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Creating the Constitution

Section 8.11. Constitution – A plan of government.

2. In May 1776, the continental Congress asked each state to organize its government. By 1780, each state had adopted a state Constitution. *The right to self-government without interference from the outside. Sovereignty.

3. To prevent one person from having too much power, state constitutions limited the power of the governor (s).

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Section 8.1

4. Most state constitutions established a two-house, or bicameral legislatures to divide the power even further.

5. Congress adopted this plan in November 1777, but it wasn’t ratified by all 13 states until March 1,1781. The Articles of Confederation became the Americans first written constitution.

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Section 8.1

6. The Articles of Confederation provided a new central government with an Unicameral (one house) legislature with each state having one vote.

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Section 8.17. The states gave little power to this new national

government. The national government under the Articles:

Could :*Make war and peace*Raise an army and navy*Print money (caused inflation)*Set up a postal system

Could not:Impose taxes Federal government dependent on the states for money.

Regulate tradeForce soldiers to join the army

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Section 8.1Under the Articles of

Confederation

Each of the 13 colonies had one vote each.

It took 9 out of the 13 states to passany laws.

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Section 8.1

8. Inflation: The persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or the persistent decline in purchasing power of money.

9. Depression: A period when economic activity slows and unemployment increases.

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Section 8.1• Merchants stopped accepting money from outside of their own state, causing a lot of money to become worthless.

• This caused an increase in inflation.

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10. Territory: A region designated by Congress and organized under a governor. It may apply to become a state when it has a large enough population.

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Section 8.2

11. The Northwest Ordinance: was passed in 1787. It made a single Northwest territory.

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12. The Northwest Territory was made up of the lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River.

Section 8.2

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13. After the lands were divided a territory could apply for statehood after reaching 60,000 people.

14. The newly created state would be equal to the original thirteen states.

15. The Northwest Ordinance included a Bill of Rights for settlers, which included freedom of religion and trial by jury.

Section 8.2

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16. Slavery was banned in the Northwest Territory.

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Section 8.317.Arsenal: a place

where weapons and ammunition are stored.

18.Daniel Shays lead a revolt of Massachusetts farmers against Massachusetts courts.

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Section 8.3

19. Shays’s Rebellion: In 1786, farmers were angry because people who couldn’t pay their own debts or taxes were put in jail. A former Continental Army captain named Daniel Shays led the farmers. They closed the courts so judges couldn’t take farmers land.

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Section 8.3

20.Why were many Americans concerned by the actions of Shays and his supporters?

Congress could not defend its arsenal against Shays and his followers. Shay’s Rebellion showed the lack of respect for the federal (national) government. There was a need for change….a stronger central government.

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Section 8.421.On May 25, 1787,

the Constitutional Convention met for the first time in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

22.Quorum: means the minimum number of delegates needed to conduct official business.

Section 8.4

George Washington

23. George Washington was elected president of the convention.

24. 55 delegates from 12 states attended the Convention.

25. Rhode Island boycotted the meetings because it feared a strong national (central) government.

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Section 8.426. Sam Adams, John Hancock, & Patrick Henry did not attend the convention because they also feared a strong national (central) government would endanger the rights of states.

27. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were absent because they were representing the United States in Great Britain and France.

John Adams Thomas Jefferson

Section 8.428. Of the

delegates: more than 2/3 were lawyers and more than 1/3 owned slaves.

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Section 8.429. James Madison – called

the “Father of the Constitution.”

30. Why was the rule of secrecy important for the convention?

Delegates wanted to feel free to speak their minds without causing alarm or opposition among the general public.

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Section 8.431. Enlightenment: The “Age

of Reasoning” in the 17th and 18th century in Europe.

32. John Locke – “Enlightenment thinker” – believed government should be based on “laws of nature.”

33.“Laws of nature: Rights to liberty and equality.

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Section 8.434.Republic – a country governed

by elected representatives.

35.What beliefs did the delegates share?

All of the delegates believed that government had to protect people’s rights to liberty and equality, and that a republic was the best form of government.

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Section 8.436. What ideas divided

them? They disagreed about which people were entitled to vote and to hold office. They were divided over which should have more power, the national government or the individual states

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Section 8.5

37. Delegates to the convention were later called framers because they designed the new framework of the government. Jones/Rutledge

Section 8.5 At issue is how will the states be represented in congress?

Edmund Randolph presented the Virginia Plan to the convention.

He felt that more power should be given to the national government.

He also believed that the larger states (population) should have more representation in congress.

EdmundRandolph

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Section 8.5 At issue is how will the states be represented in congress?

William Paterson, coming from a small state, presented the convention with the New Jersey Plan.

He felt that each state should have equal representation in congress so that the larger states do not swallow (bully) the smaller ones.

William Paterson

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39. It called for a unicameral (1) house legislature, in which every state received one vote.

Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan

38. Both plans called for a strong

national government

with 3 branches.

39. It called for a bicameral (2) house legislature, in which the number of representatives in each house would depend on the population of the state.

Section 8.6 40. Compromise – an agreement in which both sides in a dispute agree to give up something they want in order to achieve a settlement.

41. Roger Sherman helped construct the Great Compromise.

Roger Sherman

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Section 8.6

42. How did the Great Compromise resolve the issue of state representation?

*It called for 2 houses of Congress. *House of Representatives - based on the

states population.*Senate – each state would have 2 senators

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Section 8.7 43. How did the views of delegates from northern states differ from those of delegates from southern states on the issue of how slaves should be counted toward a states population?

The North wanted slaves counted for taxation but not representation.

The South wanted slaves counted for representation but not taxation.

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Section 8.844. Three-Fifths Compromise – counted each enslaved person as 3/5 of a free person or 60% of all slaves in the south would count as part of the population. Slaves would be counted for both taxation and representation.

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Section 8.845.In order for the Three-Fifths

Compromise to be settled, the delegates agreed to that Congress would have the right to control trade, but with these limitations:

No taxes on exports (rice & tobacco) and no interference with the slave trade for 20 years.

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Section 8.8

46. The Fugitive Slave Clause – escaped slaves had to be returned to their owners, even if they were caught in a free state.

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Section 8.9 47. Why didn’t the delegates agree on how the national executive should be chosen?

*Some wanted the executive to be chosen by Congress, but others objected that this would make the executive a “flunky” of Congress.

*Some wanted the people to elect the executive, but others were afraid that people would only vote for candidates from their state.

*Some wanted a group of electors from each state that would look beyond state interests.

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Section 8.10 48. The Electoral College – the group established by the Constitution to elect the president and vice-president. Today, voters in each state choose their electors when they vote in the presidential elections.

49. What compromise did the delegates create to resolve the issue of electing the executive officer?The executive would be elected by a special body called the Electoral College.

50. Delegates to the Electoral College would be chosen by the states.

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Section 8.10 51. Originally, the electors voted for 2 candidates. The candidate with the most votes would be the president and the runner-up candidate would be the vice-president.

52. The total number of Representatives and Senators demands the number of members of the Electoral College for each state.

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Section 8.10

53. Can a presidential candidate win the Electoral College and not win the popular vote?

Yes! In the 2000 election, George W. Bush won the Electoral votes but Al Gore won the popular vote.

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Section 8.11

54. Ratify – to formally approve a plan or an agreement. Ratification – process of approval.

55. 9 of the 13 states had to ratify the Constitution before it could go into effect.

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Section 8.11

56. The Constitution would be ratified at a special convention by delegates elected by the people in each state.

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Section 8.11

57. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was completed, but only 38 of the 55 delegates signed the Constitution.

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Section 8.1158.Why did some

delegates refuse to sign the final draft of the Constitution?

Some feared that it gave the national government too much power and did not protect the rights of the people.

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Section 8.12 Federalism was the sharing of power between the federal government and state governments.

59. Federalists – supporters of the Constitution.

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Section 8.1260.What were The Federalists Papers, and why

were they written?

They were articles written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay urging ratification of the Constitution.

James Madison Alexander Hamilton John Jay

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Section 8.1261. Anti-Federalist- those who

opposed ratification of the Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson will become the leader of the Anti-Federalist group.

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Section 8.1262. On December 7, 1787, Delaware

became the 1st state to approve the Constitution.

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Section 8.1263. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire

became the 9th state to ratify the Constitution which meant that it was ratified. But the 2 largest states had not ratified the Constitution. They were New York and Virginia.

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Section 8.1264. Virginia ratified the Constitution

in June 1788, after being assured a “Bill of Rights” would be included as amendments to the Constitution.

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Section 8.1265. New York ratified the

Constitution in July 1789 after New York city threatened to secede and become a new state.

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Section 8.1266. North Carolina ratified the

Constitution in November 1789: Rhode Island was the last state to ratify in May 1790.

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Section 8.1267. The Bill of Rights (First Ten

Amendments) were added to the Constitution in 1791, as a compromise by Federalists for the Anti-Federalists.

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