Constitution book

Constitution Book

By:Nate Serafin, Aeden Jezorski , and Alex Miller

Chapter 1: Declaration of independence

The Declaration of Independence is the statement that was
adopted by the second congress meeting in the Pennsylvania State
House in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. As the meeting continued
they formed a new nation the United States of America. John
Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson as the
first to compose the original draft of the document.

- The date that this establishment happen was on July 4th, 1776
- 56 signatories signed the Declaration Of Independence

including John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin



Chapter 2:Connecticut

compromiseThe Great Compromise, or Connecticut Compromise as

it is often called, proposed a solution to the
heated debate between larger and smaller states
over their representation in the newly proposed
Senate. The larger states believed that
representation should be based proportionally on
the contribution each state made to the nation’s
finances and defense, and the smaller states
believed that the only fair plan was one of equal
representation. In the House of Representatives
each state’s number of seats would be in
proportion to population. In the Senate, all
states would have the same number of seats.

Chapter 3: Separation of Powers

The Separation of Powers is a model for the governance of a
state or controls the state. The model is divided by
branches, each separated based off their independence power
and areas of responsibility so that one branch doesn’t
interfere with the other branch. The three branches are
Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.

-Legislative Branch is able to make laws such for cities
and countries

- Executive Branch has the authority to governance a state

- Judiciary applies the state's law name



Chapter 4:Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution
of the United States. Its progress was slowed by fears of central
authority and extensive land claims by states before was it was
ratified on March 1, 1781. Under these articles, the states
remained independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on
appeal of disputes. Congress was also given the authority to make
treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces and coin money.
However, the central government lacked the ability to perform
taxes and other issues that led to the Constitutional Convention
in 1787 for the creation of new federal laws.

Chapter 5: 3 Branches of government

Legislative- The Legislative part of our government is called Congress. Congress makes our
laws. Congress is divided into 2 parts. One part is called the Senate. There are 100
Senators, 2 from each of our states. Another part is called the House of Representatives.
Representatives meet together to discuss ideas and decide if these ideas (bills) should
become laws. There are 435 Representatives. The number of representatives each state gets
is determined by its population. Some states have just 2 representatives. Others have as
many as 40.

Judicial- The Judicial part of our federal government includes the Supreme Court and 9
Justices. They are special judges who interpret laws according to the Constitution. These
justices only hear cases that pertain to issues related to the Constitution. They are the
highest court in our country.

Executive- The President of the United States administers the Executive Branch of our
government. The President enforces the laws that the Legislative Branch makes. The
President is elected by United States citizens.

Chapter 6: “Three - Fifths” Compromise Constitutional Convention - Virginia
Plan- Ratification

On this date in 1787, the Three-fifths Compromise was enacted. Southern states had
wanted representation apportioned by population; after the Virginia Plan was
rejected, the Three-Fifths Compromise seemed to guarantee that the South would be
strongly represented in the House of Representatives and would have disproportionate
power in electing Presidents. The issue of how to count slaves split the delegates
into two groups. The northerners regarded slaves as property who should receive no
representation. Southerners demanded that Blacks be counted with whites. The
compromise clearly reflected the strength of the pro-slavery forces at the
convention. The “Three-fifths Compromise” allowed a state to count three fifths of
each Black person in determining political representation in the House. Even when the
law stopped the importing of new slaves in 1808, the south continued to increase its
overall political status and electoral votes by adding and breeding slaves illegally.
The Three-fifths Compromise would not be challenged again until the Dred Scott case
in 1856.

Chapter 7: Sovereignty

Sovereignty is understood as the full right and power of
governing body to govern itself without any interference
from outside sources or bodies and there should be some
absolute power of final decision maker. Sovereignty has gone
on for many ages, through the Classical ages, to Medieval,
to Reformation, and the Age of Enlightenment.

Chapter 8 :Federalists

The Federalists were a group of men consisting of Alexander
Hamilton James Madison, and John Jay. They stood for a
government that was spread into a legislative body, instead
of having power in just a couple of individuals. They wanted
to keep the independence and freedom that they got from the
Revolutionary war.

Chapter 9: Bill of rights

The first 10 amendments to the constitution make up the Bill
of Rights. James madison was the one who wrote it, George
Mason influenced him when he wrote The Virginia Declaration
of Rights. It is important to have the bill of rights
because without it there would be no way to enforce the
first ten amenments.

Chapter 10: Amendments

The Amendments are rules that all of the us follow, there are 10 of
them.Constitutional Amendment. The means by which an alteration to the U.S.
Constitution, whether a modification, deletion, or addition, is accomplished. Article
V of the U.S. Constitution establishes the means for amending that document
according to a two-step procedure: proposal of amendments, followed by
ratification.

The End