The Constitution
FOCUS and EXIT tickets
FOCUS
Knowing the situation for the
American colonies prior to their
independence, answer the following
questions regarding the United States
first plan for government.
1.
2.
3.
How do you think the American
leaders wanted their government to
differ from the British government?
Thinking about the Declaration of
Independence, what ideals do you
think the leaders wanted to include in
the new government?
What challenges do you think they
faced?
In this picture, you see some of the
leaders o the Continental Congress
(John Adams, Alexander Hamilton,
Thomas Jefferson)
The Articles of Confederation
• Prior to the war ending, the Continental Congress adopted
the Articles of Confederation in 1777 as the colonies’ first
form of centralized government
• The Articles were a plan for a loose union, or
confederation, which would be under the authority of the
Continental Congress
-The Articles were designed to be weak because the colonies
did not want a powerful central government
• WHY??
The Articles of Confederation
• There were some strengths
• Adding new states-- Northwest Ordinance
• BUT…there were more weaknesses
• The central government was EXTREMELY
WEAK
•
•
•
•
Could not raise taxes
Could not regulate trade
Could not enforce treaties
Very difficult to pass laws and amendments
How did we know…enough is enough?
Shay’s Rebellion
• Prior to the war ending, the
Continental Congress adopted the
Articles of Confederation in 1777
as the colonies’ first form of
centralized government
• The Articles were a plan for a
loose union, or confederation,
which would be under the
authority of the Continental
Congress
-The Articles were designed to be
weak because the colonies did not
want a powerful central
government (Why?)
Shays’ Rebellion and changes to the
Articles
• Though unsuccessful, Shays’ Rebellion caused
concern for those in power that states might take
property away from the wealthy
• Shays’ Rebellion, and the weaknesses of the
Articles, convinced the Confederation Congress
that a convention of the states needed to be called
in order to revise the Articles
• In May 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia at
the Constitutional Convention to revise the
Articles
EXIT!
1. How did the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation drive the
country’s leaders to draft the
Constitution?
2. How did Shay’s Rebellion impact the
entire nation?
FOCUS!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What are the 3 branches of
government in our national
gov?
What are the 3 branches of
government in our state gov?
How is the national
government similar to the
state governments?
How is the national
government similar to the
local governments?
How are the national, state,
and local governments
similar?
What is federalism?
What is separation of
powers?
= Separation of Powers
= Federalism
Constitutional Convention
• After Shay’s Rebellion, a
meeting was called to
revise the Articles of
Confederation
• The delegates in
Philadelphia decide not
to revise the Articles, but
rather to write an entirely
new document
• The delegates kept the
meetings a secret as not
to have outside pressure
and opinions put upon
them
Creating the United States
Constitution
• The Great Compromise: settled how states would be
represented in the new government, setting up the House of
Representatives, which appeased the larger states, and the
Senate, which appealed to the smaller states
The Great Compromise
was a merger of the Virginia
Plan and the New Jersey
Plan
Limited Government
• The framers of the Constitution feared misuse/abuse of
power
• The framers listed what powers the federal
government does and does not have in Article I of the
Constitution
• Limited government also appears in the Bill of Rights
There are 2 ways that we limit the power of
government: federalism and separation of powers
Federalism: The national government shares power with the state
and local governments
Separation of Powers (seen below): Created the 3 branches of
government to prevent the concentration of power and provide
for checks and balances
Constitutional Convention
• Once all of the compromises were decided on
(Great Compromise, 3/5ths), the Confederation
Congress approved the new Constitution
The task now was to convince at least nine of the
thirteen state
governments to ratify
the document in order
for it to take effect
Ratifying the Constitution
• After the delegates of the Constitutional
Convention approved the new Constitution, the
state governments had to vote on formal approval
(ratification)
• According to the ratification process 9 out of 13
states had to approve it
• Two groups emerged in the ratification debate:
1 -The Federalist, who supported ratifying the
Constitution
2-The Anti-Federalist, who opposed the
Constitution
EXIT!!
1. How does the Constitution
include the ideas of a limited
government? (meaning, how did
the Constitution limit the power
of government?)- EXPLAIN each
FOCUS!
•
•
From the Ratification debate assignment (#5)
“…Our affairs seem to lead to some crisis, some
revolution—something that I cannot foresee or
conjecture. I am uneasy and apprehensive; more so
than during the War. Then we had a fixed object, and
thought the means and time of obtaining it were often
problematic, yet I did firmly believe we should
ultimately succeed, because I was convinced that
justice was with us. The case is now altered; we are
going and doing wrong, and therefore I look forward
to evils and calamities [problems]…”
-- John Jay to George Washington – June 27, 1786
FOCUS!
• Why was John Jay more relaxed during
the Revolutionary War?
• What is making him “apprehensive”
and “uneasy?” (Hint: look at the
DATE !)
• What does John Jay say will happen if
we don’t change?
• Is he an anti-federalist or a federalist?
• Each state voted separately on whether or not to
approve the Constitution
• We needed at least 9 states to approve the
Constitution
• Which states were the first to approve the
Constitution?
The Federalist
• The Federalist were a collection of 85
essays written by James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay
• Published in NY newspapers, The
Federalist were a way of explaining to the
people how the Constitution worked, and
why it was needed
Ratifying the Constitution
• Five states ratified the Constitution within a month,
however many Anti-Federalists were holding out
• They thought the National would still have too much
power in the Constitution
• They wanted the Constitution to mention the
PEOPLE…what about the people’s rights?
• They wanted a….
• BILL OF RIGHTS
• To sway Anti-Federalist, Federalists promised to add
a bill of rights if the Constitution was ratified
• By May 1790 all thirteen states had ratified the
Constitution
Exit!
1. What ideas did the Federalists
and Anti-federalists support?
2. Why were the Bill of Rights
added onto the Constitution?
FOCUS!
Match the appropriate section of the
Constitution with its appropriate contents:
1. Bill of Rights
A. carries out laws
2. Legislative Branch B. interprets laws
3. Executive Branch C. States peoples rights
4. Judicial Branch D. makes the laws
George Washington
• Washington- elected 1789
• The Electoral College
• First Actions
• Bill of Rights
• Create a cabinet
• Two of key members of
Washington’s cabinet were
Thomas Jefferson,
Alexander Hamilton
Washington’s Cabinet
• His cabinet, or his advisers, worked with George
Washington to put this new government into place
• Now that we have the Constitution, how is it going
to be implemented?
• That is the question that Washington and his advisors
had to address…
• The first major problem: DEBT!
• EVERYONE in the Cabinet supported one
solution, the Tariff of 1789
• Tariff = tax on imports
Washington’s Cabinet
• The other solutions were offered by
Washington’s Treasury Secretary (a member
of his cabinet), Alexander Hamilton
• Hamilton’s plan
• Issue bonds- loans for the federal government
• Create a National Bank
• Tax the production of whiskey
The Whiskey Rebellion
• In 1791, Congress imposed a direct tax on the
manufacture of whiskey
• Western farmers, the main manufactures of
whiskey, rebelled against the tax in 1794
• Washington orders 15,000 troops to put down
the rebellion
• The rebels disperse without fighting, ending
the rebellion
What message did the new government send by ordering troops to put
down the rebellion?
Hamilton’s Opponents
• The whiskey tax was not the only part of
Hamilton’s plan that angered people
• Many people WITHIN Washington’s Cabinet
opposed Hamilton’s suggestions
• Thomas Jefferson
• James Madison
• Thomas Jefferson was very OUTSPOKEN against
Hamilton’s ideas
• This conflict within the cabinet was the foundation
for political parties in America
HAMILTON v. JEFFERSON
• Manufacturing, he said,
would give inventors
outlets for their genius,
open up entrepreneurial
opportunities, generate
markets for farmers'
products, and create jobs
for the idle, including
women and children.
-- Alexander Hamilton
• The mobs of great cities
add just so much to the
support of pure
government, as sores do to
the strength of the human
body." Farmers, by
contrast, embodied
American virtue. "Put a
question to a professor and
a plowman," he said, and
you'd get the better answer
from the plowman”
-- Thomas Jefferson
EXIT!
1. How did political parties develop
in America?
2. What were the major beliefs of
the first two political parties in
America?