1. Amending the U.S. Constitution and the
Bill of Rights

2. Ratifying (approving) the Constitution
At least 9 of the 13 states had to ratify or approve the Constitution before it could go into effect.
When the framers (writers) of the second draft of the Constitution believed that they had created a strong national government. The next step was to sent it to the states. The framers of the Constitution had set up a process for the states to decide on the new government. At least 9 of the 13 states had to ratify, or approve, the Constitution before it could go into effect.

3. YES NO DOES THE NEW CONSTIUTION GUARD AGAINST TYRANNY? Vs.
The Federalist Position
Supported the Constitution NO
The Anti-Federalist Position
Opposed to the Constitution
because…
National government too strong and the states too weak.
Needs to be a bill of rights that spelled out basic freedoms
Vs.
In every state, heated debates took place. Supporters of the Constitution called themselves Federalists. They called people who opposed the Constitution Anti-federalists. See their main arguments above.

4. Federal, Federalist, and Federalism! OH MY!
What is the difference between these three terms?
The suffix – ist
Usually connotes a person – one who holds a belief (communist) or one who use something (a artist or violinist)
The suffix –ism
Usually connotes a principle, belief or movement (communism or Judaism)
Federal = another name for the national or central government
Federalist = an supporter of the proposed Constitution in 1787
Federalism = division of power between the states and the federal of national government
The language in the U.S. Constitution can get confusing – especially when the terms start to look the same – like federal, federalist, and federalism. All of these terms share the same prefix (federal) – so you have to pay attention to the suffix (the end of the word) to get a hint of that the word means.

5. Anti-federalists pointed to the Constitution’s lack of a Bill of Rights
That
stupid line
Give me a Bill of Rights! Or, give me Death!
Didn’t he already use that line?
Federalists liked the second draft of the Constitution as is. Anti-federalists, like Patrick Henry (pictured above), opposed the Constitution for many reasons. The chief argument used by Anti-federalists against the Constitution was that it had no bill of rights. Americans had just fought a revolution to protect their freedoms. They wanted a bill of rights in the Constitution that spelled out basic freedoms such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

6. Despite the absence of a Bill of Rights, the Constitution was ratified.
Patrick
Henry
One by one, states voted to ratify the Constitution. Delaware was the first (hence the reason the phrase “the First State” is written on their state’s license plate). In just over six months the ninth state (New Hampshire) ratified the second draft of the Constitution. The new government could now go into effect. Patrick Henry was pissed.

7. 1789 - The new U.S. Congress (the legislative
branch) met for the first time in NYC
Elected George Washington President and John Adams with the second most votes became Vice-President.
Americans voted in the first election under the Constitution in January As expected, George Washington was elected President, while John Adams (remember him from the clip we watched of the tarring and feathering of a tax collector?) was chosen Vice President. The first Congress was made up of 59 representatives and 22 senators. It met in New York City, which was chosen as the nation’s first capital. The first Congress quickly turned their attention to adding a bill of rights to the Constitution (Patrick Henry was so excited)!
Turned attention to adding a Bill of Rights

8. Luckily, the framers of the Constitution created a way to change it if necessary in the future.
Article V – Amending the Constitution
Requires two difficult steps: proposal and ratification:
But how could this happen? Didn’t the states already ratify/approve the Constitution? Lucky, for Patrick Henry, and us today, the framers set up a way to amend or change, the Constitution. They did not want people to make changes lightly, however. Thus, they made the process of amending the Constitution fairly difficult. Look at the chart above to see the two ways amendments can be added to the Constitution. Side note: In the more than 200 years since the Constitution was adopted, only 27 times! Not bad for a document created in 1787.

9. First 10 Amendment = Bill of Rights
Amendment 1 Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly Amendment 2 Right to bear arms Amendment 3 Quartering of soldiers Amendment 4 Search and arrest Amendment 5 Rights in criminal cases Amendment 6 Right to a fair trial Amendment 7 Rights in civil cases Amendment 8 Bail, fines, punishment Amendment 9 Rights retained by the People Amendment 10 States' rights
Ironically, the parts of the Constitution Americans most value today – the freedom of speech, the press, and religion; protection against unjust criminal procedures; equality before the law – were not in the original documents. All of these but the last were contained in the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights.