To get the Constitution ratified by all 13 states, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to reach several compromises. The three major compromises were the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Electoral College.

This uncertainty played a major role in the ratification convention in Massachusetts. Finally, after long debate, a compromise (the “Massachusetts Compromise”) was reached. Massachusetts would ratify the Constitution, and in the ratifying document strongly suggest that the Constitution be amended with a bill of rights.

They argued that the new government supported the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, worried that the proposed constitution represented a betrayal of the principles of the American Revolution.

The executive branch of our Government is in charge of making sure that the laws of the United States are obeyed. The President of the United States is the head of the executive branch. The President gets help from the Vice President, department heads (called Cabinet members), and heads of independent agencies.

One feature of the Articles of Confederation was that Congress did not have the power to tax its citizens directly; instead, it could only request money from the states. This created financial problems because states often did not pay what was requested of them by the federal government.

Weakness: No power to regulate interstate trade. Effect: States became divided from each other as they competed for trade advantages among themselves. Effect: States became divided from each other as they competed for foreign trade advantages AND foreign countries lost respect for the United States.