Download Lesson 4: The United States Constitution Lesson Objectives Learn

Lesson 4: The United States Constitution
Lesson Objectives
1. Learn about the Constitutional Convention
2. Understand how the Constitution is organized
3. Learn some ways that the Constitution protects people from government
4. Understand why the Constitution is the “Supreme Law of the Land”
5. Become familiar with vocabulary relating to the Constitution
6. Learn about some famous Founding Fathers.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
HOW AND WHEN DID THE CONSTITUTION START:
Before 1787, the United States had a weak government.
In the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia, some men wanted to strengthen the government.
Some of those men were…..
George
Washington
James
Madison
Alexander
Hamilton
John
Jay
Benjamin
Franklin
and 50 others.
THESE 55 MEN
DECIDED TO WRITE A NEW CONSTITUTION: THEY SET UP A NEW
GOVERNMENT.
WHAT DOES THE CONSTITUTION DO?
…set up the government
…defined the government
…protected the basic rights of
Americans
Vocabulary
Democracy
A type of government. In a democracy, the citizens control
the government
Representative
A member of the governing body, who is normally chosen by
a vote of the citizens
Delegate
Someone acting on another’s behalf to do an assigned task
Citizen
Member of a state or a nation
Congress
A group of representatives with assigned tasks or functions
Convention
A large meeting of representatives
Constitution
The basic rules defining or setting up a government.
The Constitution
Highest or supreme law of the U.S.; everyone must obey it.
Approved
Agreed to or passed
Ratify
Agree to or approve
Branches
Parts of something
Legislative Branch The part of the government that makes the laws
Executive Branch
The part of the government that enforces the laws
Judicial Branch
The part of the government that interprets the laws
Preamble
The first part of the Constitution
Making the Constitution
To fight the English in the Revolutionary War, the 13 original states formed a
government under the Articles of Confederation. After the war, people realized that the Articles
of Confederation were too weak to maintain an effective central government.
In 1787, the states sent delegates to a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Their
goal was to create a stronger government. They needed to find a balance between the national
government and state governments. They also needed to protect the rights of the people. The
delegates wrote the Constitution during the summer of 1787.
The Constitution sets up (or defines) the government. It contains a Preamble and seven
sections, which are called “articles”. At the end of the Constitution are the changes to the
original Constitution. The changes are called amendments.
The Preamble introduces the idea of self-government by starting with the words, “We the
People . . . “. This statement means that government’s power comes from the people and must
be used to benefit them. Here is the Preamble:
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.
Each of the seven articles is concerned with a different subject:
ARTICLE 1:
ARTICLE 2:
ARTICLE 3:
ARTICLE 4:
ARTICLE 5:
ARTICLE 6:
ARTICLE 7:
Legislative Branch (Congress: Senate & House of Representatives)
Executive Branch (President, Vice President, Cabinet)
Judicial Branch (Supreme Court and other courts)
States (state powers and federal government powers)
How to amend the Constitution (2/3’s of Congress; ¾’s of states)
Supreme Law of the Land
How to ratify the Constitution (9 states)
The Constitution establishes a rule of law. Everyone must follow the law; even the
leaders and the government must obey the law. No one is above the law.
The federal government is divided among 3 branches: legislative (law-making), executive
(law-enforcing) and judicial (law-interpreting or explaining). Each branch is given separate
powers and has some power over the other two branches. This separation of powers creates a
system of checks and balances. If one branch becomes too powerful, another branch can block or
threaten to block its actions.
The Constitution gives some powers to the United States (federal) government and gives
other powers to state governments. Because the federal government can only do things allowed
by the Constitution, it is called a limited government. Among the powers of the federal
government are the powers:




to print money
to declare war
to create an army
to make treaties
General George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention. In 1789, he
became the first President of the United States. He is called “the Father of our Country.
The men who wrote the Constitution are called the “Founding Fathers.” The delegates at
the Constitutional Convention are called the “Framers.”
Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention. He also did
many other things. He wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac and started the first free libraries.
Franklin was also a U.S. diplomat and the first Postmaster General of the United States.
Before becoming law, the new Constitution had to be ratified (approved) by at least nine
states. To gain support, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote 85 essays under
the pen name (made-up name) “Publius.” These essays explain why the Constitution should be
approved. Later, these essays were published together as The Federalist Papers.
Lesson 4 Citizenship Questions Quiz
The Constitution
1. What is the supreme law of the land? (1)
2. What does the Constitution do? (2)
3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these
words? (3)
4. What is the “rule of law”? (12)
5. Name one branch or part of the government. (13)
6. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful? (14)
7. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power
of the federal government? (41)
8. What happened at the Constitutional Convention? (65)
9. When was the Constitution written? (66)
10. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. constitution. Name one of the
writers. (67)
11. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for? (68)
12. Who is the “Father of Our Country”? (69)
13. Who was the first President? (70)
Lesson 4 Appendix
Discussion Questions
A. Review of the Reading
1. What three branches of government are set out in the Constitution?
2. What is a limited government?
3. How does the Constitution protect the rights of the people?
4. What makes the Constitution the “supreme Law of the Land”?
5. Why is Ben Franklin famous?
6. What powers do states have? What powers does the federal government have?
B. Government Concepts Generally
1. What are different kinds of governments and how are they different?
2. What kind of government gives people the best life possible? Why?
3. If the class were on a desert island and had to make decisions together, how could we do
that?
4. Are there any rules in this classroom? What are they and where do they come from?
5. If you knew that you and your family had very different beliefs from most other people,
what would you want from government?
6. Is it necessary to protect against any single person or small group from getting too much
power? If so, how can you protect against that?
Constitution Review
The Constitution was written in the summer of 1787 at the Constitutional
Convention at Philadelphia. It contains a Preamble and seven Articles. The Preamble
begins with the words, “We the People.” The Constitution creates the government of the
United States, which is also called the federal government. The Constitution divides the
federal government into 3 branches: Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The federal
government is a limited government. It can only do what the Constitution allows. The
No one is above the law. All laws and government actions must obey the Constitution.
This means that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Matching Exercise: What goes with what?
1. Rule of law
a. James Madison
2. Supreme law of the land
b. First U.S. President
3. One branch of the government
c. Founding fathers wrote the Constitution
4. Washington
d. 1787
5. What the Constitution does
e. George Washington
6. First 3 words of the Constitution
f. Started the first free libraries
7. Stops a branch of government from
being too powerful
8. Something Benjamin Franklin is
famous for
9. A power of the federal government
g Sets up the government
10. It happened at the Constitutional
Convention
11. Date of the Constitutional
Convention
12. A writer of the Federalist papers
j. We the People
13. The “Father of our Country”
m. Everyone must follow the law
h. legislative
i. The Constitution
k. checks and balances
l. To declare war