12 Questions About The US Constitution

12 Questions About The US Constitution — page 1 — What is the US Constitution In May 1787 a group of men met in Philadelphia Pennsylvania The GO TO THE SOURCE United States had won its freedom To read the full text of from England just four years earlier With this freedom came many the US Constitution go to www 12StoryLibrary com primary challenges One of the biggest was setting up a federal government Important steps were taken at the to allow states the freedom to govern themselves too It was a Constitutional Convention delicate balance The leaders spent the summer discussing how it should work The country's new government needed to be powerful enough to unite the 13 The product of their work states It could not was the Constitution be too powerful however It needed George Washington presides over the Constitutional It was and still is the backbone of

12 Questions About The US Constitution — page 2 — The Constitution was written at the Pennsylvania State House now known as Independence Hall The people had no choice The Constitution outlined a different plan Every four years Americans could vote to choose their leader The Constitution was unlike any other government plan at the time It gave its citizens power and rights protected by the law It also gave citizens a clear plan for how the government would be run They knew what to expect from their leaders It was an exciting idea for a new country the plan for the US government The Constitution gives power to the president Congress and the Supreme Court It also outlines which powers belong to the states and which belong to the federal Number of months it took the delegates in Philadelphia to write the US Constitution government These were new ideas at the time In the past most The Constitutional countries gave all their power to one ruler such as a king The Constitution also gave American citizens the right to elect their Convention began on May 25 1787 The Constitution divides power between the president Congress and the Supreme Court It also ensures that American citizens have the right to lect their leaders leaders This too was a new idea Typically leaders came from royal families A king's child would automatically become the next ruler

12 Questions About The US Constitution — page 3 — Why was the US Constitution Written The US Constitution was written But the union was a loose one The to replace the Articles of states held most of the power The Confederation The Articles had federal government had little control been adopted in 1777 They were the Some states began acting as if they nation's first plan for government were their own countries They began The Articles made each colony an printing their own money They even independent state They also united created treaties with other nations all the states together as one nation The Congress of the Confederation ran the federal government It could ARTICLES o F co NF E DE RATION AND PER PE TU AL UNION THINK ABOUT IT Under the Articles of DET EEN THE STATES or NE w HAM MPs RE MASSAC USETTS BAY H E SND MARY LAN D coNN E C T ICU T VIRGINIA NE W YORK NORTH CAROLINA NEW JERSEY s OU TH CAROLINA PENNSYLVANIA GEORGIA ART I TW of this Confederas that he THE UNITED STATE A rign OF AMERICA 9 Intand ART Ian The ſaid States hereby feverally enter into a Erin league of friendhip with each other for their com mon defence the focurity of their liberties and their me by the pain tual and general welfare binding themſelves to all coach begular known as other against all force orced in our attacks made upon them or any of them on account of religion overeignty trade or any represence whatever Confederation Congress had a lot of power Read Articles and Ill of the Constitution What are some sh ways that the power of Congress changed Why do you think that was important to the founders of the United States How might the US government look today if these changes had not been made cluſ ALT No State without the content of the United States in Congreſs any Embassy receive any embassy greement alliance or States more that any traft under the peefent toluement from any King Prince The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation ART 9 No one treaty confederation without the conſent foubled ipecifying

12 Questions About The US Constitution — page 4 — The 13 states often acted independently of each other before the Constitution was declare war solve border problems written and make treaties ONTAR Congress did not have the power to tax its a citizens When it made requests of the states some states often chose to ignore them As a result the government was often broke and powerless N I Leaders knew the government needed to be improved Congress called for a convention in 1787 to NO revise the Articles The delegates L o A R SOUTH CA Number of years that the Articles of Confederation served as the plan for the US government 1781 1789 to the convention realized the problems with the Articles were too great to fix Instead they decided to start over with a new document It became the Constitution The Articles joined all the states together loosely as a nation The Congress of the Confederation could not tax its citizens Passing laws and changing the Articles were slow difficult

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