Warm-up
 Pick up the worksheet from the chair.
 Complete the warm-up section on the first half
of the page which reviews the Articles of
Confederation.
 Does everyone have a study guide to put in
your notebook?
New Class Rules
1. YOU MUST BE IN YOUR SEAT 1 MINUTE BEFORE THE BELL
RINGS
2. NO LOCKER VISITS FOR ANYTHING!!
3. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR HOMEWORK YOU WILL GET (3
for honors/2 for academic)DAYS OF LUNCH BUNCH TIME
4. ALL CLASSROOM MATERIALS NEED TO BE OUT ON YOUR
DESK READY TO BEGIN CLASS BY THE TIME THE BELL RINGS
5. IF ANYONE MISBEHAVES IN CLASS, THE ENTIRE CLASS
WILL GET AN EXTRA HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Having a system of bad rules
is sort of the way the United States was under
the ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
(our first form of government).
 It created a weak central government.
 The states maintained individual power
 The federal government had no power to tax
or enforce any laws
The country began to
experience many problems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The country was in debt from the war.
State governments were in debt.
Trade policies were not consistent.
The economy was poor.
Americans felt unsafe
… but the government had no
power to do anything
Delegates from 12 states
decided to meet
and discuss
problems going
on in America.
Could the
problems be fixed
under the
Articles?
 No
power to tax
 No power to enforce laws
 They wanted to revise the Articles
but could not. Why?
 Decided to make a new constitution
The meeting became known as the
Constitutional
Convention
May –September 1787
Philadelphia, PA
The Road to the
CONSTITUTION
Essential Questions
1. What was the Constitutional
Convention?
2. What was the outcome of the
Constitutional Convention?
MOVIE TIME !
Answer the questions as you watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNTNueTl904&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZoCuXJZcsg&feature=related
Work Time
1. Today- Complete the “Consitutional
Convention” Reading.
2. Due today- Checkpoint and Notebook
3. Due next class- Tic Tac Toe Project
and test
Click the mouse button or press the
Class Discussion
The
delegates
knew they
would have
to
compromise.
 What is a “compromise”?
 Think of a time when
YOU had to make a
compromise (at home, at
school …).
Charters of
the VA
Company
(citizenship)
Declaration of
Independence
VA
Declaration
of Rights
(equality,
liberty)
(freedoms)
Articles of
Confederation
VA Statute
of
Religious
Freedom
(democracy)
The Constitution
RULE OF LAW
LIMTED
GOVERNMENT
DEMOCRACY
REPRESENTATIVE
CONSENT OF
GOVERNMENT
THE GOVERNED
(rights)
Short on Words The United States Constitution is
a relatively short document–about 7,000 words.
Rather than describing every procedure in detail,
the Constitution provides the structure and
fundamental principles for the country’s
government.
Roger Sherman
1. Why did Congress agree to meet in
1787?
 To discuss problems with the Articles of
Confederation
2. Where did the delegates meet?
 Philadelphia
3. How many men were present? ______
 55
How many had signed the Declaration of
Independence? _______
8
4. Who was the oldest delegate?
Benjamin
Franklin
5. Which 2 notable leaders were not at the
convention?
 Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
6. Who presided over the convention?
 George Washington
7. How many states needed to be present
at the convention before a decision could
be made?
7
8. The delegates had to keep all
discussions a ___.
 secret
9. With no formal records kept of the
meetings, who kept a notebook of daily
events?
 James Madison
10. Why did the meeting become known as
the Constitutional Convention?
 The delegates decided to discard the
Articles and write up a new plan of
government
11. The delegates were determined to
create a framework for government
12. What was the name of James
Madison’s plan for government?
 Virginia Plan
13. The Virginia Plan called for:
 3 branches of government
 legislature would be divided into 2
houses
 representation in both houses would be
based on population
14. What did the small states fear about
the Virginia Plan?
 The new government would be
dominated by the large states
15. William Paterson came up with an
alternative plan called the
 New Jersey Plan
16. The delegates worked for 6 weeks.
17. Roger Sherman came up with a plan
that:
 Congress would have 2 houses, Senate
and House of representatives
 Equal representation in the Senate
 Representation based on population in
the House
18. This plan is known as the
 Great Compromise
19. Why did the southern states want to
count the slaves as part of their
population?
 To increase their population to increase
their voting power in Congress
20. The Three Fifths Compromise stated
that every 5 enslaved people would
count as 3 free people.
=
21. Why did the South fear Congress
regulating trade?
 They would use the power to tax exports
22. The South also feared that Congress
would stop the
 Slave Trade
23. The Southern states agreed that
Congress could regulate trade.
24. The solution on how to choose the
president is called the
 Electoral College
25. The new Constitution was ready on
 September 17, 1787
26. How many of the 13 states needed to
agree to ratification of the Constitution?
9
27. Supporters of the Constitution were
called the
 Federalists
28. The Federalists wanted a strong
national government.
29. People who opposed the Constitution
were called the
 Anti-federalists
30. The Federalists and the AntiFederalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights
to the Constitution.
Explain What was the purpose of The
Federalist? Why did the Anti-Federalists
object to the Constitution?
Its purpose was to defend the
Constitution. They felt it gave too much
power to the national government and
took it away from states.
.
31. New Hampshire was the 9th state to
ratify the Constitution on June 21, 1788
32. Rhode Island was the last state to ratify
the Constitution in 1790.
Click the mouse button or press the