Constitutional Convention

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Constitutional Convention
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1-Explain separation of powers

• Total governmental power is not given to any one
  branch.
• Instead, some of the power is given to each
  branch. This is called separation of powers.
• For example, we divide our government into three
  branches with the following power
• Legislative
• Executive
• Judicial

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2-Describe the following powers

• legislative power the power to make laws
• executive power the power to carry out and
  enforce laws
• judicial power the power to manage conflicts
  about the meaning, application and enforcement of
  laws

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3-Explain and give an example of checks and
balances.

• Checks and balances means that the powers of the
  different branches are balanced.
• No one branch has so much power that it can
  completely dominate the other two.
• Although each branch of government has its own
  special powers, those powers are checked because
  some of the powers are shared with the other
  branches.

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3-Explain and give an example of checks and
balances.

• The Legislative branch comes up with an idea for
  a law
• The Executive branch can either sign the bill
  into law or veto the bill
• The Judicial branch can rule a law
  unconstitutional.

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3-Explain and give an example of checks and
balances.

• The Executive Branch nominates some one to be
  Secretary of State
• The Legislative branch votes on whether the
  nominee should be Secretary of State

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4-Who created separation of powers and checks and
balances?

• A French writer named Montesquieu

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5-Define bill

• A proposed law/an idea for a law

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6-What was the original reason for meeting in
Philadelphia in 1787?

• The purpose of the convention was to search for
  ways to improve the Articles of Confederation.

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7-What actually happened at the meeting?

• They wrote an entirely new constitution

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8-Discuss the conflict between the large and
small states.

• Small States
• The small states feared that states with larger
  populations would control the national
  government.
• To avoid this problem, the small states wanted
  each state to have the same number of
  representatives in Congress.

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8-Discuss the conflict between the large and
small states.

• Large States.
• The delegates from the states with larger
  populations thought that equal representation was
  unfair.
• They believed that a state with more people
  should have more votes.
• The large states wanted to base the number of
  representatives in Congress on the number of
  people living in a state.

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9-Explain equal representation

• Each state has the same number of
  representatives in congress
• favored by the small states

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9-Explain proportional representation

• Representation in congress based on the size of
  a states population
• Favored by the large states

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10-What is a federal system of government?

• Two governments
• A national and state government both
• govern the people.
• Power is shared and divided between a national
  and state government
• Both national and state government receive their
  power from the people

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Virginia Plan It proposed a strong national government. New Jersey Plan It favored a weak national government. Great Compromise Congress would have two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The national legislature was to have two houses the House of Representatives and the Senate. It called for only one house of Congress. Membership in the House of Representatives would be based on proportional representation.
The number of representatives in each house would be proportional. Each state would have equal representation. Membership in the Senate would be based on equal representation

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12-What did the following get from the Great
Compromise?

• Large States
• The large states got proportional
• representation in the House.
• The House would have important
• powers related to taxing and spending.

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12-What did the following get from the Great
Compromise?

• Small States
• The small states got equal representation in the
  Senate.

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3/5s Compromise
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3/5s Compromise

• The southern states wanted to count their slaves
  as population for representation in the House of
  Representatives
• The northern states didnt want the slaves to
  count if they had no rights as citizens

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3/5s Compromise

• The northern states thought that this would give
  the southern states an unfair advantage in votes
  taken in the House of Representatives.

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3/5s Compromise

• The two sides reached a compromise
• Each slave would count as 3/5 of a person for
  representation in the House of Representatives
• In other words, 60 of a states slave population
  would count toward representation

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13-Explain Madisons plan to ratify the
Constitution.

• His plan was to get voters to ratify the
  Constitution at special conventions to be held in
  each state.
• The delegates to those conventions would be
  elected by popular vote of the people for the
  sole purpose of approving the Constitution.
• Madison based his plan on the idea in the
  Preamble of the Constitution. The first words in
  the Preamble are We the Peopledo ordain and
  establish this Constitution. The people who
  were to be governed by the new national
  government would consent to its creation and
  agree to obey its decisions.

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13-Explain Madisons plan to ratify the
Constitution.

• This was the method for establishing a government
  set forth in the natural rights philosophy and in
  the Declaration of Independence. Thus, the
  Framers used the idea of a social contract to get
  the Constitution approved.
• It was to be approved by an agreement among the
  people to create a national government.

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14-Who were the

• Federalists
• People who supported ratifying the
• Constitution
• Anti-Federalists
• People who were against ratifying the
  Constitution

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15-Define bill of rights.

• A listing of individual rights.
• These rights protect us from the government

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16- What was The Federalist Papers?

• To explain the new Constitution to the people,
  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay
  wrote a series of articles for a New York
  newspaper supporting ratification.
• These explained the new government to those
  against ratifying the Constitution.