Step inside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 1787, and watch a brand-new country struggle to design a government that could actually work.
In this episode of Constitution Unlocked, we explore the Constitutional Convention and the big questions the delegates faced:
- How should states be represented in Congress?
- How do you prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful?
- How did slavery and the Three-Fifths Compromise shape the Constitution?
- Why did some founders sign the Constitution even though they didn’t fully agree with it?
- The Virginia Plan vs. the New Jersey Plan – big states vs. small states
- The Great Compromise – why we have both a House of Representatives and a Senate
- Separation of powers & checks and balances – “ambition must counteract ambition”
- The Three-Fifths Compromise – how slavery was built into the structure of government
- Benjamin Franklin at 81 – why he signed a Constitution he thought was imperfect
- Students learning about the Constitutional Convention
- Teachers looking for an engaging classroom resource
- Parents helping kids understand how the U.S. government was created
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You’ll learn about: By the end, you’ll see the Constitution not just as an old document, but as an ongoing project that each generation—including ours—continues to debate, interpret, and improve. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to:Follow Constitution Unlocked on Apple Podcasts and Spotify