Lesson 7:
Creating A Nation
Bellwork: October 28, 2013
On the back of your
study guide, define the
following terms:
Amend
Ratify
Compromise
A Loose
Confederation
1.constitutiona document thatSection
sets out1:
the law, principles,
organization, and processes of a government
A Loose
Confederation
2. States
wrote
constitutions in order to spell out the
rights of their citizens and to limit power of federal
government.
Articles of Confederationour country’s first constitution
*It was a loose alliance of the 13 states
It had many weaknesses.
• 3. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
No executive to
carry out laws
Congress lacked
the power
to tax.
Congress could
not regulate trade
between states
and foreign
countries.
4. Noah Webster
Land Ordinance of 1785
- Provided a way for settling land north of the Ohio
River
5. The Northwest Ordinance
-a territory could ask Congress to be admitted as a state.
--a population of 60,000 needed to become a state.
-became the first law in US history to restrict the
practice of slaveholding
Money problems?
States owed
money after
the A.R.
Continental dollars
were
worthless.
States printed their
own money.
Depression – period when business activity slows, prices fall,
and unemployment rises
States refuse to trade with each other
Stocked many British goods that they could not sell
Great Britain makes it difficult for American ships to enter its
ports and makes the West Indies off limits to any American
trader.
Farmers experience extreme hardships/lose land
Daniel Shays - led a rebellion along with farmers and
attacked courts in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts
• farmers could not pay their debts
•government authorities jailed them or seized their
property
• discontent = rebellion
• People doubted the government and the Articles of
Confederation.
• Americans such as George Washington called for a
convention to revise the Articles of Confederation
The Constitutional Convention
Setting the scene……….page 206
6. What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention
on May 25, 1787? (Philadelphia)
---to revise the Articles of Confederation
Why did many people call for changes in the Articles of
Confederation?
--believed the government failed to solve the nation’s
economic problems
---Rhode Island was the only state who did not send a
delegate.
The Delegates?
Sworn to secrecy?
7. Draw a venn diagram and compare the
New Jersey and Virginia Plans.
Virginia Plan
*Two house legislature
*seats awarded by
population
*Strong national
government
New Jersey Plan
Both
*3 Branches of
government
Rival plans
Debated
*Edmund Randolph
James Madison
*One house legislature
* liked by small states
*William Paterson
*Each state would
have one vote regardless
of population.
8. Each side gave up something in order to
achieve unity
The Great Compromise
--resolved the conflict between the Virginia and New
Jersey Plans
--creation of a two-house legislature
--each state=two seats in the Senate
--seats in the House of Representative=based on
population
9. Compromises between North and South:
Three-Fifths Compromise (only 3/5 of slaves would be
counted for both representation and taxation.)
Congress agreed not to ban slavery in the south for 20 years.
10. September 17, 1787- U.S. Constitution was signed
11. Founding Fathers –Leaders who laid the ground work for
the U.S. government
12. Republic..on your own PREDICT and EXPLAIN
People Can Observe and Learn
From Others:
Enlightenment
thinkers
Rome
The
Constitution
American
Experiences
Magna Carta
(Britain)
Mayflower
Compact
What did the Founding Fathers learn from the example of the
Roman Republic?
– --the value of public service
What are two basic virtues for a republican government
according to Roman warning? (page 212)
– --educated and dedicated citizens
The Roman Example
What basic ideas from England’s Magna Carta was
used in the Constitution? (Britain)
--People have certain guaranteed rights.
--Leaders must obey laws.
Which Enlightenment writer
expressed the idea that the relationship
between government and the people
it governs is a social contract?
--John Locke
Separation of Powers
(Baron de Montesquieu)
• Division of responsibilities of branches / no branch has too much
power
• Legislative branch makes the laws (Congress)
• Executive branch carries out the laws (President)
• Judicial branch interprets the laws (Supreme Court)
Baron de Montesquieu3 branches of government
14. “The greatest single effort of national
deliberation that the world has ever seen.”
John Adams
15. Compare the Federalists/Anti -Federalists.
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
*supporters of
the Constitution
*opponents of
the Constitution
*James Madison
*Alexander
Hamilton
*believed the
Constitution must
spell out ways to protect
people’s basic rights
*Federalists Papers
*favored a strong
National government
*John Hancock
*Samuel Adams
*Patrick Henry
*favored strong
state governments
The Constitution had to be ratified by 9 of the 13 states.
Madison said about the United States most eminent citizen,
Benjamin Franklin:
“Doctor Franklin, looking toward the President’s chair, at the
back of which a rising sun happened to be painted…’I have,; said
he, ;often and often in the course of the Session… looked at that
[sun] behind the President without being able to tell whether it was
rising or setting; but now, at length I have the happiness to know it
is a rising and not a setting Sun.’”
16. Anti-Federalists agreed to ratification if a bill
of rights was added to the Constitution.
17. All states eventually ratified!!
Delaware – first state to ratify or approve the Constitution
Rhode Island – last state to ratify
the Constitution
18. George Washington
“First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of
his countrymen.”
Which of these statements BEST describes the ratification of the
Constitution?
A. In key states, the tide slowly turned in favor of ratification.
B. Each state quickly approved the Constitution.
C. Most states were initially against ratification.
D. In the end, only Rhode Island refused to ratify the Constitution.
19. How did the Bill of Rights become
part of the Constitution? (Trace)
• Congress created 12 amendments.
• States approved 10 of them.
• 10 became our Bill of Rights
through the amendment process.
20. In 1792, Congress declared the bald eagle to be an
official symbol of the new nation.
21. The13 stars and stripes represent the 13
American colonies.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/
Name __________________Date____________Lesson 8: __
Executive
Branch
Legislative
Branch
Judicial
Branch
Choose ONE topic and write a well developed paragraph
or essay.
1. Write a paragraph describing the causes and effects of the financial crisis after
the Revolutionary War?
2. How did the states limit powers of the central government under the Articles of
Confederation?
3. Analyze the concept of leadership. Describe the “Father of the Constitution.”
4. Persuading the 13 original states to support a new Constitution for the United
States required a number of compromises. Explain how the U.S. Constitution
was developed through a series of at least three compromises, and analyze how
those compromises affected the country.
5. The framers of the Constitution used the best ideas from a variety of sources.
Explain how the ancient Roman Republic, British traditions, the American
colonial experience, and the ideas of the Enlightenment helped shape the system
of government in the United States.
6. Explain how ratification of the Constitution was threatened by disagreements
between the Federalists and the Anti –Federalists and explain the position of
each.
7. Analyze the concept of conflict. Why did the states have trading problems under
the Articles of Confederation.
8. Explain why the delegates to the Constitutional Convention thought that secrecy
was so important.