1. Today’s Word:
Congress: the national representative legislature in the United States. We elect Senators and Representatives who vote for laws.

2. Share your Do-First What does it mean to make a “compromise”?
Describe a time where you were arguing with someone and you had to make a compromise.

3. Today’s Lesson: The Constitution!
Today, we begin discussing the creation of the Constitution. To introduce this topic, enjoy the School House Rock clip on our plan of government: OyU4O80i4
Fill in your notes page as we go through today’s lesson on compromise and how it was important to the creation of the U.S. Constitution!

4. A New Government:
After the disaster of Shays’ Rebellion and the ongoing conflicts between states, the Founding Fathers knew that it was time to create a NEW plan of government.
Each state sent delegates who gathered in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention.
These men who wrote the Constitution would later be called the “framers” of the Constitution. The delegates elected George Washington as the leader of the convention.
The first decision made at the convention was to throw out the old Articles of Confederation and write a draft of a new Constitution.

5. Check your Understanding!
When I count down, hold up your answer to our first question. DO NOT hold up your card until I have finished counting down.
What were some of the weaknesses with the Articles of Confederation?
It gave too much power to the national government
It gave too much power to the President
It did not give the national government the power to levy taxes
It did not create a plan for settling land in western territories

6. Think-Write-Pair-Share
In the box on your notes, write a one sentence explanation of the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation

7. The First Major Issue: Large States vs. Small States
Large states liked the Virginia Plan of government, which argued that states with larger populations should have more representatives in the national Congress.
Small states liked the New Jersey Plan of government, which argued that each state should have an equal number of representatives in Congress, no matter what its population size. Small states were worried that the larger states would overpower them in a national Congress and they wanted to have equal representation.
Small State
vs.
Large state

8. Check your Understanding
When I count down, hold up your answer to our first question. DO NOT hold up your card until I have finished counting down.
What were large and small states fighting over?
Equal rights for all citizens
Money for each state
Representation in the national Congress
Control over the executive branch

9. Think-Write-Pair-Share
Why does the number of representatives your state has in Congress so important? What might happen if your state has fewer representatives in Congress than another state?

10. The Resolution: The Great Compromise
To solve the problem of Large States vs. Small States, the framers of the Constitution reached a compromise. This agreement is known as the “Great Compromise.”
The Great Compromise created a bicameral legislature—meaning, there would be TWO houses in Congress. There would be a Senate and a House of Representatives.

11. Our National Congress
The Senate would represent the states—in the Senate, each state would have two senators. This gave each state an equal number of lawmakers in the Senate.
The House of Representatives would represent the people—in this house, the number of representatives from each state depended on that state’s population. The larger the state population, the more representatives it had in the House!

12. Check your Understanding
When I count down, hold up your answer to our first question. DO NOT hold up your card until I have finished counting down.
Fill in the blank: The House of Representatives favors large states because it allows each state to have representatives based on the __________________.
Population of the state
Area of the state
Equality
Small states

13. Check your Understanding
When I count down, hold up your answer to our first question. DO NOT hold up your card until I have finished counting down.
Fill in the blank: The Senate favors small states because every state…
Has anywhere from 2 to 30 Senators based on the state’s population
Has two senators who represent each state
Has one senator and one representative
Can decide how many senators it wants

14. The Second Major Issue: Slave States vs. Free States
Now that the framers agreed on how each state would be represented in the national Congress, they had to figure out how to count the population of each state. This caused a problem because the framers didn’t know how to count slaves—were they people or were they property?
Southern states wanted as many representatives in the House as possible, so they argued that slaves should be counted as part of the population.
Northern States, who had outlawed slavery, argued that slaves did not have rights so they should not count as part of the population. Many northern states argued that if southern states wanted to count their slaves as part of the population, then slaves should be free and have the same rights as any other citizen.

15. THINK-WRITE-PAIR-SHARE
Why were Southern states being hypocritical (saying one thing but believing another?)

16. The Resolution: The 3/5 Compromise
To solve the problem of slave states vs. free states, the framers of the Constitution reached a compromise. This agreement is known as the 3/5 Compromise.
Framers of the Constitution agreed to count each slave as 3/5 of a person—that way, southern states received more representation in the House, but it maintained the slave’s status as unequal to free men. In exchange, the southern states agreed to end the importation of new slaves to the United States in 20 years. Starting in 1807, new African slaves were no longer brought to the United States.

17. Check your Understanding
When I count down, hold up your answer to our first question. DO NOT hold up your card until I have finished counting down.
Based on the Three-Fifths compromise, which racial group would no longer immigrate to the United States after 1807?
Europeans
Natives
Africans
The Spanish

18. THINK-WRITE-PAIR-SHARE
Many framers of the Constitution had also helped write the Declaration of Independence which stated that “all men are created equal.” How do you think they felt about the 3/5 Compromise?

19. ACTIVITY: Partner Comic Strips
DIRECTIONS: Create a comic strip that shows the issues around state representation and the solution of the Great Compromise. The table that has the HIGHEST QUALITY comic strips, with color/speech bubbles/captions, will earn an honor dollar. You have ten minutes to work.
DIRECTIONS: Trade papers with a partner at your table! Create a comic strip that shows the issues around counting slaves as part of the population and the solution of the 3/5 Compromise. The table that has the HIGHEST QUALITY comic strips, with color/speech bubbles/captions, will earn an honor dollar! You have ten minutes to work.