The Constitutional Convention1787

Creating the Constitution

• Small States vs Large States

• The New Jersey Plan (Small States)

• The Virginia Plan (Large States)

The Fight over Representation

The Virginia Plan

• This plan was introduced by Edmund Randolph.

• Had a strong central government.• The Legislature (place where laws are

made) would have two houses.• Representation in these houses would be

determined by a states population.• Larger states would therefore have more

representatives than smaller states because of their larger populations.

• Representatives = Power in the Representatives = Power in the Government.Government.

The New Jersey Plan

• The plan was introduced by William Patterson.

• It called for a strong central government.• The Legislature would have oneone house.• Each state would have an equal amount of

votes, thus having an equal say an equal say in the government.

• This plan was designed to This plan was designed to limitlimit the the amount of power large states would have amount of power large states would have in the new governmentin the new government.

The Great Compromise

• Roger Sherman will propose a compromise plan.

• The Legislative Branch would have two houses. (VP)

• The Senate: Each state would have two representatives, regardless of a state’s population. Equality of allEquality of all. (NJ) Small states liked this house.

• The House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives: The number of representatives for each state is determined by the state’s state’s populationpopulation. (VP) Larger states liked this house.

• ** In order for any law to pass in the new government, it ** In order for any law to pass in the new government, it would have to pass both houses to have a chance at being would have to pass both houses to have a chance at being a law. **a law. **

• This required cooperation between the small and large states.This required cooperation between the small and large states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

• The South wanted to count enslaved Africans as part of their states population.

• This would increase the number of representatives in the government and increase their power.

• The North States wanted to count the slaves for tax purposes not representation.

• The Compromise: Only 3-5ths of a state’s slave population would count when determining representation.

The United States Government

The Constitution

The Federal Government

• A federal system is a division of power between the states and the federal government. (Washington D.C.) THIS IS FEDERALISM

• The Constitution is divided into Seven Articles addressing different aspects (parts) of our government and how it functions. (works)

• The Constitutional Convention created a Democracy.

• A democracy puts the power of the government in the hands (control) of the people.

Types of Democracy

Direct DemocracyDirect Democracy

&

Indirect Democracy (Representative DemocracyRepresentative Democracy)

Democracy

• Direct Democracy: This form of democracy requires the people to vote on everyevery item that is involved in the government.

• ** This form works well for small groups.**

• Representative Democracy: The people elect people to make decisions for them on the everyday events involved with government.

Article I (One)

The Legislative Branch

Job: To Make Laws

The Legislative Branch

• The head of this branch is referred to as Congress.Congress.

• Congress is divided up into TWO Houses.

• Their names are The The United States Senate United States Senate and The United States and The United States House of House of Representatives.Representatives.

• These two houses make up the law making body law making body of our government.of our government.

The United States Senate

• There are a total of 100 100 membersmembers in the US Senate.

• Each state in the United States is given 2 Senators2 Senators to represent their state in this house of Congress.

• Each Senator is elected to a Six year termSix year term of office (How long they have the job) before re-election is possible.

• 50 states • 2 Senators

• 50 x 2 = 100

Requirements for the Senate

• A Senator must be at least 30 years old.30 years old.

• A US citizen for at least 9 years.9 years.

• They must live in the They must live in the state they represent.state they represent.

• Missouri’s Senators Senators are Roy Blunt and are Roy Blunt and Claire McCasKillClaire McCasKill

The United States House of Representatives

• There are a total of 435 members435 members of the House of Representatives.

• The number of representatives each state gets is determined every 10 years by the US Census. (Population Count). The greater the population the more representatives a state gets.

• Each member of the House of Representatives has a term of office of 2 years2 years (Time they have the job) before re-election is possible.

Requirements for the House of Representatives.

• A member of the House of Representatives must be at least 25 years 25 years old.old.

• They must be a US citizen for at least 7 at least 7 years.years.

• They must live in the state that they represent.

• Missouri currently has 9 Members Members of the House of Representatives.

Article II (Two)

The Executive Branch

Job: To Enforce the Laws

The Executive Branch• The head of the Executive

Branch is The President of The President of the United States.the United States.

• The President’s term in office is 4 years4 years (How long he has the job) before re-election is possible.

• A President can only be elected to 2 terms2 terms in office. (22nd Amendment)

• The maximum amount of years you can be President is 10 years.

• If a President dies or is unable to perform his duties the Vice-President takes over his duties.

Requirements for President

• You must be at least 35 years old.35 years old.

• You must be a resident of the US for at least 14 years.at least 14 years.

• You must be a natural You must be a natural born citizen.born citizen.

Joe Biden

Article III (Three)Article III (Three)

Judicial BranchJudicial Branch

Job: To determine if Laws are Job: To determine if Laws are ConstitutionalConstitutional

The Judicial Branch

• The Head of the Judicial Branch is The Supreme The Supreme Court.Court.

• There are 9 members on the Supreme Court.

• There are no no requirementsrequirements for a Supreme Court Justice.

• Their term of office is LIFE.LIFE.

Using the Diagram on page 184 on Checks and Balance

answer the following question.

Where are the places in the process of how a bill becomes a law that the executive and judicial branches could block a bill from becoming a law or removing a law?

Second, how could the legislative branch try to get around these attempts?

Amendments

• To amend means to Change.

• There are 27 amendments to the Constitution.

• To change the Constitution, 2/3rds of both houses (Senate & House of Rep.) have to vote in favor of a proposed change, then 3/4th of all the state legislatures have to for the change.

The Bill of Rights

• The Bill of Rights are the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution.

• These amendments were designed to protect individual’s liberties.

The First Amendment

Congress is to protect the freedom of Religion, Press,

Speech, Assembly and Petition.

2nd Amendment

The right to bear arms (The right to own a firearm “Gun”)

The Rights of the AccusedAmendments 4,5 & 6

• Amendment 4 protects citizens from unlawful searches and seizures.

• Authorities need a search warrant (permission) to search someone’s property.

• Amendment 5 states that the government can not punish anyone without due process of the law.

• Due Process means that the law must be applied fairly to an individual.

• Double Jeopardy is when an individual cannot be tried again for the same crime.

• Amendment 6 guarantees a speedy public trial.

The Civil War Amendments13,14,15 (XIII, XIV, XV)

• The 13th Amendment was the abolishment of slavery.

• The 14th Amendment was the Rights of Citizens.

• The 15th Amendment was the Right to Vote.

Amendments

• The 19th (XIX) Amendment gave woman the right to vote. (1919)

• The 26th (XXVI) Amendment gave 18 year olds the right to vote.