Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution

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Chapter 3Creating the Constitution

• 1776-1790

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Lesson One

• What were the major successes and failures of the
  government under the Articles of Confederation?

• Successes formed the framework o a government
  established Congress.
• Failures did not provide for a strong central
  government did not provide for an executive or a
  system of national courts

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• How did the Virginia bill of rights limit the
  power of the government?
• Why did many state constitutions limit the power
  of state governors?
• What were the Articles of the Confederation?

• With individual freedoms protected, the state
  government was limited in how it could interfere
  in the lives of its citizens
• Because of bad experiences in the past under
  colonial governors
• A document created during the Revolution defining
  the features of a central government for the U.S.

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• How did the Articles of Confederation ensure the
  power of the states?
• How did the two ordinances turn national land
  into private holdings?

• Congress could not regulate trade, could not tax,
  and had no way to enforce any laws it made. Only
  the states could exercise these powers
• They divided public land into townships that
  could be purchased by private investors. Once a
  specified number of people resided in the
  purchased territory, it could apply to become a
  state

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1

• What values did the Land Ordinance of 1785 and
  the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 express?
• Why was education so valued in America?
• What was the major problem with the Articles of
  Confederation

• A belief in the importance of education and the
  importance of settlement and expansion
• A democracy relies on educated citizens to
  participate in government
• It did not give the government enough power

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• How did Congress react to Shays Rebellion?
• What did Shays Rebellion demonstrate about the
  strength of the national government under the
  Articles of Confederation?

• Congress sent delegates to a convention to revise
  the Articles of Confederation
• The Articles of Confederation provided for a
  government that was too weak to keep popular
  unrest in check

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Lesson Two

• What role did compromise play in the creation of
  the Unites States Constitution?
• Who attended the Constitutional Convention?
• How did delegates to the Constitutional
  Convention keep their debates secret?

• Delegates of the Constitutional Convention
  compromised to come up with a plan for a strong
  central government
• 55 delegates from 12 states
• Windows remained closed and guards kept the
  public outside

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2

• How did the Virginia Plan address the weaknesses
  of the Articles of Confederation?
• How was the national government organized under
  the Virginia Plan?

• It propose three branches of government,
  including a strong executive
• It called for three branches of government and
  representation based on state population

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2

• What was the Great Compromise?
• What was the main difference between the Virginia
  Plan and the New Jersey Plan?

• A blending of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans
  that set up a two-house legislature.
  Representation in the House of Representatives
  would be based on population and each state would
  have equal representation in the Senate
• The Virginia Plan called for a two-house
  legislature with more representation for larger
  states the New Jersey Plan called for a
  one-house legislature with equal representation
  for all states.

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2

• What two compromises were made over the issue of
  slavery?
• What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?
• What is the significance of the Constitution's
  first phrase We the People of the United
  States?

• The 3/5th Compromise the importation of enslaved
  people must end after 20 years but the internal
  slave trade could continue
• An agreement that for purposes of representation
  and taxation, each enslaved person would count as
  three-fifths of a person
• It demonstrates that the government is based on
  the consent of the people

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Lesson Three

• How did those in favor of the Constitution
  achieve its ratification?
• Why did Antifederalists believe that the
  Constitutional Convention had gone too far?

• They published arguments supporting the
  Constriction in newspapers. They held conventions
  to debate the Constitution
• They argued that the meeting was called to revise
  the Articles of Confederation, not to create a
  new form of government
• Virginia was a large and influential state. If it
  did not ratify the Constitution, other states
  might not, either, and the union could break
  apart

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3

• What was significant about the fact that all 13
  states ratified the Constitution?
• Why was the Bill of Rights added to the
  Constitution?
• Why did Congress move quickly to pass the Bill of
  Rights?
• Why was the vote in Virginia critical?

• To protect people against abuse by the federal
  government
• It meant that the union of the states would be
  preserved
• To protect basic liberties