaknesses of the
Articles?
● What did the weaknesses of the Articles
lead to? [Inference]
The Constitution
Objective: I can explain how the U.S.
Constitution incorporates basic principles
which help define the government of the
United States as a federal republic including
its structure, powers, and relationship with the
governed.
The Philadelphia Convention
● Delegates originally were going to
revise the Articles but decided to
write a new constitution-new plan of
national government.
● Constitutional Convention
● Goal to create framework that all states
could accept-failure could mean disaster
Creating the Constitution
● James Madison and Virginia
delegates propose the Virginia Plan
● Similar to today’s government
● president, courts, and congress with
two houses
Creating the Constitution
● Representation in each house of
congress would be based on each
state’s population
● Large states would have more votes
than smaller states.
Partner Questions
● Which type of states would favor the
Virginia plan? Why?
● Which type of states would not favor
the Virginia plan? Why?
Creating the Constitution
● The New Jersey Plan was submitted
by the smaller states
● The plan called for a gov’t similar to
the one under the Articles.
Creating the Constitution
● It included a one-house congress in
which states would have equal
representation therefore, equal votes
● Under this plan, Congress could set
taxes and regulate trade--powers it
did not have under the Articles
Partner Questions
● Which type of states would favor the
New Jersey plan? Why?
● Which type of states would not favor
the New Jersey plan? Why?
Creating the Constitution
● Large states would not accept the
New Jersey Plan, small states in
approved of the plan
● Larger states thought they should
have more power than smaller
states.
Creating the Constitution
● The Great Compromise
● Proposed that Congress have two
houses-a Senate and a House of
Representatives
Creating the Constitution
● The Great Compromise also known as
the Connecticut Compromise
● Each state would have equal
representation in the Senate
(States?)
● In the House, representation would
be based on population (States?)
Partner Question
How did the Great
Compromise create a
solution for large and small
states?
Creating the Constitution
● The Great Compromise settled the
structure of Congress.
● However, more than 550,000 African
Americans were enslaved, mostly in
the South at the time
Creating the Constitution
● The Southern states wanted to count
slaves as part of their population to
increase their voting power in the
House
● Northern states, which had fewer
enslaved persons, opposed the idea
Creating the Constitution
● Northern states argued that because
enslaved persons were not allowed
to vote or otherwise participate in
government, they should not be used
to give Southern states a stronger
voice in Congress
Creating the Constitution
● In the Three-Fifths Compromise,
delegates agreed that every five
enslaved persons would count as three
free persons.
● Three-fifths of the slave population in
each state would be used in
determining representation in Congress
Partner Questions
1. Why did Southern states want to
count enslaved persons as part of their
population?
2. Why did Northern states oppose
counting enslaved persons as part of a
state’s population?
Partner Question
What was the solution of the delegates
with regards to counting population in a
state?
Homework=https://www.docsoffreedom
.org/readings/the-ratification-debate
Answer Both Questions
Ratification
● Finished the Constitution, next step
was to win ratification, or approval, of
the Constitution
● The delegates decided each would
set up a ratifying convention to vote
“yes” or no”
Ratification
● When at least nine of the 13 states
had ratified the Constitution, then it
would become the supreme law of
the land
Federalists
● Supporters of the Constitution
● Chose the name to emphasize that
the Constitution would create a
system of federalism, a form of gov’t
in which power is divided between
the federal, or national, gov’t and the
states
Federalists
● Reminded Americans flaws in the
Articles
● Argued the need for a strong national
gov’t or the US would not survive
● Large landowners who wanted
property protection a strong nat’l gov’t
could provide
Federalists
● Claimed that only a strong nat’l gov’t
could protect the new nation from
enemies abroad and solve the
country’s internal problems
The Federalists Papers
● A series of essays known as The
Federalist, Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison, and John Jay defend
the Constitution
The Federalists Papers
● Madison argued in The Federalist, No. 10:
o A Republic, by which I mean a
Government in which the scheme
of representation takes
place...promises the cure for
which we are seeking…”
 James Madison, The Federalist, No. 10
Anti-Federalists
● Opposed the Constitution
● Main argument was the new
Constitution would take away the
liberties Americans had fought to win
from Great Britain
Anti-Federalists
● Believed the new Constitution would
create a strong nat’l gov’t, ignore the
will of the states and the people, and
favor the wealthy few over the
common people
Anti-Federalists
● Perhaps the strongest criticism of the
Constitution was that it lacked a bill of
rights to protect individual freedoms
● Many feared they would lose the
liberties gained during the Revolution
Anti-Federalists
● Several state conventions took a stand
and announced they would not ratify
the Constitution without the addition of
a bill of rights
Launching a New Nation
● Federalists eventually agree with AntiFederalists that a bill of rights was
necessary
● Federalists promised if the
Constitution was adopted, the new
gov’t would add a bill of rights to it
Launching a New Nation
● That promise helped turn the tide
● Several states had already voted for
ratification
● New Hampshire became the ninth
state to do so, and the Constitution
took effect
Launching a New Nation
● In time, the four remaining states
ratified the Constitution, the last being
Rhode Island in 1790
● The 13 independent states were now
one nation, the United States of
America