Topic 2 Lesson 3: Creating a New Constitution

What was the original purpose of the Constitutional Convention?

• to write the U.S. Constitution

• to revise the Articles of Confederation

• to select the first U.S. president

• to draft the Bill of Rights

Why did the delegates to the Constitutional Convention decide not to revise the Articles of Confederation, as they were instructed to do?

• They had never liked the Articles government in the first place and wanted to get rid of it

• Having state government experience, they wanted to strengthen the power of the states.

• They concluded that a few changes would not be enough to solve the nation’s problems.

•  They quickly agreed that James Madison’s Virginia Plan was superior to the Articles

Why did the delegates to the Constitutional Convention agree to the Great Compromise?

•  to settle the question of representation in Congress

• to decide how to select the president

• to allow for the addition of a bill of rights

•  to find a simple process for amending the Constitution

What dispute did the Three-Fifths Compromise settle?

• how enslaved African Americans would be counted for representation

• whether people in the Northwest Territory would be counted for representation

• how many electors each state would have in the Electoral College

• how taxes on exports would be calculated in each state or territory

What differences were at the center of several compromises at the Constitutional Convention?

•  between Federalists and Anti-Federalists

• between those who wanted a single president or a committee

• between those who favored and opposed having a Supreme Court

•  between delegates from Northern and Southern states

What did Federalists promise to add to the Constitution to gain support in enough states for ratification?

• statehood for the Northwest Territory

•  a federal bill of rights

• a ban on the slave trade

• the Electoral College