-
The Articles of Confederation
America's first attempt at a Constitution, it left the states independent from one another. The Articles had only one branch of government, the legislative branch. DID NOT outline a central government. -
-
Philadelphia Convention
Delegates from every state except for Rhode Island met to amend the Articles of Confederation. They quickly decided to throw away the Articles and draft a new Constitution. George Washington was named President of the Constitutional Convention. -
The Great Compromise
The delegates at the Philadelphia Convention debated on how many members of Congress there would be. There were two plans that arose, the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan said that members of Congress will be determined by state populations. The New Jersey Plan said that all states should have an equal number of state representatives. Delegates decided to compromise and create two chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives (population) and the Senate (2). -
Three-Fifths Compromise
States debated on how the slaves would be counted in the population. It was decided that for every 5 slaves, 3 would be counted towards the population. -
The Federalist Papers
Click here for link to Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers were written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. Geroge Washington and John Adams both supported the Federalist Papers. -
The Anti-Federalist Papers
In reaction to the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalists published the Anti-Federalist Papers. The papers expressed fear of a strong central government, afraid that a strong central government threatened their rights and liberties as free Americans.
Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were both Anti-Federalists. -
Ratification of the Constitution
The Constitution outlined a new form of government and national laws. After the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia delegates decided to form a stronger central government. It included three branches, the executive, judicial and legislative. The Bill of Rights was eventually added to the Constitution. -
Bill of Rights
Click here for link to Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution to ensure basic rights given to every citizen of the United States.
