Chapter 7 Section 3
“Where did ideas from the Constitution come from?”
The Founding Fathers
• When the founding fathers
(people who laid the
foundation for our American
government) were writing
the constitution, they looked
to several places for
examples of how to
organize their government.
The founding fathers had
long before decided that we
wanted to create a republic
(a government in which
citizens rule through elected
representatives).
Where did they look for ideas?
•
This
constitutional
candy is
delicious!!
•
•
The delegates to the convention
looked at many different
documents, governments, and
ideas when writing the
constitution. They studied ancient
Rome, because Rome had been a
republic.
They also looked at English
Government. Even though they
had broken away from England,
they still valued some of the laws
(Magna Carta and English Bill of
Rights) and traditions.
The founding fathers also looked
at representative governments
that the United States had created
like the House of Burgesses and
the Mayflower Compact and also
the Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut.
Where else did we get ideas?
• We also got ideas from
our own documents like
the Declaration of
Independence. We
knew what we didn’t want
our government to turn
into.
• They also drew from
enlightenment thinkers
(like Montesquieu who
said we should have 3
branches of government)
and used philosophy to
create the constitution.
To sum it up
• In the end, the new
system of
government found
in the Constitution
was not quite like
anything that came
before it.
Quick Write
• The most important influence on the
Constitution was (other republics, English
documents, colonial governments, or
Declaration of Independence) because