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9th-11th Government
Chapter 4
The Constitution of the United States
I. From Plymouth from Philadelphia
A. The Mayflower Compact is the forerunner of the ______________________________
in America. In it, the signers agreed to ________________________ themselves and their
behavior by the law.
B. While the Mayflower Compact established a civil relationship between the Pilgrims,
most colonies had charters, which established their relationship with the ___________________.
These charters would eventually become the “constitutions” of the colonies.
C. Even before America declared its independence, many of the states were already
writing ___________________________ of their own, based on their royal charters.
D. Though Massachusetts was the only state that submitted its constitution to the
___________________ for approval, their example was followed both with the federal
Constitution and the constitutions of all new states.
E. In the midst of the America War for Independence, the Second Continental Congress
wrote the Articles of Confederation. The Articles went into effect on March 1, 1781 and were, in
effect, America’s first ____________________________________.
1. The Articles of Confederation established a confederacy. A confederacy is a
form of government in which the central government is _________________________ to state
governments
2. Under the Articles of Confederation, the _______________________________
was passed. This provided for the surveying and sale of the lands of the Northwest Territory
The ___________________________________ provided a plan of government for the territory
and well as provided complete religious freedom in the states that would be created from the
territory.
3. However, the Articles had several weakness.
i. At least ____________ states had to approve a measure before it could
be passed by Congress.
ii. There were no ______________________ or ____________________
branches of government
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iii. Congress did not have the power to _________________
4. The Articles of Confederation’s inability to deal with problems became evident
when _______________________________________ broke out in Massachusetts. Many
people began to fear that America was on the brink of ____________________. It was obvious
that America needed a stronger central government.
II. A New Constitution Adopted
A. In 1785 and 1786, delegates met at ________________________________ and
___________________________________. These conferences proved to be preliminary
meetings for the Constitutional Convention which met to revise the Articles of Confederation in
1787 in _______________________________.
1. _____________________________________ was chosen as chairman of the
Convention
2. ___________________________________ is know as the “Father of the
Constitution”
3. _________________________________ was responsible for literally “writing”
the Constitution
B. Though the original purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to ______________
the Articles of Confederation, it didn’t take long to realize that they were going to have to start
completely over.
C. Deciding to create a federal republic was relatively easy. ______________________
on much else was rather difficult.
1. One of the first problems that had to be resolved was how the states should be
_________________________ in the national government. The Virginia Plan called for a
_________________________ legislature with representation in each house ________________
to the state’s population. On the other end of the spectrum was the New Jersey Plan, which
called for a _______________________ legislature in which all states had _________________
representation. The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, combined
the two proposals. As a result, the national legislature would be ________________________
and each state would be given ___________________ representation in the Senate (the upper
house) and each state would be given _________________________ representation in the House
of Representatives (the lower house).
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2. In the _______________________________________, the delegates agreed
that slaves would count as 3/5 of a person for both representation and taxation purposes.
3. In order to prevent Congress from interfering with the slave trade, the
Constitution states that Congress cannot levy export taxes and cannot ___________________ the
slave trade until the year 1808.
D. The Constitution was approved by the Convention in September of 1787. It was then
submitted to the states for ________________________.
1. The ________________________ were in favor of the Constitution and wanted
a closer union of the states and a more effective central government. These men included
Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and John Adams. Hamilton, along with James
Madison and John Jay wrote ____________________________________ supporting the new
Constitution.
2. The Anti-Federalists were opposed to the Constitution because they did not
want the ______________________ to loose their power and were opposed to a strong central
government. Anti-Federalists included Patrick Henry.
3. Despite the debates, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of
states in __________________ and George Washington became the first president and the
government began functioning in _________________.
E. Congress chose ____________________________________ to be the temporary
capital of the new nation.
III. The Main Features of the Constitution
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the
United States of America.
A. The Preamble of the Constitution sates six ___________________ for the Constitution
1. To form a ___________________________________
2. To establish ______________________
3. To ensure ________________________________
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4. To provide for the _________________________________
5. To promote the _____________________________________
6. To secure the ______________________________________ to ourselves and
our posterity
B. Article 6 of the Constitution states that the Constitution is the ____________________
________________________
C. The Constitution established a system of ___________________________, or a
division of the power of government between the national (central or federal) government and
the state governments.
D. The Constitution also establishes the principle of _____________________________,
which was first proposed by Charles Montesquieu in the first half of the 18th century. Within the
central government, power is ___________________ between the legislative, executive, and
judicial branches.
E. This separation of powers creates a _____________________________________
system whereby each branch of government exercises a measure of control over the other
branches.
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