Warm Up "Join, or Die" is a political cartoon, by Benjamin Franklin published before the Revolutionary War. It The cartoon appeared along with Franklin's editorial about the "disunited state" of the colonies, and helped make his point about the importance of colonial unity. During that era, there was a superstition that a snake which had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset. 3. Which group of people was the cartoon probably targeted towards? What do the snake’s segments represent? 2. What is the cartoon’s message?

Roots of the Constitution Provides for a strong central government American Document with influence from many civilizations Studied the history of political development British, Greece, Romans European political institutions and political writers, ideas Want to avoid mistakes of the past Framers: People who “framed” the Constitution

Framers Shaped the Constitution Familiar with parliamentary system (Britain) Participate in colonial/state assemblies Value Individual rights guaranteed by British judicial system Respect British traditions

George Washington Commander of the Continental Army President of the Constitutional Convention First President of the United States

Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of Independence Founder of the Democratic- Republican Party 3rd President of America

John Adams Massachusetts’ delegate to the Continental Congress First Vice-President and 2nd President Signs the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts

Ben Franklin Scientist, inventor, printer, and patriot Ambassador to France Helped Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence

James Madison Father of the Constitution Author of the Bill of Rights 4th President of the United States

Alexander Hamilton Chief of staff to General Washington Founder of the Federalist Party First Secretary of the Treasury

George Mason Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights Virginia’s delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

Framers End Product View Constitution as a contract between Americans and their government Protect people’s rights by limiting the government’s power Carefully specify and divide powers of government Federal and State Powers

The Federal System Divided powers between the national government and the states States give up some of their powers - Kept under Articles of Confederation Federal government gains powers Shared Powers: Federalism Distinctive feature of U.S. government