INTRO TO THE CONSTITUTION UNIT

THIS UNIT WILL BE BROKEN UP INTO 2 PARTS

• Part 1• The history leading up to the Constitution• State Constitutions• Articles of

Confederation• The Constitutional

Convention• Passing of the

Constitution

• Part 2• The Goals and the Principles of the Constitution• The Preamble • The 5 Principles

set forth by the Constitution• The Articles of the

Constitution

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF THE UNIT:

• How did the writing of a new Constitution seek to fix the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation?• How does the American Government fulfill the

Goals of the Constitution?• How are the five Principles of the Constitution

carried out in today’s society?• How did the framework established by the

founding fathers achieve a delicate balance between centralized power, states’ rights and individualized liberties?

STATE CONSTITUTIONS

• The new nation was created with 13 independent states• Each state created its own constitution• Constitution- A document that sets out the

laws and principles of a government• The Constitutions listed rights of the citizens

and placed limits on the government• The governments of the new states were similar

to the colonial governments• The states had an executive, a legislature and a

court system

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• The first American Constitution was the Articles of Confederation.• Many new Americans felt loyalty to their

individual states, not necessarily to the federal government.• After the “tyranny” of British rule, Americans

were nervous about giving too much power to a strong central government• Confederation- A loose alliance of independent states

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• The Articles could not settle disputes between states• States printed their own money, and many

states wouldn’t accept currency from another state.

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• Congress set up a system for dividing land in the Northwest Territory, the land North of the Ohio River and East of the Mississippi River.• The Land Ordinance of 1787- set up a system

for surveying and settling the Northwest Territory.• The law called for land to be divided into townships and sold to settlers.

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• Northwest Ordinance- Set up a government for the Northwest Territory, guaranteed basic rights to settlers, and outlawed slavery there.• Once a territory had a population of 60,000 free settlers, it could ask Congress to be admitted as a new state.• Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were created from the Northwest Territory.

SHAY’S REBELLION

• The economic problems of the Articles of Confederation hit a boiling point in 1786.• After the Revolution the new country suffered

an economic depression-A time period when business activity slows, prices and wages fall, and unemployment rises.• The depression hit farmers hard. During the

Revolutionary war, farm products were in high demand. After the war, demand fell, farm prices fell, and farmers could not repay loans.• In Massachusetts, taxes were raised, and the

government took land from farmers who could not pay their taxes or loans.

SHAY’S REBELLION

• Daniel Shay, a farmer who had been a Revolutionary soldier, organized an uprising against the government• 2,000 farmers attacked courthouses and

prevented the state from taking their farms.• Eventually the state militia was able to drive

them off

A CHANGE IS NEEDED!

• Many Americans saw Shay’s Rebellion as a symbol of the failures of the Articles of Confederation.• The new American Nation was on the brink of

disaster.• To avoid a crises, leaders from several states

called for a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation• They decided to meet in Philadelphia in May

1787

IN CLOSING…

•Answer the following questions:

•Why do we need a central government?

•What are some jobs of the President?