5 6 the people who gave us the US constitution

Bộ sách Scott foresman social Studies gồm các quyển sau: 5.1 Learning About the First Americans 5.2 His Name Was Amerigo 5.3 New World, New Neighbors 5.4 Choosing Freedom 5.5 The War for Independence 5.6 The People Who Gave Us the US Constitution 5.7 Heading West 5.8 The Growing United States 5.9 Women of the Civil War 5.10 Hard Times 5.11 The War at Home 5.12 3, 2, 1, Blastoff 5.13 The Heroes of 911 5.14 Growing and Changing Cities 5.15 Visiting States and Capitals

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Scott Foresman Social Studies

Nonfi ction Draw Conclusions • Captions

• Headings

ISBN 0-328-14894-6

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Fascinating Facts

Franklin’s health was so poor that he had to be

carried to the sessions in a chair Still, he rarely

missed a session

the Declaration of Independence At the time the

declaration was signed, he was in New York serving

as the commander of the Continental Army

Constitutional Convention were lawyers or had

studied law

Scott Foresman Social Studies

Nonfi ction Draw Conclusions • Captions

• Headings

ISBN 0-328-14894-6

ì<(sk$m)=beijed< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

Fascinating Facts

Franklin’s health was so poor that he had to be

carried to the sessions in a chair Still, he rarely

missed a session

the Declaration of Independence At the time the

declaration was signed, he was in New York serving

as the commander of the Continental Army

Constitutional Convention were lawyers or had

studied law

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ISBN: 0-328-14894-6

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

Write to It!

The Constitution was a plan for an entire nation

It was not easy to write, especially because the delegates did not agree about everything Write one paragraph in which you explain what you admire most about the people who wrote our Constitution Be sure to include examples to support your opinion

Write your opinion on a separate sheet of paper.

Photographs

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Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©The Granger Collection, NY

2 ©The Granger Collection, NY

7 ©Library of Congress

9 ©The Corcoran Gallery of Art/Corbis

Vocabulary

delegate compromise legislative branch executive branch judicial branch checks and balances

ratify

In 1787 some of the smartest people in the

nation met at the Constitutional Convention

These people had many different ideas about

how the country should be run Luckily, they

also knew how to cooperate In this book

you will learn about some of the people who

wrote our Constitution

Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas • Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona

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The Constitution Is Written

When the American Revolution ended, the United States had won its independence from Great Britain The young

nation still faced many challenges

The Articles of Confederation were the law in the United States The Articles set up Congress as the only branch

The powers of Congress were very limited For example,

Congress could not tax the people This meant that

Congress did not have enough money to run the country

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In 1787 the early leaders of our nation wrote the Constitution.

In 1787 delegates met at the Constitutional

Convention in Philadelphia The delegates did not all agree about how to solve the problems of government

However, after many debates and compromises, they

wrote the United States Constitution

The Constitution set up a strong government with three

branches: the legislative branch, the executive

branch, and the judicial branch It created a system

of checks and balances so that no single branch of the

government would become too powerful

Who were the people who worked together to bring us the Constitution? Read on to find out

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George Washington

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were lawyers, soldiers, farmers, businesspeople, and

merchants More than half of them had fought in the

Revolutionary War Many of them had helped to write

their own states’ constitutions One person, however,

stood out as the leader: George Washington of Virginia

The entire country admired Washington He had led the Americans to victory Washington was the young nation’s

greatest hero

Washington did not want power He wanted what was best for the people Washington wanted to work for the

good of the country

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In 1787 Washington believed that the country needed

a stronger government The delegates all voted to make Washington the leader of the Constitutional Convention

They wanted a government that was strong but would still protect the rights of the people They wanted a government that had the same qualities George Washington had

As the leader of the Constitutional Convention, Washington helped the delegates make

compromises

George Washington led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War.

George Washington was the leader of the Constitutional Convention.

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James Madison

Virginia delegate James Madison came to the convention with a special plan for the nation It was

called the Virginia Plan

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was made up of only one part The Virginia Plan suggested a

Congress made up of two parts

James Madison is called

“The Father of the Constitution.”

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Madison wanted three branches of government He did not want any of the branches to be too strong

The delegates did not like everything in Madison’s plan, but they agreed that the nation should have a strong government with three balanced branches

Madison spoke often at the convention He helped with the wording of the Constitution and took notes on the debates

The final draft of the Constitution included many of the ideas from the Virginia Plan.

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Benjamin Franklin

Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin was called the “Sage of the Constitutional Convention.” A sage is a

wise person who is honored for his or her experience and

judgment

At the age of eighty-one, Franklin was the oldest delegate to the convention He had been a writer, a

scientist, an inventor, and a political leader

The delegates respected Franklin There were many arguments and disagreements at the Constitutional

Convention, but Franklin helped the delegates

compromise

Benjamin Franklin invented many things, including the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, and bifocal glasses.

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Like Washington and Madison, Franklin believed that the nation needed a strong national government He was not happy with everything in the final Constitution, but

he signed it anyway

Franklin asked the other delegates who were not happy with the Constitution

to sign He thought that the nation had a better chance

if everyone worked together

Many of the delegates saw the wisdom of this and signed

Benjamin Franklin understood the value of compromise.

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Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton, a delegate from New York, believed that the nation needed a very strong

government He wanted the President and senators

to serve for life terms He also thought that state

governments were not necessary and that all power

should be held by the central government

Most of the delegates disagreed with Hamilton The government that Hamilton wanted was too much like the

British government

Alexander Hamilton wanted a strong central government.

Hamilton was not totally happy with the Constitution

He was afraid that the new government would be too weak Hamilton, however, put his own opinions aside and signed the Constitution

Hamilton did everything he could to support the Constitution He wrote essays explaining the benefits of

the new government He asked the states to ratify the

Constitution Because he was brave enough to put his own opinions aside, Hamilton helped the Constitution to become law

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote essays in support of the Constitution This collection of essays

was called The Federalist.

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Other Important Voices

Not every delegate wanted a strong government

George Mason of Virginia, for example, wanted the

national government to stay weak He worried that the

President would become like a king He thought that a

strong government would take away the freedom of the

states and the people

Thomas Jefferson believed in a strong government, but like Mason, Jefferson thought that the Constitution needed

a bill of rights to protect the rights of the people Jefferson

was not at the Constitutional Convention but he made sure

that his opinions were known

George Mason refused to sign the Constitution.

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Leaders realized that Congress would need to add a bill of rights as soon as possible The Bill of Rights that became part of the Constitution would guarantee rights, such as freedom of religion and freedom of speech

Thomas Jefferson thought the Constitution needed a bill of rights.

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The larger states felt that they should have more representatives in Congress than the smaller states

The smaller states thought that every state should have

the same number of representatives Roger Sherman,

a delegate from Connecticut, came up with a solution

called the Great Compromise: the number of any state’s

representatives in the House of Representatives would

depend on the size of the state Each state, however,

would have the same number of senators in the Senate

The delegates decided that this compromise was fair

Roger Sherman came up with

the Great Compromise.

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For the Good of the Nation

On September 17, 1787, thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution Few of the signers agreed with everything that the Constitution said, but they did agree to work together for the good of the nation

The Constitution has guided our nation throughout our nation’s history We must thank the leaders who came together in the spirit of strength, liberty, cooperation, and compromise

The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787.

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checks and balances a system in which each

branch of government checks the power of the other branches

compromise a deal in which each side

gives up something in order to reach

an agreement

delegate a representative

executive branch the part of the government that

is in charge of enforcing our nation’s laws

judicial branch the part of the government that is in

charge of interpreting our nation’s laws

legislative branch the part of the government that

makes our nation’s laws

ratify to approve

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