If At First You Don’t Succeed!

1. If At First You Don’t Succeed! How do we get to the U.S. Constitution?

2. Vocabulary Amendment: a change in, or addition to, a constitution or law Bill: a proposed law Bill of Rights: the first ten amendments to the Constitution, dealing mostly with civil rights Checks and Balances: a system of overlapping the powers of the separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, to permit each branch to check the actions of others

3. Vocabulary Executive Branch: the office of the President and his cabinet; the President is responsible for assuring that the nation's laws are faithfully executed. Judicial Branch: a government's court system; this body is responsible for interpreting the Constitution Legislative Branch: the law-making body of the government Due Process: A person cannot be denied the right to life, liberty, or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards.

4. Federalist Quote "If men were angels, no government would be necessary.  If angels were to govern men, neither external or internal controls on government would be necessary.  In framing a government, which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this:  You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.  A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."  James Madison, The Federalist, No. 51

5. What did James Madison mean? •Did James Madison think that men needed rules and guidelines/government? •Did Madison think the government needed to have controls placed on it? Discuss with your table and write your answers in your social studies notebook.

6. Explore • What kind of government would be needed to maintain order and replace the king? • Discuss this question with a partner and write three suggestions in your social studies notebook.

7. The Need for a Stronger Government After the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Founders needed to create a government for our new nation.

8. The Articles of Confederation Our first constitution was called the "Articles of Confederation."  It was approved in 1781. But, there were problems under the Articles of Confederation: There was only a legislative branch of government to pass laws. Each state acted like a separate country.  (Many people opposed a strong federal government.)  Because there were no uniform rules for the military or trade, business was not good, trade was poor, and soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War still had not been paid. The national government was too weak and had no power to unite the country.  It had no money and no way to get it.  It could not solve the problems between the states.

9. The Constitutional Convention The founders decided to hold a meeting to improve the Articles of Confederation.  It was to be held in Philadelphia in 1787. When they got to Philadelphia, the fifty-five men chosen for the job decided that the Articles had too many problems.  So they put the Articles aside and wrote a new constitution. This meeting became known as the Constitutional Convention and lasted from May to September 1787.  The work those men did in four months has lasted over 200 years.

10. Shhh, We’re Writing the Constitution! Discovery Education: Shhh, We’re Writing the Constitution!

11. The Constitution • Let’s find The Constitution! • Turn to page 348 in your social studies textbook. • Let’s read the Preamble together.  

12. The Constitution What are your ideas of the meaning of the Preamble, and how does it connect to your life?

13. The Preamble explains something called “due process”. Due Process is when a person cannot be denied the right to life, liberty, or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards.

14. Why is the Constitution called the law of the land?

15. The Constitution Listen to "The Constitutional Convention" to set the stage for a study of how the writing of the Constitution began (Pg. 345). You will take notes in your social studies notebooks on the following subjects: 1. Competing Plans 2. A Compromise Plan 3. Our Constitution

16. Who was there? Most of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were leaders during the war, had served in Congress, and/or were leaders in their states.  All were men including: Roger Sherman - introduced two houses of the legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate James Madison - believed in a strong central government, took very good notes at the convention, known as the Father of the Constitution George Washington - Leader of the Constitutional Convention

17. Who was there? Alexander Hamilton - a young lawyer Benjamin Franklin - urged the signing of the Constitution Charles Pinckney – youngest delegate who played a controversial role in the creation of the Constitution. George Mason – a powerful voice for the anti-federalists during the Constitutional Convention. Pushed for specific state and individual rights to balance out increased federal power. His efforts led to the addition of the Bill of Rights. Their average age was forty-two. All of them knew it would be very hard to write rules for the whole country to follow.

18. The Framers of The Constitution • http://www.usconstitution.net/constframe.html William Pierce, of Georgia, kept excellent notes of observations on each of the delegates.  These short sketches provide a wonderful window on the moment, complete with period language, spelling, and grammar. 

19. Who’s Famous at The Constitutional Convention? Now you get to read about some of the more famous delegates. •Each group will read about one of the important Framers of the Constitution or some important "no shows" to the convention.  George Washington  James Madison  Ben Franklin  Important "No Shows"  Distribute copies of the 4 readings, one set to each group. Have each group read their text and be able to summarize the information for the whole class.