The Constitution

1. The Constitution Broken Down

3. The Gathering There was a convention in Philadelphia. At the convention were delegates from each state to fix the flaws of the Articles of Confederation. The convention took place on May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia�s Independence Hall.

4. More About The Gathering Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were currently in Europe. Patrick Henry didn�t attend either because he was against the convention. Of the 55 men present at this convention were lawyers, merchants, college presidents, physicians, generals, governors, and planters with political experience. Seven were governors of their own states. Forty-one were or had been members of the Continental Congress. At this meeting no Native Americans, African Americans, or women were in attendance.

5. The Procedure The first action was made by Washington. He set rules for conducting the convention. The decisions made at the meeting were made by majority vote. Each state only had one vote. They also agreed that this was to be kept secret and that no one would tell what went on. Meetings were closed to the public and press. Each delegate had a job for revising the Articles of Confederation. They agreed that changing this wasn�t enough. So they discarded the Articles and decided to make a new constitution. This meeting became known as Constitutional Convention.

6. The Plan The delegates wanted to created a government that was good for all the states. Everybody thought that this was eventually going to be disaster. They proposed a plan for the new government. This plan eventually became known as the Virginia Plan. The Articles of Confederation only consisted of the legislative branch with one house congress. The delegates wanted to change this so now the Virginia Plan had three branches. The three branches were legislative, judicial, and executive. The legislative branch was the branch that did the lawmaking. The executive branch carried out the laws. Last but not least the judicial branch interpreted the laws and applied the laws.

7. Constitutional Compromises The first compromise was called the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise). The great compromise was that the congress would have two houses: a Senate and a House of Representatives. This meant that each state had equal representation in the Senate pleasing the small states, and a House based on population pleasing the larger states. Although the Great Compromise was good they was still unsure on how to calculate the population. So they made a new compromise called the Three-Fifths Compromise. This meant that every five enslaved persons would count as three free persons. This would determine the representation of the Congress.

9. Approving the Constitution When the Constitution came out Americans reacted to it in many ways. There were Federalists. They were supporters of this document. This name was chosen to emphasize the constitution. The thought it would create a system of Federalism. This means that power of the government was divided into federal, or national, government and states To win the support of people the Federalists told everybody or reminded them of the flaws of the Articles of Confederations. This caused an argument that the United States couldn�t survive without a strong national government. Those who opposed the Constitution was Anti-Federalists. Eventually everybody agreed and decide to make a Bill of Rights.

10. The Preamble We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America. �To form a more perfect Union�-to unite the states so they can operate as a single nation. �To establish Justice�-to create a system to fair laws and courts so everybody is treated equally. �To insure domestic Tranquility�-to maintain peace and order. �To provide for the common defense�-to protect the citizens from outside attacks. �To promote the general Welfare�-to help people live healthy and happy. �To secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity�-to guarantee the freedom and basic rights to all Americans.

12. The Articles Article 1: The Legislative Branch (Congress is made up of two houses-Senate and the House of Representatives. They will have all of the lawmaking decisions.) Article 2: The Executive Branch (The law-enforcing branch. Headed by the president and vice president. Tells how they can be and removed from office.) Article 3: The Judicial Branch (They interpret the laws and sees that they are fairly applied. They have one supreme court.) Article 4: Each state must respect each others laws. Also explains the procedure for creating new states. Article 5: Tells how to make amendments. Article 6: �supreme Law of the Land.� If the state or court decisions conflict with the federal law the federal law shall prevail. Article 7: The Constitution would take effect, when nine states had ratified it.

15. Popular Sovereignty Popular Sovereignty is the notion that the governments� power lies with the people. The Constitution talks a lot about the people. The Declaration of Independence says that governments should draw their powers �from the consent of the governed.� The Constitution also starts out with �We the people�� People mainly voice their opinions through elections.

16. Rule of Law Rule of law means that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern. Nobody can break the law. The Constitution gives a list of powers that Congress should have and those it should not have.

17. Separation of Powers Separation of powers is split authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The reason we have separation of powers is so that no one group or person gains too much power.

19. Checks and Balances Checks and balances is when each branch is able to check, or restrain, the power of the others. The Congress can block presidential appointments and treaties. If there is wrongdoing the Congress can even remove the president from office. The Supreme Court can overturn laws. The Congress can even remove judges through the impeachment process.

21. Federalism Under federalism power is shared by the national government and the states. Each level of government has independent authority over people. There are three types of powers, these are expressed powers, reserved powers, and concurrent powers. Expressed powers are powers specifically granted to the national government. Reserved powers are powers that the Constitution does not give to the national government. Concurrent powers are powers that both levels of government can exercise.

22. Written and designed by: KATIE