The Birth of the Constitution Types of Government

The Birth of the Constitution

Types of Government Republic - led by elected representatives

Types of Government Democracy - system of government in which all people are involved in decision making

Types of Government Federal System or “Federalism” – power is divided between a big central government and smaller local governments.

America is a “Democratic Republic”.

Articles of Confederation (Rulebook OS 1. 0) • After the American Revolution, Congress was afraid of creating a strong central government because they thought the rights for which people fought would be lost. • So, they created the Articles of Confederation, which established a government weak central Example: Couldn’t impose taxes or raise an army

• The Articles of Confederation were #weak

Articles of Confederation (Rulebook OS 1. 0) • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – Allowed the territories to organize their own governments – Allowed eventual admission to the union – Outlawed slavery (more on this later…)

Articles of Confederation (Rulebook OS 1. 0) Shays Rebellion –farmers protested tax and debt collection, exposed the weakness of the AOC https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=1 pb. JHH 9 F 9 -Q

So, things were NOT working… … and the founding fathers decided to try again.

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) Constitutional Convention (1787) - Summer of 1787 Philadelphia 55 Delegates Original goal was to fix the Articles of Confederation…

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) … but they ended up throwing out the Articles and created a whole new document that was much stronger.

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) James Madison ran the show, and became known as the “Father of the Constitution”.

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) “Federalists” wanted to ratify the Constitution. “Anti-Federalists” did NOT want to ratify the Constitution.

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) A lot of attention was given to the topic of REPRESENTATION.

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) There were two major opinions… 1. The Virginia Plan - Based representation on the population - Favored big states

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) 2. The New Jersey Plan - Gave equal representation to all states, no matter their size - Favored small states

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) History math: VA + Plan NJ = Plan Great Compromise

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) The Great Compromise created a bicameral legislature, which just means we separate Congress into 2 parts. House of Representatives (population) Senate (two per state)

Like this… HOUSE SENATE

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) But wait! If the House of Representatives is to be based on population, will the Southern states be able to count non-voting slaves as part of the total population?

Constitution (Rulebook OS 2. 0) • Three-Fifths Compromise Slaves would be counted, BUT they would only count as 3/5 ths of a person

Three Branches of Government - Executive – President - Judicial – Courts and Judges - Legislative – Congress (House and Senate)