Bell Ringer
• Why did delegates meet again in Philadelphia in 1787?
To revise the Articles of Confederation
– How did Shay’s rebellion impact the country?
Illustrated the weaknesses of having a limited federal or
central authority (domestic rebellion could threaten national
security)
– What was the main weakness of the Articles of
Confederation?
States were given all the power, limited national authority to
govern the states
Constitutional Convention
• Philadelphia, May – September
• Leads to the creation of a whole new
constitution
• 55 delegates
Convention to revise Articles meets in
Philadelphia 1787
I – Delegates to the Constitution
• Most were young men in their 30’s, many
were from wealthy families
• Madison arrives prepared with many ideas on
how to structure a new government
They call me
• His ideas most influential
– Authors “Federalist Papers”
which argued for a strong federal
government
“Father of the
Constitution”
II. Debates over how to structure
government
• Most agreed with Montesquieu’s ideas on
separation of powers – (designed to keep any
one person from having too much power)
III. How should we be represented?
Big states v. Small states
A - NEW JERSEY Plan – All states equally
represented regardless of population
B - VIRGINIA Plan – All states represented
according to population
State Populations ~ Census 1790
1. Virginia
2. Pennsylvania
3. North Carolina
4. Massachusetts
5. New York
6. Maryland
7. South Carolina
8. Connecticut
9. New Jersey
10. New Hampshire
11. Georgia
12. Rhode Island
13. Delaware
691,737
434,373
393,751
378,787
340,120
319,728
249,073
237,946
184,139
141,885
82,584
68,825
59,096
69
43
39
37
34
31
24
23
18
14
8
6
5
C. The Great Compromise
Why don’t we
just
compromise?
Developed by Roger Sherman
(compromise – a settlement in which each
side gives up something in order to reach
an agreement)
As a result, today we have a two house
(bi-cameral) legislature (CONGRESS)
Senate
(NJ Plan)
House of
Representatives
(Virginia Plan)
a) Senate –
two seats
per state
b) House of
Representatives
– seats based on
state’s
population
Congressional apportionment in the
House of Representatives
after 2010 census
Senate = Every state is equal
Every state gets
2!
Virginia gets 2, New Jersey gets 2
Every state gets 2!!
D. Slavery
1) Slaves could not vote, so northerners argued
they should not be counted when assigning
representatives
2) Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of
their population
State
Free
Population
Virginia
1
455,000
Pennsylvania
2
430,000
Massachusetts
3
378,000
New York
4
318,000
North Carolina
5
293,000
Z
Z1
Z
2
Z
4
Z
Z5
Total
Population
3
393,000
692,000
434,000
378,000
340,000
3) North and South compromised by allowing
states to count 3/5ths of their slaves as part of
their population
IV. Slavery
A) Some delegates wanted ban slavery but
Southerners warned this would ruin their
economy, so it remained LEGAL
B) Delegates agreed not to outlaw the slave
trade (the buying selling of new slaves from
Africa) for at least 20 years, then Congress could
vote to regulate it or end it
C) Agreed that fugitive slaves (seen as property)
had to be returned to their owners
V. The Constitution is signed in Philadelphia
The Constitution is then given
to the states for approval
9 of 13 states
must ratify
(approve) the
new form of
government
Each state holds conventions to vote on the new
Constitution
Two groups form
a) The
Federalists
supported the
new Constitution
b) The Anti-federalists opposed the new
Constitution believing it gave too much power
to a Federal or national authority
Delaware
30
0
12 / 7 / 1787
Pennsylvania
46
23
12 / 12 / 87
New Jersey
38
0
12 / 18 / 87
Georgia
26
0
1 / 2 / 88
Connecticut
128
40
1 / 9 / 88
Massachusetts
187
168
2 / 6 / 88
Maryland
63
11
4 / 28 / 88
South Carolina
149
73
5 / 23 / 88
New Hampshire
57
47
6 / 21 / 88
Virginia
89
79
6 / 25 / 88
New York
30
27
7 / 26 / 88
North Carolina
194
77
11 / 21 / 89
Rhode Island
34
32
5 / 29 /90
Many people were fearful that a powerful government
wouldn’t protect the people
The promise of a Bill of Rights convinced many to
support the Constitution
Bill of Rights is added through the amendment
process – an amendment is a change or addition
or to the original Constitution
The first 10
amendments to the
Constitution = Bill
of Rights
Bill of Rights lists
the rights to be
protected by the
government
• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=shays
+rebellion&view=detail&&mid=CD7D4589305
0698DF504CD7D45893050698DF504
• 38:00 – 43:00
Bill of Rights Rap
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlt6R1KD
4E0
Video Recap!
• http://educationportal.com/academy/lesson/theconstitutional-convention-the-greatcompromise.html#lesson
What rights do you have??
• To say whatever I want, whenever I want?
• To be searched?
• To practice whatever religion I choose or none at
all?
• To be harmed as a punishment for a crime?
• Do you know what rights
you have??
Why does this matter?
http://www.icivics.org/games