A constitution is a document stating the rules under which a government will operate.

Shays Rebellion

James Madison

Federalists were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,or John Jay. The anti-federalists were George Mason and Patrick Henry.

George Mason was an Anti federalist who agreed that the Articles Of Confederation weren’t strong enough. He also felt that the Constitutional Convention had gone too far.

The 3 branches were:
Judicial: System of courts to interpret laws
Executive: Person who runs the government and sees that the laws are carried out or the President
Legislative: Creates or approves laws

Virginia

William Paterson

Delaware was the first and Rhode Island was the last.

The New Jersey Plan focused on giving all states equal representation in the Congress, while the Virginia Plan focused on allowing representation based on population.

Daniel Shay was a former Revolutionary war captain that led an uprising of about 1,000 Massachusetts farmers.

The British and the Spanish.

He proposed the Virginia Plan.

Anti Federalists most frequent argument included:
The Constitution dangerously weakening the state governments.
They also argued that the Constitution offered no protections for basic freedoms.
Another objection was that the Constitution provided for a president who could be re-elected again and again somewhat like a king.

Successes: Deal with foreign nations, coin or borrow money, run a postal service, declare war, and make laws.
Failures: Couldn’t enforce the laws, limited government, depended on the states for money, and made trading between the states harder.

An economic depression is a period when business activity slows, prices and wages drop, and unemployment rises.

The Land Ordinance Of 1785 was a system of dividing land into townships. The townships were divided into sections. Then at least one section in one township was for a school and the rest were for ownership.

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a plan in which each enslaved person would be counted as three-fifths of a free person. So 500 enslaved people would count as 300 free people.

To ensure the Anti-Federalists that they would protect their people’s individual rights and they would not be oppressed like how they were under the control of the British.

Congress would appoint a governor, secretary, and three judges. Once the population reached to 5,000 free adult males, it could elect a legislature. When the free population reached 60,000, it could become a state.

Roger Sherman of Connecticut said the people “should have as little to do” with the selection process as possible, but James Wilson of Pennsylvania disagreed with him and said the people were “not only the corner stone, but the foundation of the fabric.”

It made sure the power of the central government was limited and that the states had overpowered the government.

It was a plan that included a two house Congress. One lower house, The House of Representatives, which was based on population. This pleased the bigger states. The upper house, the Senate, was to please the smaller states. Each state had two seats.

It was important because Virginia was such a large and powerful state. If they didn’t vote many other states would have their doubts.

The colonists under the British rule knew the bad things that a strong unchecked government could do. Therefore they wanted to include a Bill of Rights and a system for amending the constitution. With this the government would always stay balanced and the people would get their rights.