Government and Our Democratic Heritage Essential Question What

Government and Our Democratic Heritage Essential Question: What is a constitution, and what was wrong with our countries first constitution?

Daily Key Terms • Constitution • Bicameral • Articles of Confederation • Confederation • Shay’s Rebellion • Nationalist

State Constitutions • Constitution- A written plan of government. Most states at this time started writing constitutions. Most states were setting up a bicameral legislature, or one with two houses. Massachusetts • It was the last of the states in 1780 to ratify its constitution. It is the only one of the original 13 that is still in use today. It had the basic separation of power, and checks and balances that the national Constitution would later have.

Articles of Confederation • On November 15, 1777, it became our first national constitution. • Confederation- is a group of people who band together for a common purpose. It set up a weak central government. The national government could not require the states to do anything.

Shay’s Rebellion • 1786. The country was in a depression. Debtors were put in prison. Farms were being foreclosed on. In an attempt to save their farms, a captain from the war named Daniel Shay and about 2, 000 others seized courthouses and burned them. This destroyed debt documents.

Nationalist • They favored a strong central government.

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