Transcript The Constitution of the United States

The Constitution of the United
States
SOL USI.7b: The student will demonstrate
knowledge of the challenges faced by the
new nation by: b) describing the historical
developments of the Constitution of the
United States
Basic Information:
1) The development of the Constitution of
the United States was significant to the
FOUNDATION of the American republic.
2) The Constitution of the United States of
America established a FEDERAL system
of government based on power shared
between the NATIONAL and STATE
governments
Confederation to Constitution
1) WEAKNESSES in the Articles of
Confederation led to the effort to draft a
new constitution
Constitutional Convention of 1787
Constitutional Convention of 1787
1) State delegates met in PHILADELPHIA and
decided not to revise the Articles of
Confederation but to write a new constitution.
2) George Washington was elected PRESIDENT
of the Constitutional Convention
3) Delegates debated over how much POWER
should be given to the new government and how
large and small STATES should be represented
in the new government.
Constitutional Convention of 1787
 4) The structure of the new national government
included THREE separate branches of
government. The three branches of government
are: A) Legislative, B) Judicial, and C) Executive
 5) “The Great Compromise” decided how many
votes each state had in the SENATE and the
House of Representatives.
 6) The Constitution of the United States was
SIGNED at the end of the convention in 1787
Ratification of the Constitution
1) Nine of the thirteen states had to vote in
favor of the Constitution before it could
become LAW.
Bill of Rights
1) Based of the Virginia Declaration of Rights that
was written by GEORGE MASON and the
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that was
written by THOMAS JEFFERSON.
2) The Bill of Rights is the first TEN amendments
to the Constitution. They provide a written
guarantee of individual RIGHTS (examples
include: freedoms of speech, religion, press,
petition, and assembly).
Bill of Rights
The First Ten Amendments of
the United States ConstitutionThe Bill of Rights
James Madison- The 4th
President of the United
States and the author of the
Bill of Rights