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The New Nation. Articles of Confederation. The Second Continental Congress directed the colonies during the war, but had no real authority or mandate to do so. States had real powers: coin money raise and maintain armies and navies collect and levy taxes erect tariffs
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Articles of Confederation • The Second Continental Congress directed the colonies during the war, but had no real authority or mandate to do so. • States had real powers: • coin money • raise and maintain armies and navies • collect and levy taxes • erect tariffs • To legitimize authority, the Second Continental Congress drafted a written constitution that had to be ratified by all 13 states – called the Articles of Confederation
The Articles had two major problems: • no power to control commerce • no power to levy taxes These powers were left to the individual states
A major issue was what to do with the land in the Ohio River Valley. Many states had claims and others didn’t – so who would control it? The state or national government? • A compromise was reached through the Northwest Ordinanceand Land Ordinance • The states were now content and the Articles were unanimously ratified
Northwest Ordinance • Forbade slavery in new territories • Set a procedure how a territory could become a state
Land Ordinance • All lands claimed by individual states had to be turned over to national government • All lands sold to the public would be revenue to pay for the national debt from the Revolution • All land would be surveyed and mapped before any public auction would take place • Set aside specific areas in the new territories for public education
Shay’s Rebellion Small farmers in Massachusetts began losing their farms to banks because they couldn’t pay their taxes or meet mortgage payments. One reason was that many of them had not been paid back pay for their military service during the War. A delegation of farmers approached the state legislature for relief but were unsuccessful. Led by Daniel Shays, these farmers took over many courts and a federal arsenal. The national government struggled to raise an army to put the rebellion down but eventually did. Importance – renewed interest in need for a strong central government
The Constitutional Convention Delegates were called to Philadelphia in 1787 to REVISE the Articles of Confederation. • all states but Rhode Island attended. • delegates from American “aristocracy” – NO middle or lower class representation Primary motives: • preserve the United States • stop anarchy They secretly wrote a new constitution against the orders of the Second Continental Congress because they couldn’t effectively amend the Articles of Confederation.
Ratification of the New Constitution Rather than unanimous acceptance, the Convention adopted a two-thirds ratification rule. Ratification would be done through specially elected constitutional conventions in each state. Federalist Papers: • Written by Jay, Hamilton, and Madison • Collection of essays in favor of the new Constitution in New York newspapers to muster support for ratification
Problems with ratification: • Rhode Island and North Carolina refused to ratify – Congress had to threaten them with a high tariff to get them to ratify. • US was on its second constitution in a dozen years with little domestic and foreign confidence in the American government. Some compromises were built in the Constitution to promote ratification.
Two New Plans • VIRGINIA PLAN • Give power to federal government • Bicameral (2 groups) • Legislatures chosen based on state’s population. • NEW JERSEY PLAN • Give power to federal government • Unicameral (1 group) • Legislatures chosen equally for each state.
Great Compromise • Great Compromise – compromise reached was a bi-cameral legislature with representation in House by population and in the Senate equally • large state plan – representation by population • small state plan – representation should be equal
3/5s Compromise • Three-Fifths Compromise – compromise reached was slaves would be counted as 3/5s of a person • South said slaves should be counted into their population, but North said no • It was agreed that slavery would be abolished 20 years after ratification of the Constitution.
Interpretation of the Constitution Thomas Jefferson – strict interpretist (constructionist) • national government should exercise no powers that are not specifically granted in the Constitution • all unspoken powers are reserved for the state governments Alexander Hamilton – loose interpretist (constructionist) • cited elastic clause of the Constitution – Congress may pass any laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its granted powers
Political Parties Constitution doesn’t provide for political parties. Political parties resulted from ideological clash between Jefferson and Hamilton: • interpretation of Constitution • financial policy • foreign policy Federalists– led by Hamilton: • strong centralgovernment • positive relations with England • favored upper class Democrat-Republicans – led by Jefferson: • strong state government • positive relations with France • favored common man
Early Problems • Difficulties for the new government: • constitutional interpretation • economic stability • foreign relations • how to avoid war • political precedents
Compare And Contrast • Aricles of Confederation • Constitution Create a Venn Diagram to Compare and Contrast the two!!!!
