Chapter 3
A New Nation Emerges
Lesson 9 – A Clash of Two Empires in Pennsylvania
Lesson 10 – Anger Among the Colonists with
England’s Rule
Lesson 11 – The American Colonies’ Revolutionary
War
Lesson 12 – A New Nation Emerges
• Lesson 12 – Formation of a New Government
• 1. What was the first plan of government for
the United States?
• 2. Why was this first plan unsuccessful?
• 3. What role did Pennsylvania play in forming
the Constitution of the United States?
Lesson 12 – Formation of a New
Government
• American Revolution fought to get away from
a King/Queen
• Articles of Confederation – written by
American leaders during Revolution.
– Very weak document
– States were like independent countries
– 13 articles describing duties of government
– Confederation – means a group of states united
for a common purpose
• Amerigo Vespucci – explored the coast of
South America
– Name America was given to the land because of
his travels
– When a continent was found to the north, the
terms north and south were added
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Major Weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation
No Central Government
No power to make people to go to war
No way to make people obey the law
No way to levy or collect taxes
No mechanism for solving arguments among
the states
No way to regulate trade among states
• May 1787, delegates from twelve states met
in Philadelphia with the purpose of
strengthening the Articles of Confederation
– Meeting to strengthen the Articles of
Confederation
– George Washington was elected president of the
convention
– Realized a new plan of government needed to be
written
– 55 delegates met, 8 from Pennsylvania
• Gouverneur Morris and Ben Franklin
• Summer of 1787, secret meeting
– Stench from open sewers and animal tanning
factory in the air
– Mosquitoes and flies were terrible
– Windows had no screens
– Men wore wool clothing
– Windows kept closed
Benjamin Rush
• One of the founding fathers
– Doctor
– Signer of Dec. of Independence
– Yellow Fever Virus
• Helped save Philadelphia during the epidemic
• James Madison, Virginia, is given credit as
being the Father of the U.S. Constitution
• Major disagreements over how each state was
to be fairly represented in the new
government
• Compromise
– Smaller states were worried about not getting
equal representation, larger states were worried
that their vote would be equal to smaller states
• Roger Sherman – The Great Compromise
– Representation by population (House of Rep.)
– Equal representation (Senate)
– Ben Franklin – the Great Pacifier
• Calmed many tempers during convention
• Oldest signer of Constitution although he did not agree
with all parts of it
• 39 of 55 delegates approved Constitution
• States needed to approve/RATIFY plan in
order for it to be legal
– 9 of the 13 had to approve
– Promise to write a list of rights and freedoms was
needed to get states to ratify
– Interpretation, Compromise, and Change
• Amendments were the methods to allow these to
happen
• Sept. 1790 – first ten amendments were proposed –
BILL OF RIGHTS - 1791