Chapter 5: American
Government
Mr. Wagner
U.S. History

Objectives
 Identify events that led nationalist leaders to call for a convention to strengthen the government.
 Summarize the key conflicts at the
Constitutional Convention and explain how they were resolved.
 Describe the form of government established by the Constitution.

Objectives (continued)
 Contrast the Federalist and Anti-Federalists arguments over the ratification of the
Constitution.
 Explain how and why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.

What style of government did
Americans favor?
 Democracy - people have the right to govern themselves.
 Republic - a government in which the people elect representatives to govern
 Republicanism - idea that governments should be based on the consent of the people.

What were the state constitutions like?
 Written set of laws.
 Limited power of government
 Guaranteed rights of citizens such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
 States constitutions differed from one another

What issues did the Continental
Congress face?
 3 issues
1.
How much representation should each state have in the federal government?
2.
How would the states and federal government share power?
3.
How should the federal government govern land west of the
Appalachians?

What was the Articles of
Confederation (1781-1787)?
 First form of federal government.
 Unicameral legislature with each state getting equal representation.
 No Executive (president)
 No judicial branch


No power to tax
Ineffective form of government.

What was passed to settle the territories beyond the Appalachians?
 Land Ordinance of 1785-
Federal government surveyed the land and sold it to settlers at affordable prices.
 Northwest Ordinance of
1787 - organized land into territories and developed a process for statehood.

What were the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation?

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Little to unify the country
Larger states felt they were not represented on the federal level fairly.
No power to tax
Trouble with foreign nations (Britain and
Spain)
Lacked uniform currency
No executive or judicial power

What was Shay’s Rebellion
(1787)?
 Showed the Articles of
Confederation was weak and ineffective .
 Group of Massachusetts farmers revolted against the state because of high taxes.
 Protesters led by Daniel
Shays fought the state militia.

Who was James Madison?
 Father of the
Constitution
 Author of the Virginia
Plan
 Author of the U.S. Bill of Rights

What was the Virginia
Declaration of Rights?
 Written by George
Mason in 1776 .
 Many statements used in the Declaration of
Independence and
Madison used many ideas later in the U.S.
Bill of Rights.

What was the Virginia Statute of
Religious Freedom?
 Written by Thomas
Jefferson (1779)
 Government cannot interfere with practice of religion
 Basis for the 1 st
Amendment.

What was the Great
Compromise?




Addressed the question of how states were represented at the federal government.
Virginia Plan – states represented by population.
New Jersey Plan —states represented equally.
Great Compromise by Roger
Sherman bicameral legislature called Congress
( House of Representatives by population and Senate- 2 per state.

What was the 3/5 Compromise?
 Addressed the issue of representation and taxation of slaves as property.
 Every 5 slaves was equal to 3 free persons for representation in
Congress.

What is federalism?
 Division of powers between state and federal government.
 Delegated= federal powers
 Reserved= state powers
 Concurrent= shared powers

Under the Constitution, what were the 3 branches of government?
 Legislative - makes the laws (U.S. Congress made up of 2 houses- House of
Representatives and
Senate)


Executive - enforces the laws (President and the
Cabinet)
Judicial - interprets the laws (Supreme Court)

What are checks and balances?
 Ensures that one branch of government is not too powerful.
 All 3 branches
“check” one another.

What is the electoral college?
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Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of members in
Congress for Presidential elections. (270 to win.com)
This was put in place so average people would not have too much power.
Many think today we have moved passed the electoral college.

What is ratification?
 Official approval of the state to accept the
Constitution.
 In order for an amendment to pass 9 out of 13 states had to agree.
 George Washington -
Chairman of the
Constitutional
Convention.

Who were the Federalists?


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George Washington, John
Jay, James Madison, and
Alexander Hamilton.
Thought that people could not be trusted.
Did not need a U.S. Bill of
Rights because states have own constitutions.
Federalist Papers written to support
Constitution (Hamilton,
Jay, and Madison.

Who were Anti-Federalists?
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Mostly rural America, farmers.
Led by Patrick Henry,
Thomas Jefferson, and
Sam Adams.
Wanted a U.S. Bill of
Rights
States’ rights
Richard Henry Lee-
Letters from a Federal
Farmer, basic rights should be protected.

What was the Bill of Rights?
 First ten amendments added to the
Constitution. (Anti-
Federalists wanted this!)
 Written by James
Madison

1 st Amendment
 Protects freedom of religion, press, speech, right to assembly, and right to petition the government.
 Many court cases are about this amendment and its protections.

2 nd Amendment
 Right to bear arms
(weapons)
 Controversial amendment
 Debated often be NRA and gun rights activists.

3 rd Amendment
 No quartering of soldiers in peacetime.

4 th Amendment
 Protection and against unreasonable searches and seizures.
 Need warrant or probable cause

5 th Amendment
 Criminal rights
 No double jeopardy


Indicted by grand jury
Don’t have to testify against yourself (plead the 5 th )
 Eminent domain

6 th Amendment
 Criminal rights
 Trial by Jury
 Speedy and public trial
 Able to confront witnesses
 Right to an attorney

7 th Amendment
 Trial by jury in civil court cases (money decisions, not criminal)

8 th Amendment
 No cruel or unusual punishment and no excessive fines or bail.
 The death penalty is debated under this amendment.

9 th Amendment
 Any rights not in specifically denied in the Constitution are given to the people.
 Example: Right to privacy (Example: legalization of abortion both 9 th and
14th)

10 th Amendment
 The powers not delegated to the
United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.