Looking at Primary Sources 4 A First of Its Kind 6 The Origins of the Constitution 8 The Constitutional Convention 10 The Great Compromise 12 We the People 14 The Separation of Power 16 A System of Checks and Balances 20 The Supreme Court 22 The Bill of Rights 24 Ratification of the Constitution 26 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 CONTENTS
LOOKING AT PRIMARY SOURCES Primary sources are artifacts documents or other sources of information that were created at the time under study Some examples of primary sources are documents such as newspapers letters and journals photographs objects and even buildings The study of primary sources gives us a clear view into history The United States Constitution is on display in the National Archives in Washington D C 4
The United States Constitution is a primary source The main text of the Constitution is made up of an introduction called the preamble and seven articles Twenty-seven amendments or changes have been added to the Constitution since it was created in 1789 The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights The Constitution describes the branches of the government and their separate powers The powers work together to form a strong united nation that promotes growth and prosperity These are the front doors to the Supreme Court building in Washington D C A constitution is a set of basic laws by which a country or state is governed Vocabulary 5
