1. The U.S. Constitution January 27, 2014

2. What is a constitution? A ___________ is a document that embodies the fundamental principles of a government of a nation. It outlines its ______, institutions, and customs. A constitution can often be labeled as “________” or “living” because it can be _________ by an act of congress (_____________). Most countries in the world have a _________ constitution, often based on the U.S., British, or French constitutions.

3. Writing the U.S. Constitution The U.S. Constitution was written at the ________________________ in Philadelphia in 1787. It was written to fix the weaknesses that were present in the ___________________________ All states except Rhode Island sent ___________ to the convention to help decide the content of the constitution However, many arguments ensued, and some delegates were so angry that they ______ before the document was finished

4. Disagreements at the Convention The fundamental questions that needed to be decided were how much ________ the __________ government should have and how the ________ would be a part of the federal government It turned into a battle between _______ states and _______ states – Large states wanted representation based on population; small states wanted equal representation from all states Eventually, a _____________ was reached where the legislature would be ___________ (two houses) with the House of Representatives decided based on population and the Senate being equal among the states This is called the ________________________

5. The Question of Slavery With population size being a deciding factor in the House of Representatives, the question of whether __________ counted or not was raised It was decided that ______________ of the slave population should count towards the total population of a state (this is called The Three-Fifths Compromise) Other delegates wanted to _________ slavery altogether. Another compromise was reached that stated that the _______________ of slaves would be abolished, but not before ________. Slavery itself was still legal.

6. Putting the Constitution into Effect When the document was signed in September 1787, it was sent to the states for _____________ ______ states were required to ratify Some states seriously ___________ with the decision – Rhode Island and North Carolina actually rejected the Constitution and refused to ratify The ninth state, New Hampshire, finally ratified in June 1788 It went into effect in _______________

7. Structure of the Constitution There is a ___________, 7 _________, and 27 _______________ The first ______ amendments are collectively known as the _____________ The Preamble states the __________ of the document Each article lays out the ___________ of each branch of government, as well as requirements for each job and the oath of office that they must take Each amendment __________ the document in some way

8. The Preamble Outlines the purpose of the document “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect ________, establish _________, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common _________, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of _________ to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

9. The Articles Article One: outlines the functions of the _______________ branch (Congress) Article Two: outlines the functions of the ____________ branch (President and Vice President) Article Three: outlines the functions of the ___________ Branch (Supreme Court) Article Four: discusses the _________ and how they should work together and not discriminate against citizens of other states Article Five: provides instructions on how to _________ the Constitution Article Six: provides the ________ of office for members of the government Article Seven: declares the Constitution will go into effect when __________ by nine states

10. The Bill of Rights The first _____ amendments These were added within _____ years of the ratification of the Constitution They guarantee certain ____________ and _________ to the citizens of the U.S. (See attachment)

11. Other Amendments In addition to the Bill of Rights, there are ____ more amendments to the U.S. Constitution Some were brought on by __________________ decisions, others by changing _________ in the country, and others describe voting and election procedures, tax collection, and inauguration procedures for Presidents, Vice Presidents, and members of Congress No matter how an amendment is brought about, it takes __________________ of the states to ratify before the amendment can go into effect (See attachment)

12. Questions 1. What is a constitution? 2. What does a constitution outline? 3. Where and when was the U.S. Constitution written? 4. Why was the Constitution written? 5. What fundamental questions needed to be addressed by the Constitution? 6. How did the delegates end up compromising on these questions? 7. What is the Three-Fifths Compromise? 8. When did the Constitution go into effect? 9. How many articles does the Constitution have? 10. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

13. More Questions 11. What are the first 10 amendments called? 12. What is the purpose of the preamble? 13. List each article and what it does. 14. What does the Bill of Rights guarantee? 15. How did some of the other amendments come about? 16. How many states must ratify before a new amendment can go into effect?