Constitutional law expert Paul Finkelman offers readers a carefully researched and highly readable look at the document that is the blueprint of American democracy. He begins by showing how ineffective the Confederation government was in dealing with the problems facing the newly independent republic: no uniform laws among states, no courts to settle arguments, no power to collect taxes. Then the reader sits in on the Constitutional Convention, where arguments about how to balance power between large and small states and how to count slaves as part of the population are among the key issues. They will learn about the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, the Connecticut Plan, and the Three-fifths Compromise, and meet some of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists who passionately argued the Constitution's pros and cons until it was finally ratified and became the law of the land. Includes the complete text of The Constitution.
- ISBN10 0792279379
- ISBN13 9780792279372
- Publish Date 27 December 2005
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 24 September 2020
- Publish Country US
- Publisher National Geographic Society
- Imprint National Geographic Children's Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 48
- Language English