CHAPTER 3
THE WRITING OF THE CONSTITUTION
Learning Objectives
 Identify the five main ideas behind the U.S. and state
constitutions.
 Explain how the country’s first constitution was too weak to
keep lasting peace and safety among the 13 states.
 Outline how the U.S. Constitution was written and passed.
WORDS TO KNOW
Confederation – an agreement of friendship between
states
National – having to do with a whole nation or country.
Trade – the carrying on of business between states or
countries.
Federal government – a form of government with two
parts – a national government and state governments
Union – the joining of states into one U.S. government
Constitutional convention – the meeting in 1787 in
Philadelphia to write a new plan for a U.S. government
Compromise – the making of an agreement in which
each side gives up something
Slave – a person who could be bought, sold, and owned by
another person
Export – any product sent from one country to another for
purposes of trade
Amendment – change or correction to a written document
Early State Government
 Many of the colonies had their own constitutions.
 These constitutions gave power to the people
instead of the king.
 All constitutions were not alike.
Shared Five Main Ideas:
 1. Rule by the people:
The power of government rests only in the hands
of the people
2. Limited government:
Government must have a few powers and they may be
decided and granted by the people.
3. Rights and freedoms:
All people have rights and
freedoms that
government can’t take away.
4. Separation of powers: Gov’t divided into 3 parts:
power to pass laws
power to carry out the laws
power to judge the laws
5. Checks and balances:
Each branch of the government has the power to check
or hold back the acts of the other branches.
In 1787 these five ideas became the principles of the U.S.
Constitution.
THE CONFEDERATION OF STATES
 The second Continental Congress wrote a plan called the
Articles of Confederation.
 Articles of Confederation
 It was approved by the states in 1781. That set up the first
national government of the United States.
 However, the new Congress had no power to tax the states.
It had power to pass laws but not to carry them out.
 They had no power to make rules about trade
between the states.
 The states started acting like 13 small separate
countries.
 Farmers and store owners lost their businesses.
They took up arms against their own state
governments.
 It became clear the government under the Articles was
weak and something had to be done.
 Congress sent letter to all states and asked to send
representatives to a meeting in Philadelphia.
 It stated that some changes had to be made.
 The federal government had to have more powers or the
union would come to an end.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
 All states except Rhode Island sent delegates to meeting.
 Delegates decided to write a new national constitution.
 The meeting became know as Constitutional Convention.
 They agreed the new government needed power to
 make laws
 carry out and judge laws
 power to raise money.
 Delegates could not decide on how to set up each
branch of the new government.
 Larger states wanted more votes
 Smaller states wanted equal votes.
 Each side had to make compromises.
 These were written into the constitution and
survived to the present day.
COMPROMISES MADE AT THE
CONVENTION
How many representatives should each state have?????
The Great Compromise :
 Plan we use today
 The federal government has two Houses of Congress.
 Senate: all states have two equal votes
 House of Representatives: based on the population
of each state. Larger states have more.
2. The Three-Fifths Compromise –
• Southern states wanted to count slaves to get more
seats in congress.
• Northern states were against it.
• They agreed to count three-fifths of the slave population
in each state.
• However, the South also had to pay for three-fifths of
their slaves when federal taxes were placed on all
people.
 The Slave Trade Compromise –
 Southern states were afraid Congress would end slave trade
and would tax exports. Tobacco was the leading export
grown in the southern states. So the south would be paying
the most tax.
 The federal government had full power to make the rules of
trade.
 Under the compromise, Congress could not end the slave
trade for 20 years.
THE DEBATE FOR OR AGAINST THE
CONSTITUTION
 The Constitution was finally written.
 Before it became law, the Constitution had to be accepted
by at least nine states.
 The American people were divided into two groups of
thought about the Constitution.
 Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist
 Federalists
 Liked the Constitution
 Felt it created many federal powers but still left many
powers to the states.
 Mostly professional people
 lawyers, doctors, ministers, wealthy merchants and
newspaper owners
 Anti-Federalists :
Against Constitution
 Thought it was taking to much power away from the
states.
 Were afraid the rights of the people would be taken away
as well.
 Mostly farmers, small-business owners, and townspeople.

 The debate about the ratification (or acceptance) went on
for weeks.
 In December 1787, Delaware was first state to ratify the
Constitution.
 By the summer 1788 nine other state approved of the
Constitution.
 The Constitution was now the law of the land.
 In time all 13 state approved of the Constitution.
 However some states like Virginia wanted a Bill of
Rights to be added to the original document.
 In 1791 the Bill of Rights became the first ten
amendments to the Constitution.