A New Constitution

1
A New Constitution

• Mr. Zimmer
• Civics

2
Constitution History

• By 1787 the original 13 states realized that the
  Articles of Confederation needed to be fixed
• The Articles of Confederation gave more power to
  the states and was the first governing document
  for the country

3
Constitution History

• The Constitution is the worlds oldest written
  constitution still governing a country today.

4
British Influence

• The Magna Carta
• Guaranteed that free people could not be
  arrested, put in prison, or forced to leave their
  country without a trial by jury

5
British Influence

• The English Bill of Rights
• Right to Petition
• Right to fair punishment if found guilty of a
  crime

6
British Influence

• Parliamentary Government
• Lawmaking body of Great Britain
• Bicameral
• Consists of two houses or parts

7
Delegates Meet in Secret

• Met in secret because agreements on difficult
  issues might not have been possible
• James Madison kept a journal of the proceedings
• He is sometimes called the Father of the
  Constitution because of this.

8
Writing the Constitution

• The framers created a system of government known
  as federalism
• During the writing process the most serious
  disagreement was over the question of
  representation in the national legislature
• Larger states wanted it based on population
• Smaller states wanted equal representation
• This is why the House of Representatives and the
  Senate were created
• This became known as the Great Compromise!

9
Constitution Completed

• Once completed, it was sent to the states for
  ratification or approval
• 9 of the 13 colonies had to ratify the
  Constitution for it to go into effect
• Each state set up a special convention of
  delegates to vote on the Constitution
• As time went on, people took sides and two groups
  were formed The Federalists and Anti-Federalists

10
Federalists

• These were the supporters of the Constitution who
  favored a strong National Government to keep the
  country united
• Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
  were members of this group

11
Anti-Federalists

• Feared a strong national government defeated the
  purpose of the Revolutionary War
• They did not believe that the proposed
  Constitution protects the states power or
  peoples freedoms
• Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Samuel Adams
  were members of this group

12
Constitution is Ratified

• Slowly the Federalist gained support
• Many citizens were still upset that the
  Constitution did not contain a list of the rights
  for the people
• After ratification by the 9th state, the new U.S.
  government began to operate in 1789