I.
Historical
Background
A. Magna Carta (1215)
B. Mayflower Compact (1620)
C. English Bill of Rights (1689)
D. The Enlightenment
II.
The
Articles of Confederation
A. History
B. Powers of the Confederation Congress
C. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
1.
Financial
Weaknesses
2.
Weaknesses
in Foreign Affairs
D. The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
E. Shays’s Rebellion
III.
The Constitutional Convention
A. Madison
B. Enlightenment Philosophers
1.
John
Locke Two Treatises on Government (1690)
2.
Baron
de Montesquieu Spirit of the Laws (1748)
C. Compromise Between the Large and Small States
1.
The
Virginia Plan (Edmund Randolph and James Madison)
2.
The
New Jersey Plan (William Paterson)
3.
The
Great Compromise (Roger Sherman of CT)
D. Compromises Between the North and South
1.
How
Should Slaves be Counted?
a) The Southern Position
b) The Northern Position
c) The Three-Fifths Compromise
2.
The
Slave Trade
a) International Slave Trade
b) Fugitive Slaves
IV.
The
Final Product
A. A Federal System:
Power divided between state and national government
B. Separation of Powers
1.
Three
Branches
a) Legislative
b) Executive
c) Judicicial
2.
Checks
and Balances
C. Improvement on Articles of Confederation
1.
Bicameral
Legislature
2.
Need
only a majority vote to approve a law
3.
Has
executive and judicial branches
4.
Congress
has the right to tax and coin money and regulate trade between states
5.
States
accept Constitution as supreme law of land instead of acting independently
V.
Ratification
A. The Federalists
1.
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay,
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin
2.
The
Federalist Papers
B. The Antifederalists and their criticisms of the
Constitution
C. Ratification
1.
Dec.
1787 - Delaware was first to ratify
2.
June,
1788 – NH became the 9th state to ratify
3.
Jan.,
1789 – Washington elected unanimously as the first president
4.
Nov.,
1789 – NC became the 12th state to ratify
5.
May,
1790 – RI became the last state to ratify