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Creating the Constitution. free-ppt-templates.com. 1781-1789 Chapter 5. A Confederation of States. Section 1. Abbreviations. These will be some abbreviations you may see in the powerpoint CP= Conservative Patriots Sen.= Senate DP=Democratic Patriots
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Creating the Constitution free-ppt-templates.com 1781-1789 Chapter 5
A Confederation of States Section 1
Abbreviations • These will be some abbreviations you may see in the powerpoint • CP= Conservative Patriots Sen.= Senate • DP=Democratic Patriots • PA=Pennsylvania • NY= New York • MA= Massachusetts • VA= Virginia • RI= Rhode Island • CT= Connecticut • MD=Maryland • NJ=New Jersey • Articles= Articles of Confederation • HoR=House of Representatives
What were Early State Governments like? • 1776 • Congress declares independence and invites states to create their own governments with Constitutions • Most states formed republics, or governments where the people elected their representatives • Disagreement on how they should be set up • Democratic Patriots such as Thomas Paine • wanted more power in the hands of the people • Strong legislatures, weak governors or none at all • Unicameral Legislature-or single house legislature • Elected by the people, PA and GA adopted these frameworks
What were Early State Governments like? • Conservative Patriots • distrusted the common people and wanted to preserve most colonial institutions • Bicameral legislature- lawmaking body with 2 houses, Senate and House of Representatives • Had a strong governor, balanced out power between wealthy and commoners • Senate-for the “well educated” elites, House- for the commoners • NY and MA adopted these frameworks
What were Early State Governments like? • Even Conservative State Constitutions expanded political participation • Voters chose both houses • Voters elected their governors • Democratic and Conservative Patriots disagreed on who should vote • Democratic Patriots believed everyone should vote as long as you paid taxes • PA- all men 21 or older who paid any taxes • In most states Conservative Patriots kept the old property requirements • Adams- believed political equality was foolish and unworthy • Theory and practice excluded slaves and women
What were Early State Governments like? • Freedom of Religion • American Revolution expanded the idea of religious liberty • Some states collected taxes to support an established church • After the Revolution religious liberty and pluralism became the norm • Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom of 1786 • drafted by Thomas Jefferson • promoted religious freedom in VA • most states followed VA’s lead • Massachusetts and Connecticut were the exception they continued to support churches with tax collected money • Drew fire from Methodists and Baptists
What were the Articles of Confederation? • Articles of Confederation • 1777, drafted in Continental Congress • Confederation: is a league or alliance of states that agreed to work together • led by John Dickinson of PA • A loose confederation of 13 states, rather than a strong, centralized nation • Reflected the principles of the Declaration of Independence and rejected the the centralized power of the British Empire as a threat to American liberty
What were the Articles of Confederation? • Structure • Federal=national • Congress of delegates chosen by state legislatures, not by voters • States could choose to send as many or as little delegates (up to 7) as they wished, no matter how many delegates each state only had one vote • Large VA had no more power than tiny RI • Congress also had to enforce the laws they wanted to implement • No President or executive Branch, enforcement was spread out among the several committees of the Congress • Given no way to enforce anything
What were the Articles of Confederation? • Powers • Mostly External • Declare and conduct War • Negotiate Peace • Regulate Foreign Affairs • Administer Relations with Native Americans • Could NOT • Raise money through taxes • Relied on contributions from states • Had no way to force states to comply
What were the Articles of Confederation? • How to Change • Minor Issues- 7 states could pass a law • Major Issues- 2/3rds majority (9) needed to approve • Amending or changing the Articles needed unanimous vote to approve any changes • 1781, the colonies passed the Articles of Confederation
How did the new Congress handle the Western Lands? • Northwest Territory • Lay North of the Ohio River, West of PA to the Mississippi • Sold land to Speculators and farmers Congress hoped to raise revenue and spread American ideals westward • 1784 • Western lands began to escape the government’s control • Hundreds of settlers already crossed the river and made their own farms • Settlers provoked war with Native Americans and Congress could not afford to defend them • Congress feared that settlers would secede from the Union and look to Britain or Spain for protection
How did the new Congress handle the Western Lands? • Land Ordinance of 1785 • Law passed by the Confederation Congress that designed a system for distributing the western lands • Divided the land into hundreds of townships, each 6 square miles • Each township was then divided into 36 section of one square mile (640 acres) • Each section was to be sold for one dollar per acre • Most farmers could not afford the $640 so most of the land went to wealthy speculators • Congress often time violated their own law • Sold land to wealthy speculators for as low $.10 an acre • 1787- The Ohio Company
How did the new Congress handle the Western Lands? • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 • Provided a government for the western territories based on Thomas Jefferson’s idea • Territorial Government • Governor, Secretary and Three Judges • Enjoy liberties such as: Freedom of Religion, Trial by Jury, and Habeas Corpus • at 5000 men • Establish an elected assembly • at 60,000 men • could apply for statehood in the union with the same footing as the original 13 states • needed to adopt a republican constitution • Led to the admission of the Midwestern States: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota • Also barred slavery in these new states rather than slave states
How did the new Congress handle the Western Lands? • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 • Barring slavery was alarming to Southern States who wanted to expand slavery • American government rejected the idea of keeping the colonies in permanent subordination • All this freedom came at the expense of the Native Americans
Was it peaceful under the Articles of Confederation? • Spain and Britain did not take the new United States seriously • Spain • Never like American Independence and did not trust American westward expansion • To discourage barred American trade Spain barred American settlers access to New Orleans • Britain • In the treaty wanted to cultivate goodwill with Americans, 1783 • One year later, abandoned goodwill and wanted to make the Americans pay for their Independence • Abandoned free trade for the mercantilist policies of the Navigation Acts • Hurt all colonies but the Congress was too weak to oppose Britain • Britain cut off American trade with the British West Indies
Was it peaceful under the Articles of Confederation? • Britain • embarrassed the American confederation by keeping their forts on the American side of the boundary • Cited American violations of the treaty to justify the holding of the forts • States blocked British attempts to reclaim debts and Loyalist property • Congress could not compel the states to honor the treaty • Congress also could not oppose British holding of the forts
Why were the Articles of Confederation so weak? • Economic Weaknesses • Congress could not: • Establish a common currency • Regulate Interstate Commerce • Levy taxes • Congress relied solely on contributions from the state and no way to have the colonies comply • Congress asked for 2.5 million to pay interest on debts only had $400,000 on hand • Congress attempted twice to amend the articles and twice one state balked and killed the amendment • 1782-RI • 1786-NY
Will things ever get better? • Economy • Unemployment was high due to lack of trade • Debts began to rise • British creditors began to pressure American importers • Importers began to pressure their debtors (farmers) • Farmers could not pay their creditors due to lack of cash from their crop prices being so low for their crops • Creditors took their debtor to court and debtor were thrown in prison and repossession • Shay’s Rebellion • 1786-87 farmers had enough, MA farmer Daniel Shay led an armed rebellion against the government to stop foreclosure hearings • MA government raised an army to suppress the revolt • Shay’s Rebellion made people realize that a strong central government was needed in order for the country to survive
Wrap Up • Early State Governments • Democratic Patriots v. Conservative Patriots • Where power lies and who could vote • Articles of Confederation • Structure and Powers • How to change • Northwest Territory • Land Ordinance of 1785 • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 • Spain and Britain relations • Weaknesses of the Articles
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Drafting the Constitution Section 2
What is the Constitutional Convention? • 1787 • Most Americans believed the Articles had major flaws • They believed: • 1. Congress should have the power to regulate interstate and international trade • 2. Congress should have the power to tax the people • Philadelphia, PA- PA State House (now known as Independence Hall) • 12 of 13 states chose to attend • RI declined to participate • Original intent was to amend the Articles • However delegates completely scrapped the Articles and created something new • Began in May 1787 • Proceedings were held in complete secret to allow delegates to speak freely
Who attended the Constitutional Convention? • Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were in Europe serving as ambassadors • Convention was meeting of many Revolutionary Soldiers, Generals and Leaders • George Washington-elected as President of the convention (VA) • Benjamin Franklin-eldest member of the Convention (PA) • Alexander Hamilton- orphan, immigrant, Revolutionary War Vet (NY), eventual first Secretary of the Treasury • not born in 13 states, born in West Indies • James Madison- VA statesmen, political scholar, eventual 4th President of US
Who is Alexander Hamilton? • Born: c. 1755/57 in Caribbean, Died 1804 New York • Came to NY to pursue an Education at King’s College (now known as Columbia University • Revolutionary War veteran • Served as General Washington’s Secretary and on the Frontlines (Yorktown) • Strong supporter of scrapping the Articles in favor of a strong, centralized federal government, modeled after Britain. • Favored a strong army and strong economy (by government taxation and regulation of trade--interstate and international) • Government should have elements of aristocracy and republicanism
Who is Alexander Hamilton? • Lawyer • First secretary of the treasury, “Father of American Capitalism” • Centralized War Debt, State Debt, established the national bank, Established the National Mint, US Coast Guard • Strong opponent of the whole institution of slavery • Opposed it as often as he could, in government and in the legal domain • Aaron Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel after losing the 1804 NY Gubernatorial (Governor) election • Hamilton supported opponent again, in 1800 Hamilton opposed Burr in the Presidential election, this allowed Hamilton’s arch rival Jefferson to win election • Hamilton didn’t want to duel but accepted out of honor, letters show that Hamilton was going to throw away his shot
Who is James Madison? • b. March 16th, 1751, d. June 28th, 1836 • Born into a wealthy VA planting family • During Revolutionary War served in VA House of Delegates and Continental Congress • “Father of the Constitution” • Key role in drafting and promoting Constitution • Strong supporter of a strong, central government but not a democracy but favored Republicanism • Wanted a strong republic government but not modeled after Great Britain • Rejected the idea that republics need to small and homogenous • Believed numerous interests would be the “savior of democracy” • Interests would “check” each other • Saw factions as beneficial to Republics and Democracies
What was the Virginia Plan? • Virginia Plan • Proposed by James Madison of VA • Created a strong, central, federal government • Powers (things Congress could do): • Levy taxes • Regulate commerce (internal and international) • Congress could veto any stat law for any reason • This was very similar to what Parliament did to colonial laws • Structure • Bicameral Legislature • House of Representatives and Senate • Both Houses were based on population • Gave immense power to bigger states (VA,NY, PA) over smaller states (NJ, CT and MD) • Three Branches of Government (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial) • Called for strong President--controlled armed forces, handled foreign relations and appointment of all judicial and Executive officies with approval of Senate only
What was the New Jersey Plan? • The New Jersey Plan • proposed by William Patterson of NJ • Only made small changes to the Articles of Confederation • Favored by small states • Powers: • Gave Congress the power to tax • Allowed Congress to regulate trade • Structure • Unicameral legislature • Based on Equality, each state got one vote • Retained the Executive committees • No separate executive of judicial branch • State retained their sovereignty only lost sovereignty where powers were granted to Congress • The states would remain a loose confederation
What was the Great Compromise/Connecticut Compromise? • Great Compromise/Connecticut Compromise • proposed by Roger Sherman of CT • Hybrid of the Virginia and New Jersey plans • Powers: • Gave Congress the power to tax • Allowed Congress to regulate trade
What was the Great Compromise/Connecticut Compromise? • Great Compromise/Connecticut Compromise • Structure of the Government • Bicameral legislature • House of Representatives-based on population (made large states happy) • Senate- based on equality, each state get two senators=two votes (made small states happy) • Three Branches of Government • Legislative (HoR and Sen.), Executive (independent of Legislative, equally as strong) and Judiciary (independent of two other branches) • Congress could not: • Veto state laws • Huge concession made by Madison
What is federalism? • Federalism: government power was divided between the state and the federal government • Federal government could not veto state laws • States could not print own money or provided debtors’ relief at the expense of creditors • This division allowed states to subject to a strong central government but allowed a good degree of autonomy as well
How was slavery addressed in the Constitution? • Slavery was a controversial issue during the convention • North v. South • Southern states feared Northern dominance because North had more free people • Demanded Constitutional protections of slavery • Slavery was “essential” to Southern Economy and Society • South Carolina and Georgia threatened to walk out with out any protections for slavery • Hamilton opposed slavery and did not want to protect it • Madison disliked slavery (still owned slaves himself) • Madison had three securities put into the constitution to placate Southern states
How did the Constitution protect Slavery? • Three Protections were instituted in the Constitution to protect slavery • 1. Congress could block or prohibit the importation of slaves until 1808 • GA and SC would import 100,000 more slaves by 1808 • 2. Three-Fifths Compromise: coutned each slave as three-fifths of a person and added that the states free population for allocation of seats in House of Representatives and votes in Electoral College • Gave more power to Southern States in House and Presidential Elections • Northern delegates preferred only free populations be counted • More free people in Northern States • 3. Fugitive slaves laws, committed all states to return runaway slaves to their owners, so running away did not technically free any slaves any more
What was left out of Constitution? • Constitution purposefully left out protections for individual liberties • Many state constitutions adopted a “Bill of Rights” • As SC delegate Charles C. Pinckney said: • “Such bills generally begin with declaring that all men are by nature born free. Such a declaration would come with very bad grace when large part of our consists in men who are actually born slaves.” • Unlike Declaration of Independence Constitution did not declare that all men are created equal • Not until 14th amendment after Civil War will everyone be seen as equal
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Ratifying the Constitution Section 3
Did everyone accept the New Constitution? • No • Americans were were deeply divided over ratification or official approval Constitution • Chiefly among economic lines • In Favor:known as the Federalists • Stressed the weakness of the Articles and argued that only the new government could face the challenges of a new nation • Lawyers, Merchants, wealthy men • Stood to gain power in new federal government • People who live in the cities and seaports • Hurt by the economic depression under the Articles • Artisans • Hurt the worst by the economic depression under the articles
Did everyone accept the New Constitution? • In Favor: known as Federalists • Newspapers • Based in seaports and readership and ownership supported Constitution • Frontier Farmers • Believed strong, central government would be able deal with hostile Native Americans as well as British in frontier forts • Key Endorsers • George Washington, Benjamin Franklin • two of the most popular men in America • James Madison, Alexander Hamilton
Did everyone accept the New Constitution? • In Opposition: known as Anti-Federalists • Denounced the new Constitution as a retreat from Liberty • Especially disliked the lack of a Bill of Rights • Believed the Constitution did not protect our basic liberties from government power • Non-frontier Farmers were in opposition of Constitution • Feared that new government would not protect debtor relief measures of the states • Successful state politicians • feared losing their power to strong federal government • Key AntiFederalists • Samuel Adams, John Hancock, George Clinton (NY), Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry of VA
How was the Constitution ratified? • Unlike the Articles, the framers made it much easier to ratify by only requiring nine states to suffice for ratification • The delegates knowing that the states would not approve the new Constitution (states are losing a lot of power in the US Constitution) • Delegates called for special ratifying conventions to approve the constitution • In all conventions the Constitution was hotly debated • The Federalists were far more organized than AntiFederalists which allowed Federalists to succeed
How was the Constitution ratified? • The Federalist • Series of 85 essays • In NY the Constitution needed an extra boost for ratification • Written by three leading Federalist: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and Jon Jay • They pointed out key points of the Constitution that the Anti Federalists feared • Separation of Powers-Three Branches of Governments • Prevent concentration of power • Checks and Balances • Would prevent one branch from gaining to much power • Argued States were the real threats to liberty lacked checks and balances
How was the Constitution ratified? • The Federalists won five quick victories in ratification conventions • Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut • Federalists only needed 4 victories in the remaining 8 states • Anti-Federalists were going to fight in the remaining states • In MAFederalists had to make 2 key concessions to sway moderate Anti-Federalists • 1. John Hancock, governor of MA, was hinted a promise of being the nation’s Vice President • 2. Promised to pass key amendments in a Bill of Rights • The promise of the Bill of Rights helped swayed the remaining states to reach nine
How was the Constitution ratified? • NY and VA were not the first 9 to ratify • The delegates knew that the new republic would not last long without VA and NY • VA narrowly passed ratification • Patrick Henry strongly opposed • NY only ratified when Hamilton threatened New York City’s succession from the state to join the New Union • With 11 states the first government was convened in New York City, March 4th, 1789 • RI and NC initially rejected the Constitution • In the newly elected Congress Madison drafted the Bill of Rights • A great first step but Madison left out key provision of equality for all
What are the Principles of the new Constitution? • The Constitution has 6 guiding Principles that serve as a symbol of freedom for Americans and all who live under a representative government • 1.Popular Sovereignty: all government power comes from the people. All political authority comes from the people. • 2. Limited Government: The powers of the government are specifically stated. • Rule of Law • Government leaders are not above the law
What are the Principles of the new Constitution? • 3. Separation of Powers: specific branches are very distinct powers and responsibilities • Legislative (Congress)- Makes the laws, controls the money • Executive (President/VP)- Enforces the laws, commands the armed forces and deals with foreign powers • Judicial (Supreme Court/Federal Courts)- Interprets the Constitution, enforces the laws, and tries criminals arrested by the Executive Branch • 4. Federalism: The Federal Government and State Governments share power
What are the Principles of the new Constitution? • 5. Checks and Balances: Each branch of government has the power to limit the other two • Ex. Congress can make laws, however the President can veto them • Congress can also override Presidential Veto • Ex. President can make treaties but the Senate must approve them • Ex. President appoints Supreme Court Justices but they serve for life, “insulating” them from politics • Ex. Congress and President pass a law, the Supreme Court can nullify a law through interpretation • Ex. The courts can find someone guilty, the President can pardon them
What are the Principles of the new Constitution? • 6.Representative Government: Citizens elect representatives to govern for them • Feared direct democracy as mob rule • Created Indirect Democracy • Citizens elected representatives to the House directly • Senators were chosen by state legislatures • now Senators are chosen directly • Electoral College • Group of persons chosen from each state to elect the President • Electors would be chosen by the State legislatures or the states could choose to let the people elect the President
How has the Constitution endured? • The Constitution is often ambiguous and vague when confronted with issues • Therefore two interpretations emerged and still endure to this day • Strict interpretation/Narrow interpretation • Constitution should be interpreted strictly and narrowly • This was meant to restrict to power of the federal government • This was the interpretation of Anti-Federalists like Thomas Jefferson • Broad interpretation/Open Interpretation • Constitution should be read broadly and openly • This was meant to allow the power of the federal government when necessary • This was the interpretation of Federalist like George Washington