Chapter 3A New Nation Emerges

Lesson 9 – A Clash of Two Empires in PennsylvaniaLesson 10 – Anger Among the Colonists with

England’s RuleLesson 11 – The American Colonies’ Revolutionary

WarLesson 12 – A New Nation Emerges

• Lesson 12 – Formation of a New Government

• 1. What was the first plan of government for the United States?

• 2. Why was this first plan unsuccessful?• 3. What role did Pennsylvania play in forming

the Constitution of the United States?

• American Revolution fought to get away from a King/Queen

• Articles of Confederation – written by American leaders during Revolution.– Very weak document – States were like independent countries– 13 articles describing duties of government

– Confederation – means a group of states united for a common purpose

Lesson 12 – Formation of a New Government

• Amerigo Vespucci – explored the coast of South America– Name America was given to the land because of

his travels– When a continent was found to the north, the

terms north and south were added

Major Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

• No Central Government• No power to make people to go to war• No way to make people obey the law• No way to levy or collect taxes• No mechanism for solving arguments among

the states• No way to regulate trade among states

• May 1787, delegates from twelve states met in Philadelphia with the purpose of strengthening the Articles of Confederation– Meeting to strengthen the Articles of

Confederation– George Washington was elected president of the

convention– Realized a new plan of government needed to be

written– 55 delegates met, 8 from Pennsylvania• Gouverneur Morris and Ben Franklin

• Summer of 1787, secret meeting– Stench from open sewers and animal tanning

factory in the air– Mosquitoes and flies were terrible– Windows had no screens– Men wore wool clothing

– Windows kept closed

Benjamin Rush

• One of the founding fathers– Doctor– Signer of Dec. of Independence

– Yellow Fever Virus• Helped save Philadelphia during the epidemic

• James Madison, Virginia, is given credit as being the Father of the U.S. Constitution

• Major disagreements over how each state was to be fairly represented in the new government

• Compromise– Smaller states were worried about not getting

equal representation, larger states were worried that their vote would be equal to smaller states

• Roger Sherman – The Great Compromise– Representation by population (House of Rep.)– Equal representation (Senate)

– Ben Franklin – the Great Pacifier• Calmed many tempers during convention• Oldest signer of Constitution although he did not agree

with all parts of it

• 39 of 55 delegates approved Constitution

• States needed to approve/RATIFY plan in order for it to be legal– 9 of the 13 had to approve– Promise to write a list of rights and freedoms was

needed to get states to ratify

– Interpretation, Compromise, and Change • Amendments were the methods to allow these to

happen• Sept. 1790 – first ten amendments were proposed –

BILL OF RIGHTS - 1791