Download A New Nation

They didn’t want a
strong central
government
because of their
bad experiences
under British
control.
It couldn’t pay the soldiers who
fought in the Revolutionary War.
This made them really angry with
the new government.
It couldn’t repay France and Spain
for the money they loaned us.
This made them really angry
with the new government.
Sooo…..
Our “Founding Father” held another
big meeting which they called the
“Constitutional Convention.”
They held this convention in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They elected George Washington to
be the president of the convention.
What is a Constitution?
A plan for how a government
will work to do its job.
There were 2 BIG DEBATES!
1.How much power should they give the
new national government.
2. How would they have small states
and large states represented that
would be fair?
James Madison came up with
a plan called “The Virginia Plan.”
(Guess where he was from.)
This plan divided the power of the government
between the national and the state governments.
This sharing of power was called
a Federal System.
The Constitution of the United States
of America established a federal
system of government based on
power shared between the national
and state governments.
Structure of the
New National Government
How much power should they give the
new national government? (#1)
Three Separate Branches of Government
Legislative – Makes the Laws
Executive – Enforces the Laws
Judicial – Interprets the Laws
(Decides if laws are constitutional)
Checks and Balances
Each branch can check (or block)
the power of the other.
These checks keep any one branch
from gaining too much power.
The Great Compromise
How would they have small states and large states
represented that would be fair? (#2)
The Legislative Branch would be divided into 2 parts (or “Houses”)
The Senate – Each state would have 2 senators
The House of Representatives – Based on population
Our government
Signed and Ratified
The Constitution was signed
at the end of the convention.
George Mason would not
sign it until he was promised
that amendments would be made
to protect individual rights.
Nine of the 13 states had to vote in favor of the constitution for it to be ratified.
Ratified – Become the law.

Bill of Rights
◦ James Madison was the author of the Bill of Rights.
Based on George Mason’s
“Virginia Declaration of Rights”
and
Thomas Jefferson’s
“Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.”
◦ The first ten amendments
to the Constitution of the
United States of America
guarantee individual rights
(e.g., freedom of speech, freedom of religion).