Constitutional Convention study guide

Why did the first 13 states want a weak central government?

They didn’t want another monarchy like King George the iii

How did the 13 colonies / states first attempt to ensure a weak central government?

The articles of confederation (AoC)

Under the AoC only the states could collect…

taxes

Under the AoC each state ____ their own different _____

printed their own money

the AoC said that the government could not have ____ and had to rely on ____ for defense

could not have a standing army, and had to rely on volunteer soldiers

Under the AoC different states had different standards of ___ and ____

weights and measurements

Under the AoC rail transportation was difficult between states because…

the gauge of the railroad tracks was different in each state

Under the AoC what was neither efficient nor cost effective?

shipping goods

the constitution was written by delegates from each state, they met in __(state)___ on ____(date)____

Philadelphia on May 17th, 1787

why did the delegates meet to write the constitution?

the articles of confederation were not working

the delegates agreed to a ____ form of government

federalist

the delegates wanted to put limits on the central government via a system of ____ and ____

checks and balances

what are the three branches of the government? what are their jobs?

the legislative branch - write the law
the judicial branch - interpret the law
the executive branch - enforce the law

in the context of legislative representation, states (like New York) that had a larger ___ wanted representation based on _____ (same word)

population

in the context if legislative representation, smaller states (like Rhode island) wanted___ ___ per ____

one vote per state

the legislative branch is ____, meaning there are two houses

bicameral

the two houses of the legislative branch are…

the Senate and the house of rep

how many senators are there per state? how often are they elected?

there are 2 senators per state, they are elected every 6 six years

(consistent number for every state and they stay long, very stable)

how many representatives are there per state? how often are they elected?

the number of reps is based on population (truly representing the state) they are elected every 2 years (as the peoples opinion changes)

federalists want…

a strong central government

anti-federalists wanted what kind of central government?

a weaker central government

what did the anti-federalists want added to the constitution?

amendments

what did the anti-federalist want protected?

people’s rights

what are the first 10 amendments called?

the bill of rights