In the Beginning
This was the name of America's FIRST Government
The Articles of Confederation
The original purpose of the Constitutional Convention was...
to rewrite or edit the Articles of Confederation
The name of the representation plan that smaller states preferred.
The New Jersey Plan
Why did many people not want the US to have one leader (president)?
Giving so much power to one person felt too much like a king (like Britain)
What does it mean to ratify something?
To approve it
A controlling central government, tyranny, another King.
How many delegates were in attendance at the Convention?
55
This representation plan proposed that all states should have equal power in congress.
The New Jersey Plan
The name of the group that elects the president
Electors, or the Electoral College
This many of the 13 states needed to ratify the Constitution for it to become law
9
Under America's first government, the most power was held at this level of government.
The state level
Why did the Convention members meet in secrecy?
They wanted to speak openly without judgement and did not want to create panic with the public
Like the Virginia Plan, the number of people in the House of Representatives today is based on this.
State populations
One idea that was proposed rather than one person as president was a committee made up of how many people?
3
The name of the group/political party that did NOT support ratifying the constitution
The Anti-Federalists
The uprising that took place in Massachusetts when farmers shut down courthouses to avoid losing their farms
Shays' Rebellion
The President of the convention was...
George Washington
Which group of states felt that slaves should be only considered as property when counting a state's population?
Northern States
What decides which states get more electoral votes than other states?
Population - the more people in a state, the more electoral votes
What kind of government did the Federalists believe in most?
One with a strong central government
The convention to write the new constitution was held in what US city?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This famous document was written about 11 years before the constitution, in the same building.
The Declaration of Independence
The 3/5 Compromise did NOT mean each slave was considered only three-fifths of a person. What did it actually refer to?
3/5 of each state's slave population would be counted along with the rest of the population.
Besides having the population vote for President with the Electoral College, what was the another option debated for selecting a President?
Appointing a person directly from congress
Once it was finalized, What did the Anti-Federalists feel was missing from the Constitution?
Protections or rights for the people/citizens
What founding father wrote a letter saying that violent uprisings were somewhat "normal" in a free country?
Thomas Jefferson
Name two founding fathers who were NOT in attendance at the Convention due to their work as diplomats in Europe
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
A compromise is when you sacrifice some of what you want to get a agreement made. Why was the Great Compromise NOT an actual compromise?
It is not a compromise because both sides got all of what they wanted
Colorado has 10 electoral votes. If a candidate wins the Presidential race or popular vote in Colorado by just 1 vote, how many of those 10 electoral votes do they receive?
All 10 votes
Changes or additions can be made to the Constitution. What is this called?
An Amendment