The Constitution

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The Constitution
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Main Menu
Amendment Process
Chapter 7 Vocabulary
Bill of Rights
Article I Legislative Branch
Chapter 8 Vocabulary
The Articles of Confederation
Article II Executive Branch
Principles of Constitution
Article III Judicial Branch
Constitutional Convention
Goals of Constitution
Preamble
Articles IV-VII
Ideas used in Constitution
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Chapter 7 Vocabulary
15. Judicial branch 16. New Jersey Plan 17.
Compromise 18. Great Compromise 19. Three-fifths
compromise 20. Republic 21. Separation of
powers. 22. Federalist 23. Antifederalists 24.
The Federalist Papers 25. Amend 26. Bill of Rights

• 1. Constitution
• 2. bill of rights
• 3. Execute
• 4. Articles of Confederation
• 5. Cede
• 6. Currency
• 7. Land Ordinance of 1785
• 8. Northwest Ordinance
• 9. Depression
• 10. Shays Rebellion
• 11. Constitutional Convention
• 12. Virginia Plan
• 13. Legislative branch
• 14. Executive branch

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Constitution

• A constitution is a document that sets out the
  laws, principles, organization, and processes of
  a government.

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bill of rights

• A bill of rights is a list of freedoms that a
  government promises to protect.

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Execute

• Execute means to carry out.

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Articles of Confederation

• The Articles of Confederation was the first
  American Constitution, which created a loose
  alliance of 13 independent states in 1777.

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Cede

• Cede means to give up.

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Currency

• Currency is another name for money.

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Land Ordinance of 1785

• The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a law for
  settling the Northwest Territory.

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Northwest Ordinance

• The Northwest Ordinance was a 1787 law that set
  up a government for the Northwest Territory.
• It guaranteed basic rights to settlers and
  outlawed slavery in the northwest territory.

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Depression

• A Depression is a period when business activity
  slows, prices and wages fall and unemployment
  rises.
• After the Revolution, the United States was in a
  depression.

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Shay's Rebellion

• Shays Rebellion was a 1786 rebellion led by a
  farmer named Daniel Shay who lost his farm in
  Massachusetts.

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Constitutional Convention

• The Constitutional Convention was a meeting of
  state representatives on May 25, 1787 to revise
  the Articles of Confederation.
• The meeting took place at Philadelphia,
  Pennsylvania
• Instead of revising the Articles of
  Confederation, the delegates wrote a new
  constitution.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Virginia Plan

• The Virginia Plan at the Constitutional
  Convention was a plan that called for a strong
  national government with three branches of
  government and a two chamber legislature.

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Legislative Branch

• The legislative branch is the branch of
  government that makes laws.
• The legislative branch consists of two houses.
  When a legislative branch consists or two houses,
  it is called a bicameral legislature.
• The two houses are the Senate and the House of
  Representatives.
• Together they are called Congress.

The Capital Building where Congress meets.
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Executive Branch

• The executive branch is the branch of government
  that carries the laws out, or enforces the laws.
• The Executive branch is the president, vice
  president and numerous departments of the
  executive branch.

The White House
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Judicial Branch

• The judicial branch is the branch of government
  that decides if laws are carried out fairly.
• They judicial branch interprets (explains the
  laws).
• The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court
  and lower courts.

The Supreme Court
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New Jersey Plan

• The New Jersey Plan was a plan at the
  Constitutional Convention that called for three
  branches of government with a one house
  legislative branch.
• This plan favored small states.

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Compromise

• A compromise is a settlement in which each side
  gives up some of its demands in order to reach an
  agreement.

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Great Compromise

• The Great Compromise was a plan at the
  Constitutional Convention that settled the
  differences between large and small states.

Plan
Plan
Great Compromise
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Three-Fifths Compromise

• The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement at
  the Constitutional Convention that three fifths
  of slaves in any state be counted in its
  population towards a states representation in the
  House of Representatives.

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Republic

• A republic is a system of government in which
  citizens choose representatives to govern them.

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Separation of Powers

• Separation of powers is a principle by which
  powers of government are divided among separate
  branches.

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Federalists

• The Federalists were people who supported the new
  constitution created at the Constitutional
  Convention.
• They favored a strong central government.

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Antifederalists

• Antifederalists were people against the new
  constitution created at the Constitutional
  Convention.
• They liked stronger state governments and a weak
  central government.

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The Federalists Papers

• The Federalist papers were a series of essays by
  Federalists James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,
  and John Jay in support of ratifying the
  Constitution.

James Madison
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Amend

• Amend means to change.
• To amend the Constitution, an amendment must be
  added.

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Bill of Rights

• The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to
  the United States Constitution.
• They protect our basic liberties.

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Chapter 8 Vocabulary
13. Supreme Court 14. Appeal 15. unconstitutional
16. Veto 17. Override 18. Impeach 19. First
amendment 20. Second amendment 21. Citizen 22.
Immigrant 23. Patriotism

1. Preamble
2. Domestic tranquility
3. General welfare
4. Liberty
5. Popular sovereignty
6. Limited government
7. Checks and balances
8. Federalism
9. House of Representatives
10. Senate
11. Bill
12. Electoral college

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Preamble

• A Preamble is an introduction to a declaration,
  constitution, or other official document.
• It starts with We the People because power
  starts with the people.

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Domestic Tranquillity

• Domestic Tranquility means peace and order at
  home.
• It is one of the six goals stated in the Preamble
  of the Constitution.

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General Welfare

• General welfare is the well being of all the
  citizens of a nation.
• It is one of the six goals mentioned in the
  Preamble of the Constitution.

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Liberty

• Liberty is another word for freedom.

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Popular Sovereignty

• Popular Sovereignty is a principle of the United
  States Constitution that states that the people
  have the right to create, alter or abolish their
  government.
• In other words, the people have the power in
  government.

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Limited Government

• Limited government is a principle of the United
  States Constitution that states that government
  has only the powers the Constitution gives it.

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Checks and Balances

• Checks and balances is a principal of the United
  States Constitution that safeguards against abuse
  of power by giving each branch of government the
  power to check the other branches.

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Federalism

• Federalism is the principle in the United States
  Constitution that establishes the division of
  power between the federal government and the
  states.

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House of Representatives

• The House of Representatives is the larger of the
  two bodies that make up the legislative branch of
  the United States government.
• Representation is based on population.

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Senate

• The Senate is the smaller of the two bodies that
  make up the legislative branch of the United
  States government.
• Each state has only two senators.

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Bill

• A bill is a proposed law.
• All bills start in Congress, because they are the
  branch of government that makes laws.

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Electoral College

• Group of electors from every state who meet
  every four years to vote for the President of the
  United States.

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Supreme Court

• Highest court in the United States established by
  the Supreme Court.

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Appeal

• To ask that a decision be reviewed by a higher
  court.

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Unconstitutional

• Not allowed under the Constitution

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Veto

• To reject, as when the President rejects a law
  passed by Congress.

Vetoed
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Override

• To overrule, as when congress overrules a
  presidential veto.

To override a presidential veto, Congress needs
to thirds of the members in both the House of
Representatives and Senate to vote yes to
overriding veto.
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Impeach

• To bring charges of serious wrongdoing against a
  public official.

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First Amendment

• Amendment to the United States Constitution that
  safeguards basic individual liberties including
  freedom of religion, speech, and the press.

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Second Amendment

• Amendment to the United States Constitution
  related to the right to bear arms.

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Citizen

• Person who owes loyalty to a particular nation
  and is entitled to all its rights and protection.

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Immigrant

• A person who enters another country in order to
  settle.

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Patriotism

• Feeling of love and devotion toward ones country.

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Articles of Confederation
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Articles of Confederation

• The Articles of Confederation was the first
  American Constitution, which created a loose
  alliance of 13 independent states in 1777.

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Structure of government

• There was only one branch of government under the
  Articles of Confederation, the legislative
  branch.
• This branch of government could make the laws,
  but nine of 13 states had to approve the law.
• There was no executive branch or judicial branch.

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Achievements
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Achievements

• There were two major accomplishments by Congress
  under the Articles of Confederation.
• Two pieces of legislation were made by Congress
  dealing with the Northwest Territory.
• These laws were called the Land Ordinance of 1785
  and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

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Land Ordinance of 1785

• The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a law for
  settling the Northwest Territory.

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Northwest Ordinance

• The Northwest Ordinance was a 1787 law that set
  up a government for the Northwest Territory.
• It guaranteed basic rights to settlers and
  outlawed slavery in the northwest territory.

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Weaknesses

• The Articles of Confederation had numerous
  problems.
• They were
• Weak central government
• Congress could not force states to pay taxes.
• No Supreme Court to solve problems between the
  states.
• Congress could not regulate trade between states

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Shay's Rebellion

• Shays Rebellion was a 1786 rebellion led by a
  farmer named Daniel Shay who lost his farm in
  Massachusetts.
• He along with other farmers who lost their farm
  because of high taxes rebelled.
• They burned government building throughout
  Massachusetts.
• Eventually the state militia was called out to
  put the Rebellion.

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Shay's Rebellion

• Shays Rebellion showed that the federal
  government was not powerful enough to deal with
  major uprising.
• In 1787, leaders from every state met in
  Philadelphia to revise the Articles of
  Confederation.
• They decided to create a new constitution
  instead.
• This meeting became known as the Constitutional
  Convention and they created the United States
  Constitution.
• The constitution that is the basis of our current
  government.

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The Constitutional Convention
Compromises At Convention
Delegates
Definition
Location
Federalist And Antifederalists
Federalist Papers
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Constitutional Convention

• The Constitutional Convention was a meeting of
  state representatives on May 25, 1787 to revise
  the Articles of Confederation.
• The meeting took place at Philadelphia,
  Pennsylvania .
• Instead of revising the Articles of
  Confederation, the delegates wrote a new
  constitution.

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Location

• The Constitutional Convention took place at
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in Independence Hall.

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Compromises at Convention

• To create a new constitution, the delegates at
  the convention had to solve many problems by
  coming up with compromises.
• To the right are several compromises from the
  convention.

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The Great Compromise

• Two plans were created that set the structure of
  the new government.
• These two plans were called the New Jersey Plan
  and the Virginia Plan.
• To understand the Great Compromise we have to
  understand these two plans.

The Great Compromise
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The Virginia Plan

• This plan was created by James Madison and was
  favored by large states.
• The plan called for three branches of government
  executive, legislative and judicial branch.
• In the legislative branch, there would be two
  houses.
• Representation for each state would be based on
  population.
• That means that larger states would have more
  representatives in both houses.
• Small states did not like that.

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The New Jersey Plan

• William Patterson came up with the New Jersey.
• This plan was favored by small states.
• Like the Virginia Plan, it created a government
  with three branches of government. However, in
  the legislative branch, would have just one house
  and representation would be the same for every
  state-only one representative per state.

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Virginia
New Jersey
The Great Compromise

• The Great Compromise solved the debate over
  representation in the new legislative branch.
• Roger Sherman of Connecticut came up with the
  plan.
• He merged the two plans (New Jersey plan and
  Virginia Plan) together.
• Their would be three branches of government and
  in the legislative branch there would be two
  houses.

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The Great Compromise

• The two houses created were called the Senate and
  the House of Representatives.
• In the Senate there would be only two
  representatives called Senators. Every state
  regardless of population would only have two
  senators. This kept the small states happy.
• In the House of Representatives, representation
  would be determined by population. The larger the
  population a state has, the more representatives
  the state would have. This kept the large states
  happy.

New Jersey

Virginia
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The Three-Fifths Compromise

• After the representation issue in the House of
  Representatives with the Great Compromise, a new
  problem arose.
• The problem was slavery and southern states
  wanted to count slaves towards there states
  population. That would mean southern states would
  have more representatives in the House of
  Representatives.

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The Three-Fifths Compromise

• A compromise was reached in which some slaves
  would be counted.
• It was called the Three-fifths compromise because
  three-fifths of the slaves in a state would be
  counted towards a states representation in the
  House of Representatives.

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The Election Compromise

• The Election compromise was a compromise the
  president of the United States would be elected.
• They created the electoral college system to
  elect the president.

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Electoral College

• Group of electors from every state who meet
  every four years to vote for the President of the
  United States.

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The Election Compromise

• The Election compromise was a compromise the
  president of the United States would be elected.
• They created the electoral college system to
  elect the president.

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Federalists

• The Federalists were people who supported the new
  constitution created at the Constitutional
  Convention.
• They favored a strong central government.

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Antifederalists

• Antifederalists were people against the new
  constitution created at the Constitutional
  Convention.
• They liked stronger state governments and a weak
  central government.
• They did not want the Articles of Confederation
  replaced.

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The Federalists Papers

• The Federalist papers were a series of essays by
  Federalists James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,
  and John Jay in support of ratifying the
  Constitution.
• These essays were published in newspapers around
  the country to explain the advantages of the new
  constitution.

James Madison
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Preamble and Goals of Constitution

• The Preamble is the introduction to the
  Constitution.
• We the people of the United States, in order to
  form a more perfect union, establish justice,
  insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
  common defense, promote the general welfare, and
  secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and
  our posterity, do ordain and establish this
  Constitution of the United States of America.
• In this opening statement, the goals of the
  Constitution are listed. Click the underlined
  goal to learn more about each.

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In order to form a more perfect Union
To unite the states into one united country.
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Establish Justice

• To create a government and justice system that
  treats everyone fairly and equally

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Ensure Domestic Tranquillity

• To have the power to keep the peace at home and
  to have to handle emergency situations .

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Provide for a Common Defense

• To protect our interests over seas and at home
  by having a well kept military force.

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Promote the General Welfare

• To look out for the well being of all citizens.

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Article I The Legislative Branch

• Article one of the Constitution creates the
  legislative branch as a bicameral legislature.
• The Main job of the Legislative Branch is to make
  laws.
• Bicameral means two houses.
• The two houses that make the legislative branch
  are the Senate and the House of Representatives

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Senate

• The Senate consists of 100 members, 2 from every
  state.
• Senators are elected for 6 year terms.
• The minimum age to be a senator is 30.

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House of Representatives

• There are 435 members of the House of
  Representatives.
• Membership is determined by population.
• Each Congressman is elected for 2 years.
• The minimum age to be a congressman is 25.

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Article II Executive Branch

• Article II of the Constitution establishes the
  executive branch with the President and Vice
  President.
• The main job of the executive branch is to
  enforce the laws passed by Congress.
• The president is can only serve for 2, 4 year
  terms.
• The minimum age to be president is 35. You must
  also be a natural born citizen to become
  president.

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Cabinet

• The presidents cabinet are his advisor.
• There are 15 cabinet positions.
• These advisors are called secretaries.
• These secretaries head departments.

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Cabinet

• Below is a list of some of the Departments
• Department of Justice
• Department of Home Land Security
• Department of Defense
• Department the Interior
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Education

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Article III The Judicial Branch

• Article III of the Constitution establishes the
  judicial branch which includes the Supreme Court
  and lower courts.
• The Supreme Court is the highest court in the
  land.
• It is the final court of appeals.
• The Supreme Court does not hear criminal cases.
• The Supreme Court hears cases involving the
  constitution, settling disputes between states or
  individual between states.

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Supreme Court Justices

• There are nine Supreme Court Justices
• They are elected for life terms.

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Articles IV-VII

• Article IV
• Article V
• Article VI
• Article VII

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Article IV

• Article four declares equality among the states,
  extradition, admissions of new states, Congresss
  authority over territories, republican forms of
  government in each state.

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Article V

• Establishes procedure for amending the
  Constitution.
• There are two ways to propose and ratify an
  amendment to the Constitution.

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Article V Amending the Constitution
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Article VI

• Declares the Constitution the Supreme law of the
  land.

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Article VII

• Establishes procedure for the 13 states to ratify
  the new Constitution.

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Bill of Rights

• The Bill of Rights were added in 1791 to
  guarantee the protection of citizens basic
  rights.
• The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to
  the Constitution.

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• Bill of Rights
• First Amendment
• Second Amendment
• Third Amendment
• Fourth Amendment
• Fifth Amendment
• 6. Sixth Amendment
• 7. Seventh Amendment
• Eighth Amendment
• Ninth Amendment
• Tenth Amendment

Bill of Rights
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1st Amendment

• Freedom of speech, press, assembly, free exercise
  of religion.

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2nd Amendment

• Right to bear arms

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3rd Amendment

• Forbids government from quartering of troops in
  peacetime.

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4th Amendment

• Protects against unwarranted search.

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5th Amendment

• Protects rights of accused to due process.

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6th Amendment

• Protects rights to fair trial and counsel.

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7th Amendment

• Right of jury trial in civil cases

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8th Amendment

• Protects against cruel punishment and excessive
  bail.

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9th Amendment

• Rights not specifically mentioned still exist.

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10th Amendment

• Powers not specified in Constitution are left to
  states and the people.
• This amendment is an additional protection of
  individual and state rights.

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Principles of the Constitution

• When they created the Constitution, the founders
  incorporated 6 principle, or rules, that would
  strengthen the government, but also limit its
  power.
• The six principles are
• 1. Limited Government
• 2. Federalism
• 3. Representative Government
• 4. Separation of Power
• 5. Checks and Balances
• 6. Provision for Change

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Limited Government

• The Constitution of the United States
  specifically lists what the national government
  can do and cannot do.

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Federalism

• This principle divides power between the central
  government and the state governments.

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Representative Government

• This principle in the Constitution allows the
  people to elect the people who make decisions.

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Separation of Power

• Divides power between three branches of
  government.
• Each branch can only do certain things, thus
  limiting the amount of power each branch has.

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Checks and Balances

• This principle allows each branch to have
  specific powers to limit the power of the other
  two branches.

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Provision for Change

• The Constitution of the United States allows it
  to be changed through the amendment process.

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Ideas used in Constitution

• The delegates at the Constitutional Convention,
  used ideas from civilizations of the past as well
  as ideas from several enlightenment thinkers.
  Below are a few of the individuals and societies,
  that founders used as models when creating the
  Constitution.
• John Lockes unalienable rights and limited
  government
• Baron de Montesquies Separation of Power and
  checks and balances
• Roman Republic

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Baron de Montesquiea

• Several ideas of Montesquiea were used
• They were separation of power and checks and
  balances.

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Roman Republic

• From the Romans, the delegates got the idea of a
  republican form of government.
• A republican form of government is a government
  in which representatives make decisions for the
  citizens.

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John Locke

• John Lockes idea of natural rights and limited
  government were used not only in the declaration
  of Independence, but the Constitution.
• John Locke believed everyone had certain
  unalienable rights and they were life, liberty
  and property.
• He also believed that government should have
  limits on their power that power originates from
  the people governed.

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Delegates

• There were 55 delegates from each of the 13
  states at the convention except for Rhode Island.
  These delegates were some of the most respective
  and bright minds in the country.
• Below are three of the most distinguished
  delegates present at the convention.

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George Washington

• George Washington was elected president of the
  Constitutional Convention.

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Benjamin Franklin

• Benjamin Franklin was the oldest of the Delegates
  at the age of 81.
• He came up with many ideas used in the
  Constitution and used his sense of humor to
  diffuse some heated debates.

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James Madison

• James Madison came up with the Virginia Plan and
  took notes of the proceedings at the Convention.
• It is because of his notes that we know what took
  place at the closed door convention.
• He is known as the Father of the Constitution
  because of his input into its creation.

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Secure the Blessing of Liberty
To give all people freedom