George Washington chaired the Constitutional Convention and supported ratification. James Madison was known as the "Father of the Constitution" and also supported ratification. He authored the Virginia Plan and later drafted much of the Bill of Rights. The ratification process established states would hold conventions to accept or reject the Constitution, requiring nine approvals. Debates occurred between Federalists, who favored a strong national government, and Anti-Federalists, who wanted protected individual rights and distrusted centralized power. In response, Madison drafted the Bill of Rights guaranteeing citizen protections, securing ratification.

1. Ratification

2. George Washington
• Chairman of the
Convention
• Seldom participated
• Lent his prestige to the
proceedings
• Wanted to Ratify the
Constitution

3. James Madison
 Father of the
Constitution
 Virginian
 Lead the debates
 Kept notes of the
proceedings
 Authored the Virginia
Plan
 Later authored much of
the Bill of Rights
 Wanted to Ratify the
Constitution

4. Mr. Madison

5. The Ratification Process
And some fussin’

6. Ratification Process
Process established by Framers
Debate occurred: between the Federalist and
Anti-Federalist
Delegates elected to state conventions to
accept or reject the Constitution (bypass state
Legislators)
Nine states had to accept, before it could be
ratified

7. Ratification

8. Federalist Position
Favored strong national government sharing
power with the states
Believed that separation of powers (3
branches of government) had built in checks
and balances
Believed that federal powers were needed to
manage trade, defense, and foreign relations
Similarly, today people who want the
government to solve national problems

9. Federalist Position Cont.
• Believed that factions balanced each others’
power-
• Believed Citizen’s rights were implied-no
need for Bill of Rights
• Federalist Papers:
– A collection of 85 essays that argued the positions
of the Federalist

10. Anti-Federalist Position
Believed that the federal government would
favor the interest of the rich and powerful and
ignore the rights of the masses
Believed that one central government would
be too powerful and would threaten
individual rights and liberties
Believed that individual rights must be
protected in a Bill of Rights

11. Freedoms
And its influences

12. Bill of Rights

13. Bill of Rights
Created because of the efforts of the Anti-
Federalist
Guaranteed the rights of individual citizens,
the new federal government could not take
away
Without addition of the Bill of Rights to the
Constitution, it may not have been ratified

14. Bill of Rights Cont.
• Bill of Rights very similar to the Virginia
Declaration of Rights and Virginia Statute of
Religious Freedom
• First 10 amendments to the Constitution
o Amendments: an alteration of the Constitution
Added in 1791
• Written by James Madison

15. What influenced the Bill of
Rights
Virginia is not only for lovers, but
also personal freedoms

16. VA Declaration of Rights
 Author George Mason
 1776
 It guaranteed certain
rights that the
government can not
take away
 Examples
 Freedom of worship
 Freedom of speech
 The right to a fair trial

17. VA Statute for Religious Freedom
• Author Thomas Jefferson
• 1786
• Established separation of
Church and state
• Eliminated official state
church
• Church could no longer
received money from
taxes
• Established principals of
religious liberty

18. Supreme Court Cases
• Marbury v. Madison
• McCulloch v. Maryland
• Gibbons v. Ogdon

19. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• In fall of 1800, Adams tries to appoint 58 of his
buddies to new government positions
• When Jefferson took office, his new Secretary of
State (Madison) refused to deliver some of these
commissions
• William Marbury, brought suit before the
Supreme Court—he did not receive his
commission
• Marbury said the SC had to force Madison to give
him the commission

20. Marbury v. Madison (decision)
• SC said that it did NOT have to make Madison
give Marbury his commission
• Now the Supreme Court now had the power to
declare a act of Congress unconstitutional
Judicial Review

21. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
• Raised two important questions:
• 1. Did Congress have the authority to create a new bank?
• 2. Was the tax Maryland levied on the bank
Constitutional?
• Chief John Marshall stated that the Const. does not
specifically give Congress the power to create a bank
• But, he further states that Congress DOES have the power
to: collect taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce, raise
an army/navy and make “all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution the forgoing
powers”
• Bottom line—Congress can do what it need to do in order
for our Government to work/survive
• End result—Maryland’s tax on the bank was deemed
Unconstitutional

22. Gibbons v. Ogden 1824
• Gibbons and Ogden ran steamboat ferries on
the Hudson River between NJ and NY
• Ogden was given an exclusive license to
operate on the Hudson River and Gibbons
wanted a piece of the action.
• Supreme Court ruled for Gibbons
• Supreme Court defined commerce as any type
of commercial communication between states