American Government 2.4 The Constitutional Convention

Drill: Articles of Confederation & Ratified
Articles of Confederation – first government of the United States
Ratified – to approve

LESSON OBJECTIVE
Students will be able to describe the Connecticut Compromise and the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-federalists by reading excerpts from chapter.

I. The Convention Begins (pages 53–54)
A.	The delegates held their meetings in secret
B.	The delegates decided to replace the Articles of Confederation 
II. Decisions and Compromises (pages 54–56)
A. The Virginia Plan proposed a strong two-house legislature. This plan favored the large, more populous states.
B. The New Jersey Plan proposed a weak executive of more than one person elected by Congress. This plan favored the small states.
C. The Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a legislative branch with two parts: a House of Representatives, and a Senate.
D. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of enslaved Africans in determining the number of a state’s representatives.
E. The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise eliminate the importation of slave trade after 1808. 
III. Ratifying the Constitution (pages 56–58)
A. The Federalists argued that a strong national government was badly needed 
B. The Anti-Federalists argued that the Constitution lacked a Bill of Rights.
C.	The new national government was launched in 1789. New York City became the nation’s capital.
Odds & Ends
A. The father of the Constitution was James Madison
B. Interstate commerce is trade among the states
C. Ben Franklin told the story of George Washington’s rising sun chair
D. Extralegal means not sanctioned by law or illegal
E. Anarchy is political disorder
F. The only state that did not send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention was Rhode Island. 	
G. To create the needed new government, the Founders compromised on slavery.
American Government 2.4 The Constitutional Convention

1. B 			6. A
2. E 			7. B
3. A 			8. D
4. C 			9. B
5. D 			10. C		

11. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia held all their meetings in secret. For five months, from May until September 1787, guards stood watch at every door of Independence Hall to bar the public and reporters while the delegates argued and debated the provisions of the Constitution. Ironically, the great document that guarantees the basic rights and freedoms of all Americans was written without any input from the people.

2.4 Supreme Case Analysis McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
1. The McCulloch case established the principle that Congress has implied powers not specifically stated in the Constitution.
2. The “necessary and proper” clause gives Congress the authority to make any laws that are required to carry out its enumerated tasks.
3. The Court ruled that the United States Bank was immune to the Maryland tax because as an arm of the federal government it is not required to pay state taxes.
4. Federalists believed in a strong national government, and the McCulloch decision reflects that point of view in that it limited the power of the states to tax any part of the federal government.
5. The McCulloch decision greatly enlarged the powers of the federal government by stating that it is “supreme within its sphere of action,” and has powers that are not specifically set forth in the Constitution.

Summary: In today’s lesson we described the Connecticut Compromise and examined the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-federalists.

Homework: Compromise and Debate
Compromise – a negotiation or finding the middle ground
Debate- to deliberate or to discuss

Name __________________________________________Date  ____________ Class ________

American Government 2.4 The Constitutional Convention

Match each item in Column A with the items in Column B. Write the correct letters in the blanks. 
Column A
_____1. father of the Constitution
_____2. trade among the states
_____3. rising sun chair
_____4. extralegal
_____5. anarchy	Column B
A. George Washington
B. James Madison
C. not sanctioned by law
D. political disorder
E. interstate commerce

In the blank at the left, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. 
_____6. The only state that did not send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention was
A. Rhode Island. 					C. New York.
B. Pennsylvania. 					D. Massachusetts.
_____7. This document suggested the legislative branch have a House of Representatives and a Senate.
A. the Virginia Plan 				C. the New Jersey Plan
B. the Connecticut Compromise 		D. the Three-Fifths Compromise
_____8. To create the needed new government, the Founders compromised on this issue.
A. taxes 						C. the western territories
B. the military draft 				D. slavery
_____9. This was an argument of the Federalists.
A. for the Ohio Plan 				C. for a Bill of Rights
B. for a strong national government 		D. against a strong national government
_____10. This was an argument of the Anti-federalists.
A. against a Bill of Rights 		C. for a Bill of Rights
B. for the Ohio Plan 			D. against a strong national government

11. Name one political group or individual that you consider important? Explain your selection.

2.4 Supreme Case Analysis McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
Power of the Federal Government v. Power of the State Government 
Background of the Case: The Supreme Court first settled a dispute between a national and a state law in 1819. The Second Bank of the United States had been chartered by Congress in 1816. Large sections of the country, especially the West and South, bitterly opposed the Bank. 
Two states even prohibited the bank from operating within their jurisdictions. Six other states taxed Bank operations. In 1818 the Maryland legislature placed a substantial tax on the operations of the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States. The cashier of the Baltimore branch, James McCulloch, issued bank notes without paying the tax. After Maryland state
2.4 Supreme Case Analysis McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819…Continued
courts ruled against McCulloch for having broken the state law, he appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

Constitutional Issues: One of the issues that concerned the Founders at the Constitutional Convention was how to divide power between the federal government and state governments. Reconciling national and local interests proved difficult. In the McCulloch case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of federal power. 

The Supreme Court’s Decision: Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the decision for a unanimous Court. He started with the question, “Has Congress the power to incorporate a bank?” In first determining the extent of congressional power, Marshall held that the Constitution is a creation not of the states, but of the people, acting through statewide constitutional conventions. The states have no power to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operation of the constitutional laws enacted by Congress.”
Although the specific powers of Congress do not include the power to charter a corporation, the section enumerating these powers includes a statement giving Congress the authority to make the laws “necessary and proper” for executing its specific tasks. In Marshall’s analysis, the terms “necessary and proper” grant Congress implied powers to carry out granted, or enumerated, powers. “ In the McCulloch case, the Court held that Congress had the power to incorporate a bank.
On the question of the validity of Maryland’s bank tax, Marshall again noted the Constitution’s supremacy, but he also recognized a state’s constitutional right to impose taxes. Echoing his earlier argument, Marshall observed that a government may properly tax its subjects or their property. The federal government and its agencies, however, are not subjects of any state. A tax on a national institution by one state would be an indirect tax on citizens of other states, who would not benefit from such a tax.
The Court’s decision in the McCulloch case brought a storm of abuse raining down on the Court. Nevertheless, the McCulloch decision, in upholding the principle of implied powers, enlarged the power of the federal government considerably and laid the constitutional foundations for the New Deal in the 1930s and the welfare state of the 1960s.

DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What constitutional principle did the Supreme Court establish in the McCulloch case?

2. What is the objective of the “necessary and proper” clause?

3. What was the basis for the Court’s ruling that Maryland could not tax the Second Bank of the
United States?

4. How did the fact that Justice Marshall was a Federalist influence his ruling in the McCulloch case?

5. How did the McCulloch ruling contribute to the strength of the national government?

In your own words, summarize today’s lesson.