The Confederation and the Constitution

1. The Confederation and the Constitution

2. First National Government • The Second Continental Congress served as our nation’s government for 5 years from July 4th, 1776 – March 1, 1781 • 2nd CC fought a war, borrowed money, raised armies, created a money system, made treaties and worked as both the legislative and executive power

3. State Constitutions • Continental Congress of 1776 had states draft new constitutions and break their royal charters • Massachusetts created a lasting example by calling a constitutional convention and public ratification • Most of the State constitutions shared many similar features: popular sovereignty, limited government, civil rights and liberties, and separation of powers • Most had an annual election of legislatures and weak executive and judicial branches

4. Articles of Confederation • Adopted by Congress in 1777 and ratified by the states in 1781 • Several states had land rights from the Appalachians Mts. To the Mississippi river • States agreed that the ceded land went to the central government • New states would be admitted to the Union on terms of complete equality • New states would look toward the central government for leadership

5. Articles of Confederation • The thirteen states were linked together by a loose agreement to Congress • Each state had 1 vote in Congress • To pass a law dealing all states had to be ratified by 9 of 13 states • To change the Articles, an amendment ratification of 100% • The A of C deliberately made the central government weak • No taxing ability; states volunteered to pay • No ability to pass laws for commerce and trade

6. Weaknesses of the Articles • Congress did not have the power to tax • States often refused to support the central government, printed money and made treaties with foreign countries without the approval of Congress • States started competing and mistrusting one another • Economic chaos spread as prices rose, debts increased and weren’t paid

7. Equality? • Separation of church and state caused a de-anglicized church reformed as the Episcopal Church • Several northern states abolished slavery but did not force abolition in the new nation; freed slaves were discriminated against • Women did not receive equality • Women were entrusted with the moral education of the youth

8. Economics before RevolutionHow it worked • Farmer would turn over a part of his crop to the local dry goods shop to pay his bill • Shopkeeper would send the crops to Boston (major city) to satisfy his creditors • Boston merchant would ship his goods to a foreign market to sell and send the proceeds to pay off debts to the London trading house that had sent the merchant the manufactured goods that he had distributed to the small-town shopkeepers on credit. No money changed hands!

9. Economics – Post Revolution • American ships were banned from British Harbors • Inflation ruined many citizens • Merchants could trade with foreign countries or needed cash to trade with Britain • Some war-baby American industries struggled to get off the ground

10. Land! • The Land Ordinance of 1785 allowed the northwest to be sold to help pay the national debt • Towns of 6 miles square; then 36 squares of 1 mile (16th square for schools) • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 • 2 territorial phases controlled by the federal government • Population 60,000 can apply for statehood • No slavery in new states

12. Shays’ Rebellion • Massachusetts, 1786, Captain Daniel Shays led a a successful assault on the courthouse in Springfield, Massachusetts • Back country farmers were losing their farms through mortgage foreclosures • Shays wanted paper money, lighter taxes and no property takeovers • An armed conflict at Springfield arsenal • The rebellion was put down

13. Effects • Daniel Shay escaped to Vermont • The “merchant party” was voted out of the Massachusetts legislature and the new legislature slashed taxes by 90% • John Hancock became governor of Mass. • Hancock pardoned Shays and his men • Shays’ rebellion exposed the need of a strong central government and ammunition for nationalists calling for a new constitutional convention

14. Problems with the Confederation • The National government: • Did not regulate interstate commerce • Could not levy taxes • Could not raise an army • Could not pay their debt A convention had to held to revise the Articles of Confederation.

15. The Divided Convention • 55 men representing all the states, except Rhode Island, attended the convention in Philadelphia from May-September 1787 (the “Founding Fathers”) • The Virginia plan (bicameral legislation) • 2 house legislature (one based on pop; the upper house elected by the state legislatures • Southern and small states were worried about fair representation and proposed the New Jersey plan where all states had equal representation

16. The Great or Connecticut Compromise • The upper house would be represented with 2 members per state • The chief executive (President) would be elected by an Electoral College • Each state has as many electors as it has senators and representatives combined • The Judicial powers in the constitution helped create a system of checks and balances

17. 3/5 Compromise and others • The lower house would be based on population w/each slave counted as 3/5 a person for representation and taxation • Slave trade could continue until 1807 • Every tax bill had to originate in the House • On July 6, 1787, the convention accepted the proposal with 38/55 delegates approving • Thus began an uphill battle to have each state ratify the new constitution

18. Federalists • The delegates at Philadelphia didn’t amend the Articles of Confederation, they created a new government which created passionate debates • Proponents of the new constitution were called “Federalists” • Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote a series of articles supporting the new government that was put together in a book called the “Federalist Papers”

19. Antifederalists • Critics and opponents of the constitution were called antifederalists • They believed that the constitution betrayed the revolutionary ideas by establishing a strong central government • They also noted the constitution had no bill of rights which was needed to define what the government was trying to protect

21. Ratification • Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey ratified the constitution immediately • Virginia ratified after a close vote of 89 to 87 and a promise of a bill of rights; New York 30 to 27 • New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify the Constitution on June 21, 1788 • New government would start on March 4, 1789

22. Launching the New Ship of State

23. Bill of Rights • George Washington became president and John Adams vice president on April 30, 1789 • Congress passed 12 amendments but the states ratified 10 • 9 were freedoms; 10th reserved all other powers of government to the states

24. Courts and Cabinet • Judiciary Act of 1789 – Congress established a Supreme Court with a chief justice and 5 associate judges; 13 district courts • Supreme court has final decision in the constitutionality of state laws • 1st Congress created state department, treasury and war • Offices of attorney general and postmaster general

25. Washington’s Cabinet • Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson • Secretary of War: Henry Knox • Secretary of Treasury: Alexander Hamilton • Postmaster: Samuel Osgood • Attorney General: Edmund Randolph

26. The Treasury underAlexander Hamilton • Hamilton convinced Congress to “fund at par” • The federal government would pay off its debts plus interest • He assumed the states debts of $21.5 million • By the federal assumption of debt, created the need for the federal government to succeed

27. Hamilton v. Jefferson • Hamilton proposed the bank of the United States • Federal funds would stimulate business, print money and hold surplus’ • Jefferson opposed Hamilton’s bank because it wasn’t stated as a Constitutional power of the federal gov. • Hamilton believed in a loose interpretation (implied meaning) of the Constitution • Hamilton swayed congress establishing the bank in 1794

28. Political Parties • Hamilton and his followers were seen as an overbearing political majority (Federalist Party) • Hamilton had rewarded his supporters with appointments and governmental franchises • To oppose the federalists, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and others created the Republican party • The republicans developed enough support to influence local and state elections • This is known as “the first party system”

29. Whiskey Rebellion • 1794 small farmers in Pennsylvania began terrorizing tax collector’s refusing to pay an excise tax • President Washington personally led troops into Pittsburgh and the rebellion collapsed • The federal government won the allegiance of frontiers people • Vermont became the 14th state, Kentucky in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796

30. Neutrality • The new United States had trouble establishing legitimacy with foreign nations • 1793 – The new French government went to war with Britain; Washington remained neutral • 1794 – British ships seized American ships trading in the French Indies • Hamilton persuaded Washington to send John Jay to London

31. Jay’s Treaty and Pinckney’s Treaty • 1794 – John Jay settled the conflict with a treaty (Jay’s Treaty) that established a commercial relationship with Britain • Thomas Pinckney traveled to Spain and negotiated a treaty that: • Allowed US ships to navigate the Mississippi river • Fix the boundary of Florida (31st parallel) • Spanish had to prevent Indian raids into Georgia

32. Election of 1796 • Jefferson was uncontested for the Republicans • Hamilton was the leader of the Federalists but they chose John Adams • A faction wanted Thomas Pinckney; Adams won by 3 electoral votes • Jefferson became Vice-President (12th Amendment fixed this problem)

33. 1796 Election 1796 Presidential Election Results

34. The Quasi War with France • French relations deteriorated • France captured American ships on the high seas and refused to recognize American ambassadors • French officials demanded a bribe before negotiations (XYZ Affair) • French insults were published in American newspapers

35. The Quasi War with France • Adams cut off trade, authorized American vessels to capture French vessels, and became a virtual ally of Britain • By 1800, Napoleon met with the US delegates and renegotiated the treaty of 1778 • The US had freed itself from the revolutionary treaties with France

36. Alien and Sedition Acts • In order to deal with Republican opposition, Federalists pushed through the most controversial laws • Naturalization Act (June 1798) – raised the prerequisite for citizenship from 5 to 14 years • Alien Act (June 1798) – put restrictions on those who wish to be American citizens allowed the president to deport those aliens he deemed as dangerous • The Sedition Act (July 1798) – allowed the government to persecute libelous or treasonous activities • Republicans viewed this as a way to destroy them since most were new immigrants

37. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions • Republicans tried for reversals in the state legislatures • Jefferson wrote legislation adopted by Kentucky and James Madison’s version for Virginia • Uses John Locke’s argument that government was formed by a contract with certain delegated powers • Undelegated powers were “void” • Republicans never won wide spread nullification but politically divided the country

38. 1800 Election • First election where defamation of character was campaigned against both parties • Jefferson would be elected but the Constitution called for an elector to cast one vote for president and one for vice-president • Aaron Burr and Jefferson tied • In the House of Representatives, Hamilton hated Burr; persuading the Federalists to vote Jefferson; 36 ballots later, Jefferson was elected President

39. Election Results 1800

40. Federalists Die Hard • The Federalists controlled the Congress • Since the newly elected Congress was republican, the “lame duck” Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 • Adams appointed Federalist judges called the “midnight appointments” on his last day in office

41. Jefferson’s PresidentialRole • Jefferson’s presidential transfer of power was relatively peaceful (the first political party overturn) • This was remarkable considering the partisan party bitterness that agitated Adam’s presidency • Jefferson made few changes, did replace a few public servants but kept many Federalist positions slowly transferring the power to the Democratic-Republicans • He did repeal the excise tax and turned the treasury over to Albert Gallatin who wanted to balance the budget

42. New Capital • Newly founded national capital: the city of Washington • Jefferson stayed at the presidential mansion; the capitol was at the end of Pennsylvania Ave upon what is known as “Capitol Hill”

43. Dollars and $hips • Jefferson abolished all internal taxes and government spending was cut to minuscule levels (debt: $83-$45 million) • Jefferson scaled down the Army and Navy but established West Point (1802) • Jefferson was forced to build up the Navy after the Barbary pirates required payment • 1805 – US and Tripoli reached an agreement to end payments of tribute and $60,000 ransom to release American prisoners

45. Conflict with the Courts • Now that the Republicans had control of the executive and legislative branches, they went after the judicial “midnight judges” • Legislation passed to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801 • Federalist’s maintained that the Supreme Court had the authority to nullify acts of Congress; but the courts hadn’t declared a law unconstitutional

46. Marbury v. Madison • William Marbury (one of the midnight appointments) failed to receive his commission • Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to hand over the commission • The court ruled that Marbury had right to the commission but Madison didn’t have to deliver it

47. The Real Effect of M v. M • The court declared that the Judiciary Act of 1789 expanded the courts power by making executive officials deliver commissions • By denying its own authority, Madison declared the act unconstitutional defining the Supreme Courts place as the interpreter of the constitution and enlarging their power to nullify laws

48. Impeachment of Samuel Chase • Jefferson targeted judicial federalists threatening to stop his policies • Congress proposed that judges can be impeached for obstructing the other branches of government • Samuel Chase was tried but Republicans could not get the 2/3 vote of the Senate • It helped establish that impeachment could not be a political weapon

49. Louisiana Purchase • Napoleon became 1st consul in 1801 and emperor in 1804 • Napoleon gave up his dreams of a French empire in the new world after Toussaint L’Ouverture led a rebellion in Santo Domingo • Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory for $15 million (3 cents an acre)

50. Louisiana Purchase