RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION
"Compromise and Approval" [5:05]
Background: The framers of the Constitution believed that the government is based on a contract between people and ruler, and worried about a central government that might become too powerful. To limit government power, they separated the central government into branches and built in checks and balances. Congress, the legislative branch, makes laws. The executive branch, headed by the president, enforces the laws. Courts make up the judicial branch which interprets the laws. The framers left many important powers to the states. Sharing of powers between a national government and states is called federalism. Federalists who supported the Constitution feared that without a strong government there would be chaos. Opponents feared a strong government could take away individual liberties. For the Constitution to become law, 9 of the 13 states had to ratify, or approve, it. All 13 states eventually voted to ratify. Anti-federalists won guarantees that a bill of rights, protecting individual freedoms, would be added to the Constitution as amendments, or changes.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/map/
Discussion Points
Kentucky and the Mississippi
Ratification and Statehood
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