1. DO NOW
Were the founders right to include the Bill of Rights in the Constitution to appease the Antifederalists? Explain.

2. 205: The Constitution and Preamble
10/25
205: The Constitution and Preamble

3. Hamilton (read it and answer the 2 questions)
Character Focus Alexander Hamilton
Our neighbor, The $10 man

4. The United States Constitution
By the late 1780s it was clear that the national government created by the Articles of Confederation was too weak. The Constitution was our country’s second attempt at setting up a government. It lays out the structure of the government we have today.
The Constitution has three parts.
Preamble: This lays out the purposes of our government. It also declares that the power of government comes from the people.
Articles: Divides the powers of our government into three different branches: executive, legislative and judicial. Each article describes the powers of one of these branches and its structure. There is also an article on amending (changing) the Constitution and on ratifying (approving) the Constitution.
Bill of Rights: The Bill of Rights was added AFTER the original Constitution was made. It puts limits on the government’s power (for example, the government cannot restrict your freedom of speech).
At first, there was a lot of opposition to the Constitution. Those who opposed it were worried about a strong national government. They felt that a Bill of Rights was necessary to limit the power of government. The debates over the Constitution are called the Federalist debates.

5. The Preamble [Intro]

6.
Preamble schoolhouse rock

7. “We the People…” The Framers were an elite group — mostly lawyers.
But they knew that they were trying to forge a nation made up not of an elite, but of the common man.
Without the approval of the common man, they feared revolution.

8. “In order to form a more perfect union”
The Framers were dissatisfied with the United States under the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation had been a grand experiment, but now cracks were showing.
The new United States, under this new Constitution, would be more perfect. Not perfect, but more perfect.

9. Preamble (p. 131 in the U.S. History textbook)
Read the Preamble and then use context clues to define each of the 4 Glossary terms
Use the text of the Preamble to identify 2 government actions for each of the Preamble phrases
Complete the Purposes of Government multiple choice

10. “Establish justice”
Injustice, unfairness of laws and in trade, was of great concern to the people of 1787.
Today, we enjoy a system of justice that is one of the fairest in the world?

11. “Ensure domestic tranquility”
One of the events that caused the Convention to be held was Shays' Rebellion.
The keeping of the peace was on everyone's mind, and the maintenance of tranquility at home was a prime concern.
Domestic means “at home”
Tranquility means “peaceful”

12. “Provide for the common defense”
The new nation was fearful of attack from all sides — and no one state was really capable of fending off an attack from land or sea by itself.

13. “Promote the general welfare”
This, and the next part of the Preamble, are the culmination of everything that came before it — the whole point of having tranquility, justice, and defense was to promote the general welfare:
— to allow every state and every citizen of those states to benefit from what the government could provide.

14. “Secure the blessings of liberty, to both ourselves and our posterity”
They were very concerned that they were creating a nation that would resemble something of a paradise for liberty, as opposed to the tyranny of a monarchy.
Posterity means “generations after us”

15. Of the 5 “Promises” of the Preamble, which do you think is the most important? Why? Cite at least 2 government actions in your answer.