1. A New Plan of Government

2. European Influences  Constitution was influenced by several European Ideas  Magna Carta (1215)- An English document that limited the power of the king, inspired the idea to limit the power of the executive  English Bill of Rights (1689) - Inspired the push in America for its own Bill of Rights  Philosopher John Locke - Inspired Jefferson’s inalienable rights idea, and that government should protect those rights  French philosopher Montesquieu - Inspired the idea to separate power into 3 branches

3. Federalism  Constitution created U.S. Federalism  Split power between the national/federal government and the state governments.  National Powers: tax, trade, currency, raise an army, declare war, pass laws deemed “necessary and proper”  State Powers: Control trade in the state’s border, set up local gov’t, schools, establish marriage and divorce laws  Shared Powers: tax and establish criminal justice  Constitution is considered “supreme law of the land” and states cannot make laws against it.

4. Structure of Gov’t  Power was divided into three branches  Executive  Legislative  Judicial

5. Legislative Branch  Makes the laws for the country  Made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate  House of Representative Members are up for election every 2 years  Senators are up for election every 6 years.

6. Executive Branch  Enforces the laws  Can sign or veto laws  Led by the President  Term is 4 years  Has a Vice-President in case he cannot finish his term.  Chosen by a majority vote in the Electoral College  Electoral College - Group of people who choose the president. Each state gets to send representatives to the Electoral College based off how many representatives and senators the state has.

7. Judicial Branch  Judges if the laws are constitutional  Highest court = Supreme Court  Justices on the Supreme Court serve for life

8. Questions to Consider for Debate Prep  What are benefits of your side?  What are weaknesses of your side?  What are some concerns about having a strong government?  Why might a strong national government hinder state governments?  What were some problems with the state governments being stronger than the national government?  Why would a small government be a problem?  What was wrong about the Articles of Confederation?  What did the Articles of Confederation do well?  Should our new government have an executive? Why or why not?

9. Checks and Balances  Delegates didn’t want any branch to become too powerful.  Each branch has the ability to limit the other two branches of government.

10. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists  Federalists = Those who supported the Constitution  Key Federalists: Washington, Franklin, Hamilton  Anti-Federalists = Those who opposed the Constitution  Key Anti-Federalists: Madison and Jefferson

11. Ratifying the Constitution  Delaware ratified the Constitution first. (December 7, 1787)  Virginia and New York (two biggest states) refused to ratify the Constitution until there was a guarantee that a bill of rights would be added to the Constitution  The Bill of Rights were added in 1791.  1790 - Every state ratified the Constitution.