Ratifying the Constitution

1. Ratifying the Constitution Chapter 10, Lesson 3 4-4.3, 4-4.4

2. The Federalists and Antifederalists • Federalists were people who wanted a strong national government. • Antifederalists were people who were not happy with the Constitution. A few were: Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. • James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay led the Federalist fight for the Constitution. They organized actions to education the people about it by writing a series of essays called The Federalist. Each essay explained the weaknesses of an Antifederalist argument.

3. The Federalists and Antifederalists • The Antifederalists strongly expressed their fears: - The Constitution would reduce the powers of the states. - The President might easily become king. - The federal government would pass laws that were not suitable for one part of the country or another. - The Constitution did not truly protect important rights of Americans from the government including freedom of religion, freedom of the press, trial by jury, and others. • Thomas Jefferson, though not an antifederalist, agreed that a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to.

4. The Bill of Rights • In 1787-1788, a few states ratified the Constitution. • Delaware was the first and Pennsylvania was the second. • In Massachusetts, the Constitution’s lack of a bill of rights helped Antifederalists. But the Federalists pledged that Congress would add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution. • An addition or change to the Constitution is called an amendment. • By 1790, all 13 states had accepted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. • When the first Congress under the Constitution met, one of its first acts was to pass the 10 amendments that would be called the Bill of Rights.