People
This retired general was unanimously elected to preside over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.
Who is George Washington?
The collective name for the 85 essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay urging states to ratify the Constitution.
What are the Federalist Papers?
The group of states in the South whose economies relied heavily on enslaved labor.
What are the Southern states?
The violent 1786 rebellion led by debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts that showed the weakness of the central government.
What is Shays' Rebellion?
The Articles of Confederation served as this first official document that set up the U.S. government.
What is the First Constitution?
Known as the "Father of the Constitution," this Virginian drafted the framework and took detailed notes of the debates.
Who is James Madison?
This key region was the first state to vote for ratification, doing so unanimously on December 7, 1787.
What is Delaware?
he famous compromise that counted an enslaved person as a fraction of a free person for government representation.
What is the Three-Fifths Compromise?
Under the Articles of Confederation, the national government couldn't collect these to pay off its massive war debts.
What are taxes?
Because Americans feared a tyrant like King George III, the Articles purposely made this branch of government very weak.
What is the central government?
The New York delegate who pushed for a strong central government and wrote most of the Federalist Papers.
Who is Alexander Hamilton?
This group of skeptics opposed the new Constitution, fearing a strong central government would crush individual liberties.
Who are the Anti-Federalists?
This major cash crop grown by enslaved people in the South heavily influenced the convention's economic debates.
What is tobacco, cotton, or rice?
The major conflict that left the newly independent United States deep in debt to foreign nations like France.
What is the Revolutionary War?
Under the Articles, this leader's position did not exist to enforce laws, meaning there was no president.
What is the Chief Executive?
The fiery Virginia orator who refused to attend the convention, claiming he "smelt a rat."
Who is Patrick Henry?
To secure ratification in critical states like Massachusetts, Federalists promised to add this protection for individual rights.
What is the Bill of Rights?
The region of the United States that wanted to ban or heavily limit the slave trade during the convention.
What is the North?
The form of paper currency issued by the Continental Congress that became completely worthless due to massive debt and inflation.
What is the Continental Dollar?
To pass any new law under the Articles, this many of the 13 states had to agree, making it very hard to get anything done.
What is nine?
At 81 years old, this famous inventor and diplomat was the oldest delegate in Philadelphia.
Who is Benjamin Franklin?
This future "Father of the Bill of Rights" famously locked horns with Patrick Henry during Virginia's fierce ratification debates.
Who is James Madison?
This list of the first ten amendments was demanded by many to protect individual rights, though it did not end slavery.
What is the Bill of Rights?
The first Secretary of the Treasury who created a plan for the new federal government to take on and pay off all state war debts.
Who is Alexander Hamilton?
This body was the only branch of government that existed under the Articles, with each state getting exactly one vote.
What is Congress?