The United States Constitution

• Articles of Confederation


  • Pirat rating document of the United States
  • Northwest Ordinance of 1767
• Northwest Ordinance of 1767


  1. Created the Northwest Territory

  2. Divided into multiple territories

  3. When the population of a territory reached 60,000, it could apply for admission as a state

  4. All new states would be free states
• Problems of the Articles of Confederation


  • National Government had very limited powers
  • Needed all states to change it
  • Left a lot of debt unresolved
• The U.S. Constitution


  • Supreme Law of the Land
  • Written in 1787 by James Madison
• The Constitution


  • Outlines the basic framework and procedures of our government
  • Sets limits for the government
• Parts of the Constitution

  • Preamble
  • 7 Articles
  • 27 Amendments
• The Constitution


  • Divides power into Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches
• Creating the Constitution


  1. Philadelphia Convention in May 1787 to discuss revising the Articles of Confederation

  2. Decided to write a new constitution

  3. Virginia Plan proposed a new government with three branches and bicameral Congress

  4. New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral Congress with equal state representation
• Compromises


  • Connecticut Compromise - Bicameral Congress with Senate having equal state representation and House based on population
  • Three-Fifths Compromise - Slaves counted as 3/5 of a person for population
• The new government


  • Based on popular sovereignty
  • Representative system with elected representatives
  • Federalism dividing power between federal, state, and local governments
  • Separation of powers between legislative, executive, and judicial branches
  • Can be amended
• Federalist vs Anti-Federalist


  • Federalists favored a strong central government and won the debate over ratifying the Constitution
  • Anti-Federalists favored a weak central government and lost the debate
• Amend


  To change
• Amending the Constitution


  1. 2/3 of Congress must agree

  2. 3/4 of state governments must pass it

  3. Necessary and Proper (elastic) clause gives Congress power to make laws needed to do its job
• Non-Bill of Rights Amendments


  • 13th Amendment: Ended slavery
  • 14th Amendment: People's rights not limited to Constitution
  • 15th Amendment: Gave blacks the right to vote