CONSTITUTION 101: AN INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF THE US CONSTITUTION

WHAT IS THE US CONSTITUTION?  The supreme law of the United States  It is the foundation and source of the legal authority of the US and the Federal Government  It provides the framework for the organization of the government

WHAT ARE THE BASIC PRINCIPALS OF THE CONSTITUTION?  Popular Sovereignty: government power resides in the people  Limited Government: government is not all powerful, it can only do what the people allow it to do  Separation of Powers: helps prevent one branch from becoming too powerful  Federalism: Division of power among nation and state governments

WHO WROTE IT?  James Madison is considered “the father of the Constitution”  His important contributions:  The Virginia Plan  Separation of Powers  Bill of Rights

WHY WAS IT WRITTEN?  After the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation set up the structure of the US Government  The federal government was very weak and this created many problems  Shay’s Rebellion:  An uprising of farmers in Massachusetts-led by Daniel Shays  Helped convince leaders that a strong central government was needed

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION  May 25-September 17,  In Philadelphia  Intention was to revise (rework) the Articles  Ended up replacing them instead and creating a new government

HOW DO WE DECIDE HOW MANY REPRESENTATIVES EACH STATE SHOULD HAVE IN CONGRESS?  Virginia Plan: representatives based on population in state (bigger states have more representatives and more impact in government)

How do we decide how many representatives each state should have in Congress?  New Jersey Plan: everyone gets one representative regardless of population  New Jersey is a small state so its not surprising that they wanted equal representation with bigger states

HOW DO WE DECIDE HOW MANY REPRESENTATIVES EACH STATE SHOULD HAVE IN CONGRESS?  The Solution:  Great Compromise-combined Va plan and NJ plan, two houses (this is the plan they went with)  House of Representatives: based on population  Senate: each state gets 2 senators

RATIFICATION DEBATE  Needed 9 out of 13 states to ratify (officially approve) the Constitution before it went into effect  A huge debate emerged between two sides  Federalists  Anti-Federalists

FEDERALISTS VS. ANTI-FEDERALISTS  Supported the Constitution  Wanted a strong central government  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay  Supported a weaker central government  Opposed the constitution  Wanted a Bill of Rights to be included  Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry

RATIFICATION  Officially adopted after it was ratified by New Hampshire  Once the new government convened, they added a Bill of Rights to the Constitution