AOC & Constitution

Articles of Confederation & The Constitution

By Rosemarie Filippi

​Problems with the Articles of Confederation

• State governments have too much power

• Shay's Rebellion showed that the Articles of Confederation needed to be changed

• It was evident that the​ federal government needed more power since they could not easily stop the rebellion

• The Constitutional Convention met to ​revise the Articles of Confederation

Multiple Choice

One problem with the Articles of Confederation was that too much power was given to the _____________.

• federal government

• the farmers

• the states

• the president

Multiple Choice

Shay's Rebellion led to what?

• the meeting of the Constitutional Convention to change the Articles of Confederation

• the creation of a federal tax on all farm products

• an increase in power of the states

• the American Revolution

Federalists vs Anti-federalists

• Thomas Jefferson

• ​strong state government

• wanted a Bill of Rights added to the Constitution to protect ​individual freedoms

​Anti-Federalists

• Alexander Hamilton

• ​strong central government

• ​did not think a Bill of Rights was necessary

​Federalists

​Federalism: power divided between the states and the national government

Multiple Choice

The division of power between the national and state governments is a basic principle of ____________

• a monarchy

• federalism

• a dictatorship

• the Bill of Rights

Multiple Choice

Federalists believed that

• the United States should give more power to state governments

• the United states should have no national government

• the United States should have a strong central government

• the Constitution needs to include a Bill of Rights to protect women

​The Bill of Rights

• the first 10 amendments to the Constitution

• added to protect individual rights and freedoms of Americans

• ​the Federalists agreed to add the Bill of Rights in order to win support for ratification (approval) of the Constitution

Multiple Choice

the first ten ammendments to the Constitution are known as

• The Bill of Rights

• the Constitutional Convention

• The Federalist Papers

• the Articles of Confederation

Multiple Choice

The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to ______________

• stop Shay's Rebellion

• give women the right to vote

• stop one branch of government from becoming too powerful

• protect individual rights and freedoms

​The Constitution

• provides a plan of rules and procedures for governing the country

• changes to the Constitution are called amendments

• ​The Preamble of the Constitution is an introduction stating the purpose of the Constitution

​The Great Compromise

• number of representatives based on population

• 2 year term

​House of Representatives

• each state has 2 senators

• ​6 year term

​Senate

United States Congress

​Bicameral Legislature (2 houses)

Multiple Choice

The purpose of the Great Compromise was to settle the disagreement over ____________.

• representation

• electing a president

• slavery

• the Louisianna Purchase

Multiple Choice

The United States Congress is made up of

• the president and vice president

• Supreme Court judges

• the Senate and the House of Representatives

• members of Mrs. Filippi's ISD class

The 3/5 Compromise

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of the three-fifths compromise?

• to provide a system of checks and balances

• to protect individual rights

• to divide power between states and the federal government

• to settle differences over representation in Congress

• president

• ​enforces laws

​Executive Branch

Separation of Powers

​Legislative Branch

​Judicial Branch

• ​Congress

• passes laws

• courts

• ​interprets laws

• ​Power is divided among three branches

• All 3 branches have an effect on laws

Multiple Choice

Which branch of government has an effect on laws?

• Executive Branch

• Legislative Brach

• Judicial Branch

• all 3 branches

Multiple Choice

The division of government into the executive, legislative and judicial branches represents what constitutional principle?

• checks and balances

• separation of powers

• popular sovereignty

• federalism

​Checks and Balances

each branch of government ​can take actions to limit the power of other branches

​The Electoral College

• ​created because the framers of the Consitution didn’t trust common people to make electoral decisions on their own

• there are 538 elecoral votes and a person needs a minimum of 270 to be elected president

• if no one person gets 270 electoral votes the House of Representatives decides who is president ​and the Senate decides who is vice president

• the number of electoral votes is based on a state's population​

​It is possible for a candidate to get the most votes but still lose the election!!

Open Ended

Why does California have more electoral votes than Texas?

Important things to remember!

• The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution were both documents created to establish a process for governing the United States

• The Articles of Confederation failed because the federal (national)(central) government was not given enough power and the states were given too much power

• The Articles of Confederation were replaced by The Constitution​

​Consider what would happen if the United States did not have a constitution.

Open Ended

Why did the founding fathers write The Constitution? (what was the purpose)