The United States Constitution

By: Sarah Shepherd

When was the Constitution Written?

• The Constitution was written between May 25th and September 17th, 1787.

• The Framers met 89 out of 116 days during that time.

• On May 25th, George Washington was unanimously elected as the first president

• On May 28th, the second session, rules were established for procedure of creating

the constitution.• On September 17th, the Constitution was

signed by 39 men

Who Created the Constitution?

• 74 delegates who were chosen from 12 out of 13 of the states (only 55 showed up though)

• Many had fought in the Revolution• 39 were previous members of the Continental Congress,

Congress of the Confederation, or both.• 8 served in constitutional conventions in their own States.• 7 had been State governors• 8 had signed the Declaration of Independence • 31 had gone to college (at the time there were very few colleges)• 2 were future presidents and 1 was a future vice president• 17 served for the Senate and 11 served for the House of

Representatives• Average age of the men was 42; Benjamin Franklin was the

oldest at 81 years old

Why was the Constitution written?• The articles created a weak government• Government couldn’t handle the problems of the nation• Those most threatened by it took the initiative to fix the problem (such as large property owners, merchants, traders, etc.)

What events led to its creation?

• After the Revolutionary War, problems started to occur in effect of the weakness of the Articles of Confederation

• The states stopped supporting the central government

• Some made agreements with foreign governments without approval of the National Government

• The states would put taxes on each others goods or would ban some trade of some goods

• Economic instability caused violence to break out, one incident was so bad that the Springfield, Massachusetts Supreme Court was closed

Where was it written?

Philadelphia is where the meetings between May 25th, 1787 and September 17th, 1787.

What was the Constitution modeled after?

• William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England

• Baron de Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws

• Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract

• John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government

What problems did the Constitution solve?

It solved the issues of the Articles of Confederation that “established ‘a firm league of friendship’”.

The government didn’t have enough power, and

the Constitution gave the government more but balanced power over America.

What are its limitations?

The government is not all-powerful. It only has as much power as the citizens give to it.

The government is never above the law.

The government must obey the law.

How would I improve the Constitution?

I honestly wouldn’t change anything about the Constitution.

I think that the Constitution equals out all of the power of government very well and it shouldn’t be changed in any way.

Is it still relevant?

The Constitution is still very relevant.

Though we’ve progressed as a nation, the very laws that started us as a strong nation should always be kept, in my opinion.

Creditshttp://www.regent.edu/general/library/about_the_library/news_publications/2007_08.cfm - Title Page background picture

Magruder’s American GovernmentAll the information on this power point.