Unit: A New Nation and Government
In this course we ask: Where did our people and
nation come from?
Lesson Title: Creating the Constitution
(See textbook pages 125-128)
Definition—Constitution: a set of basic principles and a plan
that determine the powers and duties of a government.
Vocabulary
Bicameral-made up of two houses
Unicameral-made up of one house
Federal-national
Sovereignty-supreme power
In 1787 representatives of the American states met in
Philadelphia to fix the problems of the Articles of
Confederation at the Constitutional Convention.
George Washington was a representative of Virginia and
was chosen as the president (chairman) of the convention.
Ben Franklin was a representative of Pennsylvania, just
like he was at the Continental Congress that declared
American Independence.
James Madison was another representative of Virginia
and the most influential person at the Convention. His
ideas about government would guide many of the
decisions made at the Convention.
The representatives at the Constitutional Convention in
1787 decided to drop the Articles of Confederation and
create a whole new Constitution.
This led to important arguments
between the states about the new government, especially:
1. How big states (meaning states with lots of people) and
little states (states with fewer people) would be
represented.
2. How powerful the national government should be
compared to the power of the states.
Remember this problem? Under the Articles of
Confederation, each state had only 1 vote in Congress
when making laws and decisions.
But the populations of the states in the 1780s were very
different:
Virginia:
538,000
New Jersey:
139,600
Georgia:
56,100
Delaware:
45,400
Under the 1 vote for each state rule,
which people were better represented? People
from Virginia or people from New Jersey?
In class reading activity
Read “Great Compromise”on pages 126-127.
Answer these questions:
1. Describe the Virginia plan.
2. Describe the New Jersey plan.
3. Explain the “Great Compromise” (Connecticut
Plan).
Definitions:
Compromise: an agreement made when both sides
give up some of the things they want.
Bicameral: legislature with 2 houses
The idea for the organization of Congress partially
came from the English Parliament.
The English Parliament was the legislative (law making)
body of the English government. It had two houses whose
members were chosen differently: the House of Lords and
the House of Commons.
House of Commons in England
Another compromise made by the states that involved
population, focused on slaves.
Three-Fifths Compromise
The southern states wanted slaves to be counted when
determining the number of representatives in the
House of Representatives.
The northern states did not want to count the slaves.
The states compromised and agreed to count 3/5 (threefifths) of a state’s slaves when determining the number
of representatives.
Why would the northern states not want to count slaves?
What would a slave think about the compromise?
The states made a 2nd compromise about slavery.
Some representatives at the Constitutional Convention
wanted to stop the selling and purchase of people as
slaves (slave trade).
Representatives from southern states threatened that their
states would leave the union if the new Constitution
outlawed the slave trade.
The states compromised and agreed to end the slave trade
in 20 years (1808).
Why did the southern states resist ending
the slave trade? (hint-it was about money)
Left Side Notebook Activity
Create and complete the chart below in your notebook.
Use it to identify the problems that led to the Great
Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise, what
conflicting ideas were proposed, and the eventual
solution that created a compromise.
Great Compromise
Problem
Conflicting ideas
(two sides of
issue)
Solution
Representation of state was
difficult because they had
different populations.
Three-Fifths Compromise
Slaves were not treated as
free citizens. Some state had
many slaves, others did not.
Right Side Notebook Activity
The Great Compromise
Write a paragraph explaining how the Great
Compromise was really a combination of
two different plans.
Explain the two sides.
Explain the solution they came up with.