I) Republic representative democracy A) Articles of Confederation 1 st “constitution”—written in ) Northwest Ordinance provided an orderly plan for statehood for the Northwest Territory

B) Failure of the Articles: Shays’ Rebellion II) Constitutional Convention 1786 uprising of Massachusetts farmers that led to a call to “fix” the Articles A) James Madison (“Father of the Constitution”)

B) Checks & Balances (Montesquieu) divide government into branches Legislative Executive Judicial 1) Three Branches each branch would have something only they could do (separation of powers) each had a chance to keep another from doing something (checks & balances) (Congress) (President) (Supreme Court)

Legislative Branch (passes) Executive Branch (enforces) Judicial Branch (interprets) Separation of Powers (passes)(vetoes) (overrides) (judicial review) Checks & Balances

2) Virginia Plan: representation based on population 3) New Jersey Plan: representation the same for each state 4) “The Great Compromise” combination of VA & NJ Plans—created a bicameral legislature

a) House of Representatives population b) Senate 2 per state

5) Three-Fifths Compromise 5 blacks (slaves) = 3 whites (non-slaves) to ease southern concerns about representation in Legislative Branch 6) Supremacy Clause Constitution is the “supreme law of the land”

7) Federalism power shared by the central government and the states

III) Ratification A) Federalists vs. Antifederalists Federalists: worried about anarchy without a strong central government Antifederalists: worried a strong central government would trample on rights

1) The Federalist Papers(The Federalist) series of newspaper articles explaining the need for the Constitution

B) Bill of Rights 1 st 10 Amendments to the Constitution protects individual rights from government abuse written by James Madison to convince the Antifederalists to support the Constitution

IV) Writ of Habeas Corpus “due process” rights (to see if you’re being held legally) without it, you could be held indefinitely without trial V) Electoral College each state’s electoral vote = number of members of Congress from that state, & they choose the President

The House gathers evidence Senate holds a trial VI) Impeachment