Establishing A New Government: Creating a Government Chapter 4 Concept 2
4.2 Creating a Government How did the decisions made at the Constitutional Convention affect the balance of power in the new nation?
4.2 Vocabulary constitution Framers federal (government) legislative branch executive branch judicial branch compromise Three-fifths Compromise ratification reserved powers separation of powers checks and balances Federalists and Anti-Federalists Bill of Rights amendment
4.2 Vocabulary constitution the written ideas on which a government is formed Framers the men who designed, or framed, the U.S. Constitution federal government one in which power that comes from the people is shared between a central government and states governments legislative branch the branch of government that makes laws (Congress) executive branch - the branch of government that sees the laws are obeyed (president) judicial branch the branch of government that explains the meaning of the laws (Supreme Court) compromise an agreement between two or more parties, often with each side giving up something
Three-fifths Compromise a compromise between Northern and Southern states to count three-fifths of enslaved people in overall population ratification a formal approval reserved powers those powers set aside by the Constitution for the states or for the people separation of power limitations within the Constitution that no one branch can become more powerful than the others checks and balances term used to describe a government in which each separate branch can check, or limit, the power of other branches Federalists and Anti-Federalists groups throughout the states that either supported or opposed the Constitution Bill of Rights a written list of people s rights amendment a formal change to a law or document
4.2.1 A More Perfect Union? representatives meet in private in Philadelphia, May 1787 purpose is to improve Articles of Confederation 55 delegates from twelve states attend Rhode Island sees no reason to change Articles George Washington chosen president of Convention he and other Framers decide best to start over with a new constitution
4.2.2 Great Compromise Virginia Plan create a federal government made up of three parts with representation based on a state s population legislative, executive, and judicial branch smaller states argue they won t be fairly represented New Jersey Plan suggests a government with equal representation for all states Roger Sherman of Connecticut offers the Great Compromise two-part legislative branch Congress to be made up of a Senate (equal representation) and a House (representation based on population)
4.2.3 A Question of Slavery the issue of slavery is never directly addressed in the Constitution slave trade would be allowed to continue until 1808 Article IV does address the fugitive slave issue escaped slaves found in other states must be returned to their owners many slave states concerned with how a state s slave population will affect its representation in Congress issue settled with the Three-Fifths Compromise three-fifths of a state s slave population would be counted towards representation and taxes these compromises led the the ratification of the Constitution
4.2.4 State s Powers Constitution includes three important parts to assure no one group has more power than the others reserved powers separation of powers checks and balances the Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, though not all issues were resolved 39 of the 55 delegates signed, representing all twelve states
4.2.5 The Question Goes to the People once people read the document, it raised the question as to whether this new government would become too powerful both Anti-Federalists and Federalists argued how can one government pass laws fair for all states? where were the protections of peoples rights? published Federalist Papers explained the new government to the people and argued the Anti-Federalist s points
4.2.6 Ratification nine states needed to ratify the Constitution for it to become law Delaware ratifies it in December 1787, with Pennsylvania and three others a month later a Bill of Rights becomes a major issue among states New Hampshire ratifies in June 1788 as the ninth state Constitution would become the nation s law on March 4, 1789 the Constitution s first amendment comes with the addition of the ten Bill of Rights on March 1, 1792 this showed this was a fluid document that could be changed to meet the needs of the people it has been amended twenty-seven times, total