How a Bill Becomes a Law

The Three Branches of Government

The Preamble

the Preamble of the Constitution is a single sentence introduction to the document. It states the purpose of the new form of government with its six goals:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Here is the Schoolhouse Rocks video that teaches about the Preamble:


This video is from the Andy Griffith Show (from the 1960's). In it, the character of Barney claims that he still remembers the entire Preamble from when he learned it in grade school. Watch and see how well he really remembers it:

The Constitutional Convention Part II - The Final Day

As our Constitutional Convention came to a close, delegates showed their support for the document by signing it. Some delegates, however, chose not to sign it and had to explain their reasons. Some delegates did not sign the Consitution because they felt it gave too much power to the federal government, and they feared the return of a monarchy. Others felt that the document talked too much of the powers of government, and did not have anything in it to protect the rights of the people.

Delegates sign the Constitution:




Delegate "Edmund Randolph" explains why he will not sign the Constitution:

Constitutional Convention Part I

This week we are participating in a mock Constitutional Convention in class in order to better understand the issues that faced the delegates from each state in creating the actual Constitution. Each student has been assigned a delegate, and must act and vote the way that that person did, while I preside over the Convention as George Washington.

To open up the convention, we first discussed the rules of order and parliamentary procedure. We then took a “vow of secrecy”, to remind us that the original delegates were not allowed to speak about the convention to the public.

The first issue we discussed was about how the people would be represented in our new government. Delegates from the larger states wanted a legislature (congress) with representation based on the population of each state. Other delegates felt that all of the states should be represented equally.

None of the classes were able to reach the majority vote needed to adopt either idea. Some of them, however, were able to reach a compromise solution.
On the second day of the convention we debated Issue 2 which dealt with slaves. Soouthern states wanted slaves to count as part of their population so that they could have more representatives in Congress. Northern states did not agree with the South, and instead felt that the southern states should have to pay taxes on their slaves.

Delegates meet with each other to discuss their views and strategize for debate:






Delegate "Robert Yates" of New York takes notes during the Convention:


A delegate addresses the Convention:


Delegates request permission to speak from the President of the Convention, Gen. George Washington (Mr. McCarthy):