________________________
NAME
CHAPTER 3: ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
VOCAB: Complete on either a sheet of paper (100) or make “study cards” using index cards
(105). Do both for a 120. Or don’t do it all and get a “1.” Hey, every point counts…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Great Compromise
Constitutional Convention
Three-Fifths Compromise
Electoral College
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Federalism
8. Process
9. Preamble
10.Legislative
11.Executive
12.Judicial
13.Amendment
14.Rule of Law
15.Separation of Powers
16. Checks and Balances
17. Expressed Powers
18.Reserved Powers
19.Concurrent Powers
VOCAB REVIEW
1. The _____________________ branch is responsible for enforcing laws.
2. _______________ powers are powers kept by the states.
3. _______________________ opposed the ratification of the Constitution.
4. ___________________________ prevent one branch of government from becoming too
powerful.
5. The job of interpreting the Constitution lies with the _________________ branch.
6. ___________________ powers are powers that belong exclusively to the federal
government.
7. The division of authority between state and the national government is known as
___________________________.
8. John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison were all ____________________
since they supported the Constitution.
9. _________________ power are powers that are shared by both the national and state
governments.
10.The ______________________ branch is responsible for making/writing laws.
CHAPTER 3.1: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION (1781-1789)
1. Once the colonies gained their independence from Great Britain, they devised their own
government. This government was created under the document ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION.
a. This government was noteworthy for the fact of how weak it made the national
government. This was done due to the colonists’ fear of a powerful national
government – such as Great Britain’s.
b. Out of the many weaknesses – there are two that primarily stand out:
i. No power to tax. The federal government during this time was BROKE.
ii. No national military. The colonies at this time thought they could defend
themselves through the use of “militias”, which meant the citizens would
defend the nation in time of need.
c. As you’ll later see, this government was a complete failure. The only redeeming
quality that would be saved and applied to the next government was the
Northwest Ordinance, which was a system how new states were to be admitted
to the union.
2. The nation struggled under its first government. Most people went into heavy debt, as
the states (who still had the power) enacted large taxes to its people. This would be the
cause of Shays’ Rebellion, which would be the event that made it clear to everyone that
the Articles needed changing if this country were to survive.
a. SHAYS’ REBELLION: started by a Massachusetts farmer, Daniel Shays. Distraught
over losing his farm due to not being able to pay state taxes, he organized a
rebellion among like-minded citizens. Due to the lack of a national military, there
was nobody to stop his rag-tag band of rebels. Massachusetts pleaded with the
national government for help, but they were unable to provide any since they
were broke (remember – no power to tax). The rebels were on the verge of
conquering Massachusetts, until a couple of wealthy Massachusetts citizens paid
a group of mercenaries to put down the rebellion.
i. Even though the rebellion was put down – it made many Americans wonder
if this nation was going to last. It was then the states decided to send
delegates to Philadelphia to “revise” the Articles.
CHAPTER 3.2: THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
All of the states (EXCEPT RHODE ISLAND, since they opposed the idea of strengthening the
federal government) decided to send delegates (55 in all) to Philadelphia to “re-write” the
Articles of Confederation. Notable absentees from this convention were Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams (they were serving as ambassadors overseas at this time), and Patrick Henry (who
refused to go).
1. The first thing they decided was to make George Washington the leader over this
meeting.
2. Meetings were to be kept a secret, so delegates could speak freely. The only record of
what occurred during this meeting was from James Madison’s notebook.
3. Shortly after starting this meeting, the delegates agreed to trash the Articles of
Confederation entirely and write up a completely new document. (This is why this
meeting was called the “Constitutional Convention.”)
4. This meeting would last for over six months. While hammering out the details of this
new government, the delegates had to argue/debate/compromise over several topics:
a. HOW TO SET UP THE GOVERNMENT: Two plans developed; the Virginia Plan and
New Jersey Plan. Larger states favored the Virginia Plan, since it based the
number of seats a state gets in Congress to be determined by population. (In
other words, larger states would have more power in the law-making process).
Smaller states preferred the New Jersey Plan since it made all states equal in
power in Congress.
i. This issue was resolved with the Connecticut Compromise (or Great
Compromise). This compromise determined that Congress would be
bicameral. One house (the House of Representatives) would have its
membership per state determined by their population – which satisfied the
larger states. The other house (Senate) would be composed of two people
from every state – which gave every state equal representation in that
house, which satisfied the smaller states.
b. HOW TO COUNT SLAVES: After the Connecticut Compromise was agreed upon,
the next issue to arise was how states would count slaves. (Remember, more
population = more power in the House of Representatives!) The southern states
desired to count all of their slaves (obvious reasons why), while the northern
states opposed counting them (NOT because they opposed slavery, but merely
because of the fact they did not have the same number of slaves as the South did.
i. This was resolved with the Three-Fifths Compromise. Long story short, it
was decided that states could count three-fifths of their slaves as part of
their population to determine how many seats they get in the House of
Reps.
c. WHO ELECTS THE PRESIDENT: another source of controversy at the Convention
was determining who chose the President. Some felt that the people should vote
on this position, while others felt the general population was “too stupid” to
make a proper decision (they preferred Congress to vote for the President).
i. This was resolved with the creation of the Electoral College, which is a
group of people from each state that vote on the President. It sounds
bizarre, I know. I’ll explain this concept in Chapter 7. For now, just know the
following: The Electoral College chooses who becomes U.S. President.
5. The Constitution was completed on September 17,1787. When the delegates
announced to the public their new creation – their reaction was… mixed. (Keep in mind,
everyone outside thought they were revising the Articles, not creating an entirely new
document.) Two groups developed afterwards
a. Federalists: supported ratification (approval) of the new Constitution since they
felt a strong national government was needed to protect the nation and its
interests. They got this name since the Constitution created a “federal system”
(which means national and state governments share power). Notable Federalists
include; Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.
i. The three aforementioned individuals above wrote a series of essays trying
to persuade everyone to support the Constitution. These essays were later
compiled into a book known as The Federalist Papers.
b. Anti-Federalists: opposed ratifying the new Constitution since they felt it made
the new federal government TOO powerful. They felt the rights of individuals
would be destroyed under this new government. Notable Anti-Federalists include;
Patrick Henry, James Monroe, and Samuel Adams.
i. Eventually, the Anti-Federalists agreed to support the Constitution after the
Federalists offered to include a Bill of Rights to protect individual rights.
6. It was determined beforehand that once NINE of the THIRTEEN states ratify the
Constitution, it would become the official law of the land.
a. NEW HAMPSHIRE was the ninth state to ratify.
b. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen original states to ratify. NC was #12.
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CHAPTER 3.3: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
There are three parts in the Constitution:
(1) PREAMBLE: Introduction, explains the six goals of government.
(2) ARTICLES: Covers the structure of the government 7 parts.
(3) AMENDMENTS: Identifies changes made to the Constitution over time. 27 as of now.
 PART ONE: PREAMBLE (*You have to memorize this!!!)
o Identifies the six goals of government. (Goals are bolded/underlined)
“We the People of the United States, in Order
1. to form a more perfect Union
2. establish Justice
3. insure Domestic Tranquility,
4. provide for the common defence,
5. promote the general Welfare,
6. and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
 PART TWO: ARTICLES
 ARTICLE 1: explains the LEGISLATIVE branch. (makes laws)
o A controversial part of this is the ELASTIC (OR NECESSARY AND PROPER)
CLAUSE. It basically allows Congress to do “whatever it wants” in order to do
its job.
 ARTICLE 2: explains the EXECUTIVE branch (enforces laws)
 ARTICLE 3: explains the JUDICIAL branch (judicial branch)




ARTICLE 4: explains that the states will respect each other’s laws
ARTICLE 5: explains the AMENDMENT process
ARTICLE 6: explains that the federal government is superior to state governments.
This article is called the SUPREMACY CLAUSE.
ARTICLE 7: explained once 9 states ratified the Constitution, it would become the
new official government of the United States.
 PART THREE: AMENDMENTS
Will be covered in Chapter 4.
CHAPTER 3.4: PRINCIPLES IN THE CONSTITUTION
PREVENTING ABUSIVE GOVERNMENT
There are two things included in the Constitution to prevent the government from
becoming too powerful:
 SEPERATION OF POWERS: See 2.1, Montesquieu.
 CHECKS AND BALANCES: the creators of the Constitution designed each branch of
government to have the power to ‘limit” the power of the other two branches.
The chart below explains how branch limits the power of the others:
LEGISLATIVE
(makes laws)
 Can override
Presidential vetoes
(check on executive)
 Approve reject
nominations for judicial
branch (check on
judicial and executive)
 Has impeachment
power to regulate
conduct. (check on
judicial and executive)
EXECUTIVE
JUDICIAL
(enforces laws)
(interprets laws)
 Nominates federal
judges (check on
judicial)
 Can veto laws
made by Congress
(check on
legislature)
 Can declare laws
unconstitutional
(check on legislative)
 Can declare
executive acts
unconstitutional
(check on executive)
TYPES OF POWERS
 The powers of government can be divided up into three categories:
A) Expressed powers: These are powers specifically given to the federal government.
These are also called ENUMERATED POWERS.
B) Reserved powers: these are powers reserved for the state governments.
C) Concurrent powers: these are powers shared by both the national and state
governments.
EXPRESSED POWERS
(Federal only!)
- Coin money
(create)
- Maintain military
- Declare war
- Regulate trade
between states
and nations
CONCURRENT POWERS
(both)
- Establish courts
- Enforce laws
- Collect taxes
- Borrow money
- Provide general
welfare
RESERVED POWERS
(State only!)
- Regulate trade
within state
- Conduct elections
- Establish local
governments
- Marriage/Divorce
laws
- Establishing schools
3.1 REVIEW
1. After acquiring their independence from Great Britain, what document created the first
American government?
2. WHAT were the two primary weaknesses of this first government?
3. WHY did the creators of this first government make the national government so weak?
4. What event proved to everyone that this government was too flawed to continue using?
5. What was the only worthwhile portion of the Articles of Confederation?
3.2 REVIEW
6. What was the original purpose of the delegates sent to meet in Philadelphia in the
aftermath of Shays' Rebellion?
7. What is our only source of what took place at the Constitutional Convention?
8. What were the three major issues the delegates had to work out compromises on?
9. Why did large states support the Virginia Plan?
10.Why did smaller states support the New Jersey Plan?
11.How did the Connecticut Compromise resolve the differences between the Virginia and
NJ Plans?
12.What entity was created to elect the President?
13.When was the Constitution completed?
14.Why did the Federalists support ratification of the Constitution?
15.Who were the three leaders of the Federalists?
16.Why did the Anti-Federalists oppose ratification of the Constitution?
17.Who were the three leaders of the Anti-Federalists?
18.How did the Federalists convince the Anti-Federalists to support ratification?
19.Why was the ninth state to ratify so important?
CHAPTER 3.3/3.4 REVIEW
1. What are the three parts of the U.S. Constitution?
2. What are the six goals of government identified in the Preamble?
3. What does Article 2 address?
4. What does Article 1 address?
5. What does Article 3 address?
6. What is the Supremacy Clause? (Explanation – not just the Article #)
7. What was the significance of Article 7 of the U.S. Constitution?
8. What two things exist in our government to prevent it from becoming abusive or too
powerful?
9. What is one method in which the legislative branch can check the power of the
executive branch?
10.What is one method in which the judicial branch can check the power of the legislative
branch?
11.What is one method in which the executive branch can check the power of the judicial
branch?
12.Using the information listed under the section TYPES OF POWERS, complete the chart
below: