1. The Constitutional Convention
The Philadelphia Convention was called in order for the states to meet to fix what was broken with the Articles of Confederation. The states realized it was not working and that a stronger Central Government was necessary.
At the Convention it was decided that all states would have one vote, and that a simple majority of 7 votes would be necessary to make decisions.
While most delegates only intended to make small changes to the Articles of Confederation, almost immediately James Madison of Virginia presented a completely new plan for the Government of the United States…His plan would come to be known as the Virginia Plan

2. The Virginia Plan
Government would have 3 branches: Executive, Legislative, Judicial
Legislative Branch would be the most powerful because it would:
make laws
select the Executive leader
select the Judicial members

3. Virginia Plan
The Legislative Branch would be “bicameral” with: House of Representatives: elected directly by people of each state Senate: Elected by the House of Representatives Each states # of representatives in the H of R and the Senate would be based on the size of the state’s population

4. Virginia Plan Judicial Powers- Regulate Trade Overrule state laws
Raise an army
Enforce the laws
Elect the president and judges

5. Reaction to the Virginia Plan
States with larger populations liked the idea of having representation based on population because it gave them power and made each individual’s vote count the same Less populated states hated it because they thought they would lose power and be pushed around by larger states

6. = The New Jersey Plan In response, the New Jersey Plan was presented.
The New Jersey Plan was very similar to the Articles of Confederation, but it gave additional powers to the National Govt.
Power to tax
Control over Trade
Power to overrule States =

7. New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey Plan also added two new branches of government Executive: Selected by the legislature, given power to enforce laws, direct military Judicial: appointed by Executive Branch, given power to solve disputes between states

8. The Great Compromise
Also known as the Connecticut Compromise. Legislative Branch- Two Houses…bills must pass both House of Reps- reps based on population of each state Senate- Each state gets equal representation (2 each) Powers- Tax, Pay the bills, regulate commerce, declare war, create money, create any laws necessary, impeach the President or judges

9. 3/5ths Compromise
For determining how many delegates each state would get in the House of Representatives, it was decided that slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person.
Southern states wanted slaves to count as a full person in order to give them more power.
Northern states didn’t want to count slaves at all so that the power of southern states would be limited.

10. Other Parts to the Constitution
Executive Branch- Congress decided to have one top leader of the executive Branch (President). Serves four year term Can be re-elected an unlimited # of times. Powers- Enforce Laws, negotiate treaties, conduct wars (lead military), send ambassadors to other countries, appoint judges and federal workers (with legislative approval, Veto

11. Other Parts of the Constitution
Judicial Branch Most court decisions were to be left to the States to settle in their own courts. A Supreme Court was established to rule on disputes between states and to interpret Federal Laws. The legislative branch was given power to establish more courts if necessary with the President appointing the judges Powers- Resolve conflicts between states Resolve conflicts involving the National government

12. Federalists v Anti-Federalists
There was still controversy over whether to pass the Constitution or not.
Federalists were in favor because they thought it was necessary but still kept the national (federal) government under control.
Anti-federalists were very much against the Constitution because they believed it put the control of the country into the hands of a small ruling class living far away from most people.
Much debate ensued and the Constitution looked doomed

13. The Federalist Papers
Written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay to convince the people and the representatives that the Constitution must be ratified.
Major point was that the country must have a strong national government in order to function with any real power.
Another major point was that the federal government must be a Republic rather than a straight Democracy in order to keep from having mob rule and instead a rule of law.

14. Compromise between Federalists and Anti-Federalists
As the numbers in favor of ratification grew, but it was still not enough to pass, a compromise was agreed to that would add a “Bill of Rights.
This Bill of Rights was a list of things that according to the Constitution the Federal government COULD NOT do to interfere with the rights of the citizens. In many cases these rights were things that the British had done leading up to the Revolutionary War.

15. The Bill of Rights
Added in order to gain support and acceptance from Anti-Federalists
The Bill of Rights DID NOT give the government power, it gave people and states rights that the national government could not take away.
1st- Freedom of Religion, Speech, Assembly, Protest
2nd- Right to Bear Arms
3rd- No Quartering
4th- No unusual Search and seizure
5th- Due Process, (steps in the process) no forced confessions
6th- Jury trial
7th- No double jeopardy
8th- No Cruel or unusual punishment
9th- People have more rights than are mentioned here
10th- If the Federal govt. doesn’t have the power, the state does (reserved powers)