constitution questions

1) What are the three branches of government and what are the powers of each?

Legislative Branch: This is the law making branch. Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. (each states representation is proportional the size of their population, and in the senate each state has 2 members.) Congress collects taxes, coins money, regulates trade, and can declare war and raises support for armies.

Executive Branch: Is headed by the president, to carry out the nations laws and policies. President is the commander and chief of armed forces and conducts relations with foreign countries. The president along with the vice president are elected by the electoral college made up of presidential electors.

Judicial Branch: It's the court system, resides in one supreme court and any other federal courts that congress establishes. These courts hear cases involving the constitution, laws passed by congress, and disputes between states.

2) How can these branches check and balance each other?

A bill must be passed before it can become a law. The president can check congress by vetoing, or rejecting, the bill. However, congress can then check the president by overriding, or voting down, the veto. And for the judicial system the president appoints the supreme court justices but the senate has to approve the appointments.

3) What were the compromises to the constitution?

Each Enslaved Person was counted for 3/5 of a person for both taxation and representation, there would be 2 house legislatures, not until 1808 could slave trade be interfered with, and there be a bill of rights.

4) Who wrote the Federalist papers?

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

5) What was the Bill of Rights? Why did some states demand its inclusion before they ratified the constitution?

It was a bill that protected individual freedom, the Anti federalists believed that no government could be trusted to protect the freedom if its citizens without one.

6) What were the anti-federalists main fears about the constitution?

They thought it would take away the liberties Americans had fought to win from Great Britain. They thought it would ignore the will of the states and the people and favor the wealthy few over the common people.