Binder Page______Name ______Period ______Liberty’s Kids- “We the People” Date ______
Worcester, Massachusetts,1786: 1. Who is James trying to interview in Massachusetts? Daniel Shays 2. Why is that man mad? He cannot pay the debt he has, including his taxes. The government of Massachusetts is taking over his farm and those of others like him. Mount Vernon, Virginia, February 1787: 3. What is George Washington concerned about? There are many places close to having rebellions happening. The national government cannot do anything to stop them. The nation is “close to collapse.” 4. “Our current system of government has turned us into the Dis-United States.”
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 1787: 5. Who are the two men talking? George Washington & Ben Franklin 6. What does Washington want to do? Use the convention to build a strong central government and a new constitution 7. Who will be president of the convention? Washington
8. What does Alexander Hamilton of New York believe in? A strong central government 9. The delegates have many points of view. What are some of the problems that they mention here? Fix the Articles of Confederation or throw them out? ● Large states vs. small states ● Slavery? 10. Why does James Madison say that the meetings are going to be closed to the newspapers? So that the delegates can change their minds. Compromise can be made. 11. What did Edmond Randolph of Virginia propose? He introduced a plan to scrap the Articles of Confederation and start a whole new constitution. 12. How many branches would there be in his proposal? three 13. Sarah asks a question to Ben Franklin: “I understand about the President and the Supreme Court, but how many representative would each send to Congress?” There is not a simple answer to her question. It will be the most controversial problem that the convention has to solve.
Philadelphia, PA, June 19th, 1787 (and the following summer): 14. When Pennsylvania demands “proportional representation,” what does Connecticut demand? One vote pers state 15. From our discussions in class and its context here, what do you think “proportional representation” means? Large states with big populations would get more votes. Small states with small populations would get fewer votes. 16. What is Mr. Pinkney of South Carolina most concerned about? continuing slavery 17. What is Ben Franklin’s solution to the question of representation in Congress? Have two houses in Congress. The upper house would have equal votes per state. The lower house would have proportional representation. This idea eventually became known as “The Great Compromise.”
18. The next issue is about what kind of a president there should be. What suggestions are made? ● that there would be a president for life. ● that Congress should choose the President ● that there should be three presidents 19. What is the next controversial issue that needs to be decided? Whether or not there should be slavery and how slaves will count 20. Why is slavery not abolished by the new constitution? To save the country. The states in the South were threatening to leave. September 1787 21. What does Ben Franklin say about the picture on the back of George Washington’s chair? (What kind of literary device is Franklin using here?) He wondered if it was a rising or setting sun. He decided it was rising. It meant that it was the start of a new day. This metaphor represents the beginning of the United States.
April 30, 1789 22. What is happening in this scene? Washington is being sworn in as president. 23. What does Franklin say about the Constitution and the new government? It will last as long as people want it to. There will be challenges because nothing man does is perfect, but there is nothing else like it in the world.