A New Plan of Government Section Three

The U.S. Constitution The new Constitution was based on many ideas from other nations and from the past. It relied on a lot of British ideals.

Magna Carta (1215) The Magna Carta gave them the idea that a governing body should rule and not an absolute king.

English Bill of Rights (1689) The English Bill of Rights gave them the idea of protecting individual rights.

John Locke John Locke from the Age of Enlightenment gave them the idea of the natural rights of people.

Baron de Montesquieu The Baron de Montesquieu gave them the idea that governments should be divided and balanced.

The Federal System The Constitution created a federal system of government, where power is shared between the U.S. and state governments.

The Constitution The Constitution is the final authority. No states can do anything against it.

Branches of Government The first three articles of the Constitution created the branches of government.

Checks & Balances

Final Ratification The new Constitution now had to be ratified by the states for approval. State conventions were set up to vote on the issue.

The Federalists The Federalists were the supporters of the Constitution and included Washington, Franklin, Madison, Jay and Hamilton. They wrote a series of papers to support the Constitution called the Federalist Papers.

The Anti-Federalists The Anti-Federalists were afraid that the Constitution would take away from the individual rights and liberties of the people. The biggest supporter was Patrick Henry.

Ratification By June of 1788, the ninth state ratified the new Constitution (New Hampshire), but New York and Virginia had not yet ratified it. Virginia finally agreed to ratification as long as amendments were created to protect individual rights (Bill of Rights). Rhode Island was the last state to ratify the Constitution in May of 1790.

Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights was added in 1791 after the U.S. government got started.