SSCG Three: Creation and Key Ideas of the U.S. Constitution
SSCG3 Demonstrate knowledge of the framing and structure of the United States Constitution.
a. Analyze debates during the drafting of the Constitution, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, the Great Compromise, and the Commerce Clause.
b. Analyze how the Constitution addresses the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
c. Explain the fundamental principles of the United States Constitution, including limited government, the rule of law, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and popular sovereignty.
d. Explain the key ideas in the debate over ratification made by the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
Click the link below for an introductory video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCmuftyj8A&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index=5&t=66s
The founding fathers and framers of the United
States Constitution were men of varied and different
backgrounds.
These men had different ideas about how our government should be formed and operate. Today, we know that 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. By placing their names on this document, they committed high treason against the British crown. The penalty was death!
Some of these men would play important roles in the creation of our country and its government. Here is part of their story.
Freedom is not free! Brave men and women paid with their lives for or freedom.
Here is what happened to these men.
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve signers had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two signers lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 signers fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were the Founding Fathers?
According to Michael W. Smith, (2021)...Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated.
But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be [a traitors] death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died penniless.
Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
F
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
Because these men could not agree on everything, our Constitution is a series of compromises. In a compromise, you give up something to achieve what is really important to you.
The first Constitution of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. It governed the United States from 1781 until 1789. In 1786, Daniel Shay’s rebellion in Western Massachusetts proved that the Articles of Confederation were incapable of fairly governing the young country.
Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is where the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation were ratified.
a. Analyze debates during the drafting of the Constitution, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, the Great Compromise, and the Commerce Clause.
One of the first of many constitutional debates centered around the issues of slavery and representation. Colonies with large slave populations, particularly those in the south were quick to realize that if their slave populations were counted, these states would have more representation and more power in the new government. Naturally, those states without slaves realized this and bitterly opposed counting slaves and/or Black people any count as far as representation.
The Three-Fifths Compromise settled this early debate. Unfortunately, the issue of slavery would continue to plague or country until 1865 and the end of the American Civil War.
How the Three-Fifths Compromise actually worked.
Three out of every five Black people could be counted by a state for purposes of representation. These same slaves would also count for purposes of taxation.
For example if your state had 1,000 slaves, 60% of this population would cont for the purposes of representation in the House of Representatives. Slave owning states would also have to pay taxes based upon this same number.
Another constitutional compromise centered on the issue of state representation.
The issue: Should states with small populations be equal in terms of representation with the states that had large populations?
Small states like New Jersey said yes.
Large states like Virginia said no.
Each side came up with competing plans. States with small populations favored the New Jersey Plan.States with large populations favored the Virginia Plan
The New Jersey Plan
Key points of the New Jersey Plan as proposed by Roger Patterson from New Jersey.
The Virginia Plan
Key points of the Virginia Plan proposed by James Madison from Virginia.
(Congress is a general term that refers to both houses.)
In order to resolve the conflict between the competing New Jersey and Virginia Plans, Roger Sherman from Connecticut proposed a compromise.
Roger Sherman
Roger Sherman’s Plan became known as the Great Compromise or the Connecticut Compromise
Sherman’s Compromise had the following features:
The Commerce Clause
Needless to say, trade between the original 13 colonies was complicated. It was actually a mess. International trade was even bigger mess. These trade issues limited the ability of the United States to trade with other nations of the world. The Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution solved this problem.
To address the problems of interstate trade barriers and the ability to enter into trade agreements, the Commerce Clause, granted Congress the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."
Moving the power to regulate interstate commerce to Congress would enable the creation of a free trade zone among the several states; removing the power to regulate international trade from the states would enable the president to negotiate, and Congress to approve, treaties to open foreign markets to American-made goods (The National Constitution Center, 2024).
Within our Constitution exists the commerce clause, found in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. It specifically grants Congress the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."
The
Commerce Clause
Eliminated trade barriers that existed between the colonies.
Created a unified economic front for our young nation .
b. Analyze how the Constitution addresses the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
In 1777, The Articles of Confederation were proposed to govern the U.S. while it was fighting the Revolutionary War. It was never designed to govern a country. The Articles of Confederation went into effect in 1781.
Its primary purpose was to create a document that would bind the states together to fight a war against Great Britain.
In 1787, Daniel Shays led Shays’ rebellion. This rebellion showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. The Founding Fathers gathered to fix the Articles of Confederation. Instead they came up with a new Constitution.
Click the link below for more on Shays’ Rebellion
In short, there were seven major limitations of the Articles of Confederation. They were:
Six
In May of 1787, the U.S. Constitution was drafted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was fully ratified in 1788 and is currently the world's oldest surviving, written charter of government.
Our Constitution begins with these three simple words- “We the People”. These simple words tell the entire world that our government exists to serve the citizens of this great country.
In order to fix the limitations of the Articles of Confederation, the following features were added to the Un.S. Constitution:
c. Explain the fundamental principles of the United States Constitution, including limited government, the rule of law, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and popular sovereignty.
Our founding fathers did not want to replace a tyrant 3,000 miles away with a tyrant here at home. To that end they incorporated six principles into our Constitution.
These principles are:
What do these principles mean?
d. Explain the key ideas in the debate over ratification made by the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
During the many constitutional debates, different groups formed to make their voices heard in the constitutional process. These groups developed into two main factions. They were the Federalists and the Anti-federalists.
In summary, the Federalists wanted a strong central government that would not be a repeat of the Articles of Confederation government.
The Anti federalists feared this strong central government.
The Federalists
Were led by:
They would later write the The Federalist Papers.
The Federalists – supported the new Constitution as it was written.
Click the link below for more on the Federalists and Anti Federalists!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhBla4DgQZ8
Link to the Federalist Papers
Background and context for The Federalist Papers:
The Federalist Papers are a collection of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the pseudonym Publius.
Publius is a Latin term that means “of the people” or “ belonging to the people”.
These essays were written to persuade the citizens
of the United States to ratify the new constitution
of the United States.
Link to The Federalist Papers:
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Author’s note:
The most commonly cited and read essays of The Federalist Papers include The Federalist numbers, 78, 68, 51, and 10.
Were led by:
The Anti federalists
Another compromise!
In order to resolve the debate between the Federalists and the Anti Federalists, James Madison proposed a Bill of Rights that was similar to the English Bill of Rights.
Madison originally opposed a Bill of Rights, but in the end, shifting points of view, political pressure, and political necessity led Madison to support the Bill of Rights.
Key Point: The inclusion of a Bill of Rights into our Constitution solved the debate between the Federalists and the Anti Federalists!
The inclusion of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution would protect the people from a strong central government and would insure the ratification of our Constitution on June 21, 1788.
A painting by Howard Chandler Christy that was completed in 1940 to commemorate the Constitution’s sesquicentennial.
The end!