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Written by: Ashley Tyson
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This was the first constitution in the United States. It served from March 1, 1781 until 1789, when the Constitution was created. This document allowed the states to act independently with a Congress to be the final resort in disputes. One downside of the Articles of Confederation was the the lack of a central currency.
The three fifths comprimise
The three fifths comprimise was created when the Constitution was being drafted. The smaller states wanted an equal representation in the legislature and the larger states wanted representation based on population. So, two houses were made, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives was made of representatives based on population and the Senate was based on equal representation. Then, the smaller states expressed a concern in the way that the larger states in the House of Representatives would have an unfair advantage due to their population being a majority of slaves. So the three fifths compromise was made to count slaves as three fifths a person when considering population.
The Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison. This plan favored the larger states and called for a two house legislature based on population. This plan also asked for three branches of government. This plan was not favored by the smaller states due to their lack in a large population. The Constitutional Convention compromised this plan and the New Jersey plan by creating a two house legislature with one house based on population and the other based on equal representation.
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was created to compromise with the Anti-federalists. It was written by James Madison and it included 10 ratifications to the Constitution. It includes a lot of different ratifications including the second being the right to bear arms. The Bill of Rights was essentially based off of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom.
Federalists
The Federalists were people who advocated the importance of a strong central government, specifically for economic and public development and improvement. They did not see a need for a Bill of Rights. These people would be called Democrats in todays society.
The Anti-Federalists
Anti-Federalists would be called Republicans in current day society. They fear overly powerful central governments. The Anti-Federalists were very conservative and wanted free markets. They believed in the ratifications that were placed on the Constitution. Anti-Federalists wanted a lot of liberty and freedoms.