The Documents of Freedom Declaration of Independence Articles of Confederation GA Constitution of 1777 Constitution of the United States & Bill of Rights

Declaration of Independence This document was dangerous. The people who wrote it risked their lives to do so. This was our official notice to the King of England that we were severing (cutting) our ties to the “Mother Country.” Since 1763, colonial governments had been sending letters and representatives to England requesting that the King lower taxes and repeal some of the Acts After repeatedly turning down the colonists’ requests, a Continental Congress was called to do something about the situation.

Declaration of Independence What are the two main ideas expressed in the preamble? All men are created equal: given the unalienable rights of LIFE, LIBERTY & THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Governments rule through the consent of the governed (the people). If the people don’t like the governments, they have the right to replace them The Declaration was ratified by the convention and signed on July 4, 1776 That’s what’s up with all the fireworks on “Independence Day”…. DUH!!! 

Articles of Confederation This was our nations’ first constitution Why did we need a constitution anyhow? Why did the writers create a Confederation government?

Articles of Confederation Strengths Set up a republican form of government Established self-government under a written document Weaknesses Congress couldn’t levy taxes Congress couldn’t regulate trade Congress couldn’t force states to follow laws Each state got one vote regardless of population Only a Legislative branch No Executive or Courts Congress couldn’t’ raise an army After the problems were recognized, why was the government hesitatnt to change the country’s first Constitution?

Georgia Constitution of 1777 Once we were no longer a colony and now a state, we needed a State Constitution. Georgia’s provincial congress met to make a governing document to define the branches and powers of state government.

Georgia Constitution of 1777 Strengths Separation of government branches Protection of basic rights Weaknesses Most power given to unicameral legislature Legislature elected the governor, his 12-man council & other state officials One-house legislature with no check on power Governor only served 1-year term limiting his power Constitution not ratified by the people

Constitution of the United States After recognizing that the Articles were too weak, a Constitutional Convention was convened in Philadelphia in May or 1787. The purpose of this meeting was to “fix” the Articles however, the framers quickly realized that the Articles were too messed up to fix. They began to write a new document, creating a Stronger central government Debates regarding slavery and population shaped the new document Abraham Baldwin & William Few voted in ways that shaped the new government

Constitution of the United States The Constitution created 3 branches of government and gave each the ability to check the powers of the other branches. Legislative Branch Executive Branch Judicial Branch Debates about population and state votes created a Bi-cameral Legislature The Great Compromise was influenced by Abraham Baldwin’s vote

Constitution of the United States A group within the convention decided that individual or personal freedoms needed to be specifically listed. Why would they feel a need to do so? From this group’s demands, the Bill of Rights were created These are the first 10 Amendments (changes/additions) to the Constitution This document was sent to the states for ratification and by 1789 all states had passed this. Georgia was the 4th state to ratify so we are the “4th State”