The Constitutional Convention

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The Constitutional Convention

• People and Ideas
• By Peter Fontana

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Do Now

• Tell me what you know in 4 sentences or less
  about the U.S. Constitution.
• Tell me what you do not know about the U.S.
  Constitution.

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Table of Contents

• I. The Founding Fathers
• II. Opposition to the Constitution
• III. The Bill of Rights

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The Founding Fathers

• FOUNDING FATHERS MENU
• CLICK ON THE NAME TO SEE THEIR PERSONAL VIEWS AND
  CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FRAMING OF THE U.S.
  CONSTITUTION.
• PATRICK HENRY APPEARS UNDER OPPOSITION TO THE
  CONSTITUTION.

Henry
WASHINGTON
Jefferson
MADISON
FRANKLIN
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James Madison

• Born in 1751 and brought up in Orange County
  Virginia Madison would later attend Princeton
  University.
• Along with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton was a
  major contributor to The Federalist Papers, one
  of the leading inspirations of the U.S.
  Constitution.
• Believed in a stronger central government to
  provide a system of checks and balances with the
  three branches of government organized through
  the constitution. Madisons ideas were very
  popular and he is generally regarded as the
  Father of the Constitution.
• Taken from http//www.whitehouse.gov/history/pre
  sidents/jm4.html

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Benjamin Franklin

• The only Founding Father to really live up to his
  name as a Founding Father signing every
  document that had led to the founding of the
  United States. For more information click HERE
• His son (The Royal Governor of New Jersey)
  opposed the Revolution. He was eventually
  imprisoned.
• Developed a sense of Rational Christianity as
  he developed a loathing for Calvinism (Puritan)
  thinking. This sort of approach was highly
  influential in the development of the First
  Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
• Did not hold metaphysics in high regard but
  developed a love for science and rational though
  due to his belief that a rational and
  intelligent approach to life was far more
  beneficial. For this, he was very similar to
  Thomas Paine.

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Thomas Jefferson

• Wanted America to develop into a highly
  independent Agrarian Society. He found the urban
  lifestyle of Europeans to be harmful to humanity.
  It is often said that if Thomas Jefferson knew
  the extent to which America would become an
  industrialized and urban power, he would not have
  been very happy.
• Authored the Declaration of Independence
  synthesizing both the reasoning and purpose
  behind independence from England.
• One of his most celebrated writings came in the
  form of his defense of religious freedom stating
  that Well aware that the opinions and belief of
  men depend not on their own will, but follow
  involuntarily the evidence proposed to their
  minds that Almighty God hath created the mind
  free, and manifested his supreme will that free
  it shall remain by making it altogether
  insusceptible of restraint In other words, if
  God made the mind free, then we all must think
  freely. Taken from http//www.geocities.com/Athen
  s/7842/rfindex.htm

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George Washington

• Commander and Chief of American forces during the
  Revolution and first President of the United
  States.
• While not much is known of his political
  philosophy, he not only successfully led American
  forces to victory, but also established a stable
  economy as President and for the time quelled
  tension with Native American populations. While
  some of his methods would today be considered
  questionable, at the time, these two major
  successes granted him substantial popularity.
• Feared most the sectioning and division of the
  United States and while he could not please
  everyone, as President he spent much of his time
  addressing this issue.

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Opposition to the Constitution

• Hamilton and the New York Delegation
• Patrick Henry
• The Whiskey Rebellion

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Patrick Henry

• Radically opposed to British Rule of the American
  colonies. Became a passionate speaker and
  defender for the cause of the Revolution.
• Strong proponent of a weak central government and
  was opposed to the signing of the Constitution on
  the grounds that it dismissed the rights of the
  states over the Federal Government.
• Led a Virginia opposition to the signing of The
  Constitution that had lost by one vote. Due to
  his beliefs, Henry had put himself in direct
  opposition to James Madison, a fellow Virginian
  and influential Federalist and Republican.
• Taken From http//www.americanrevolution.com/Pat
  rickHenry1.htm

• Give me liberty or give me death!

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The Whiskey Rebellion

• An insurrection led by Pennsylvania farmers and
  distillers against Washingtons Militia in 1794.
• Secretary to the Treasury Alexander Hamilton
  placed the burden of cost for the Revolution upon
  the States. One way that he achieved this was
  through a tax on alcohol.
• The Rebels felt that Hamiltons tax on distilled
  spirits was an act comparable to the taxes
  imposed by King George.
• Local harassment on tax collectors in the Western
  parts of The States led to all out rebellion in
  Pennsylvania in the summer of 1794.
• The Rebellion was quickly squashed leading to
  several imprisonments and hangings for the crime
  of treason in the city of Philadelphia.

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The Bill of Rights

• 1st Amendment
• Congress shall make no law respecting the
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof of prohibiting the freedom
  of speech, or of the press or the right of the
  people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the
  government for a redress of grievances.
• 2nd Amendment
• A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
  security of a free state, the right of the people
  to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
• 3rd Amendment
• - No soldier shall, in time of peace be
  quartered in any house, without the consent of
  the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to
  be prescribed by law

• 4th Amendment
• - The right of the people to be secure in
  their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
  against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
  not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but
  upon probable cause, supported by oath or
  affirmation, and particularly describing the
  place to be searched, and the persons or things
  to be seized.
• 5th Amendment
• - No person shall be held to answer for a
  capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a
  presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except
  in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or
  in the militia, when in actual service in time of
  war or public danger nor shall any person be
  subject for the same offense to be twice put in
  jeopardy of life or limb nor shall be compelled
  in any criminal case to be a witness against
  himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
  property, without due process of law nor shall
  private property be taken for public use, without
  just compensation.

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The Bill of Rights Continued

• 6th Amendment
• - In all criminal prosecutions, the
  accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and
  public trial, by an impartial jury of the state
  and district wherein the crime shall have been
  committed, which district shall have been
  previously ascertained by law, and to be informed
  of the nature and cause of the accusation to be
  confronted with the witnesses against him to
  have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses
  in his favor, and to have the assistance of
  counsel for his defense.
• 7th Amendment
• - In suits at common law, where the
  value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars,
  the right of trial by jury shall be preserved,
  and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise
  reexamined in any court of the United States,
  than according to the rules of the common law.

• 8th Amendment
• - Excessive bail shall not be
  required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
  and unusual punishment inflicted.
• 9th Amendment
• - The enumeration in the
  Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
  construed to deny or disparage others detained by
  the people.
• 10th Amendment
• - The powers not delegated to the
  United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
  by it to the states, are reserved to the states
  respectively, or to the people.

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Closure

• Write down 3 new things you have learned today
  about the drafting of The Constitution.
• Write down 2 things that are unclear to you from
  the presentation.
• Write down 1 thing you would like to know that I
  did not include in the presentation.