3.9

• The Articles of Confederation was replaced by the Constitution of the United States as America's new governing document
• Delegates from the states met in Philadelphia in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention to hammer out a new governing document through debate and compromise which expanded the power and influence of the federal government
• The failure of the Articles of Confederation was that the federal government was far too weak to be effective
• Federalism


  The sharing of power between the national government and the state government
• Article VI of the Constitution, also known as the supremacy clause, states that national law trumps state law whenever they contradict
• The enumerated powers of Congress are given in Article I Section 8
• The Tenth Amendment shifts power over to the states by stating "The powers not delegated to the United States… are reserved to the states"
• The three branches of government established by the Constitution

  • Legislative branch
  • Executive branch
  • Judicial branch
• Separation of powers


  The three branches of government (legislative, executive, judicial) check and balance each other's power
• The framers of the Constitution distributed the power to govern over several different entities to protect the American people from tyranny
• James Madison: '"If men were angels no government would be necessary"'