Transcript Chapter 7 Creating the Constitution

Creating A
Constitution
Constitution = a document
stating the rules under which
a government will operate
Creating a Constitution
Targets
• I can determine the strengths and
weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
• I can evaluate and debate why the
Constitutional Convention decided to create
an entirely new framework of government.
• I can describe what shaped the outcome of
the Constitutional Convention in 1787
• I can explain how compromises solved crises
in the Constitutional Convention.
Chart
• Who proposed the plan?
• What was included in the plan?
• Who supported the plan?
• Virginia Plan page 213-214 (read through The
Great Compromise)
• New Jersey Plan page 214
• Great Compromise page 214-215 (Terms of
Compromise)
Chapter 7 Section 3
Federalists versus Anti-Federalists
Federalists
Leaders:
1. John Jay
2. James Madison
3. Alexander Hamilton
Position on the new Constitution: supported it
Main argument for position: need for a strong
central government
Federalists versus Anti-Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Leaders:
1. Patrick Henry
2. George Mason
Position on the new Constitution: against it
Arguments for position:
1. It weakened state power
2. It had no bill of rights
3. The President could become like a king by
being repeatedly reelected
The Ratification Debate
• Approval needed from 9 states before the
Constitution could go into effect
• Importance of Massachusetts: Anti-federalists
hoped it would reject the Constitution because
opposition was strong where Shay’s Rebellion
had occurred. It was approved after a major
campaign by the Federalists
• Importance of Virginia: Virginia was large and
powerful. If it rejected the Constitution, New York
and other states might do so, too.
The Bill of Rights
Many states believed that a bill of rights was
essential to protect basic liberties and to protect
against abuses by the federal government.
• First Amendment: guarantees freedom of
religion, speech, and press
• Second Amendment: deals with the right to bear
arms
• Third Amendment: bars Congress from forcing
citizens to keep troops in their homes
The Bill of Rights
• Fourth Amendment: protects citizens from
unreasonable searches of their homes or
seizure of their property
• Fifth through Eighth Amendments: protect
citizens who are accused of crimes and
brought to trial
• Ninth and Tenth Amendments: limit the
powers of the federal government to those
granted in the Constitution.