The American Revolution?
•
Radical?
•
Social?
•
Different money
•
Tariffs on each other
•
Everyone hated us
Spain was especially furious!
•
Why?
–
US owed them money
–
What is Florida’s boundary?
•
Took away our “right of deposit”
The World’s Ugly Duckling!
Articles of Confederation
• Executive branch-NO
• Legislative Branch– Yes, but weak
• Judicial Branch-NO
Two Far-reaching Pieces of Legislation
•
Land Ordinance of 1785
•
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Land Ordinance of 1785
•
Townships
•
1600 acres
–
#16
•
EDUCATION
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
•
Statehood
•
No slavery
•
Equal to others
Maryland VS. Virginia?
Were we united?

•
Who owns the Potomac River?
•
Virginia had oyster beds
•
Maryland needed it for trade
•
BOOM BOOM!
•
CRUNCH CRUNCH!
Mount Vernon Conference
Alexander Hamilton
•
West Indies
•
Bastard son of James Hamilton
•
Moved to USA in his teens
•
School
•
Lawyer
•
Aide to Washington during the Revolutionary War
Great, let’s all get together!
Annapolis Conference
•
Annapolis, Maryland, Sept, 1786
•
Delegates of five states to discuss interstate commerce
–
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia
•
No quorum
•
Meet again in May in Philly!
Shay’s Rebellion
•
Massachusetts
–
Needed money to pay off the debt incurred in the American Revolution
•
Captain Daniel Shay
•
Massachusetts
–
-Appealed to the Article government
–
Took care of it themselves
Philadelphia Convention
55 Men
•
What kind of men?
–
Moderates
–
Elite
–
Propertied
–
Educated

–
Range of ages from 26-82
Who was not there?
•
Rhode Island
•
Radicals
•
Tom Paine
•
Sam Adams
•
Patrick Henry
Let’s get this show on the road!
•
We need to start from scratch.
•
SHH!
Virginia is first!
•
Virginia Plan
•
Randolph Plan
•
Big State Plan
–
Executive branch
–
Legislative branch
–
Judicial branch
New Jersey is next!
•
Representation would be equal for each state!
Let’s go home.
•
Fight over legislative branch
This is not working.
•
New Jersey Plan
– four days
– larger states rejected it
•
Virginia Plan
– two weeks
The Great Compromise
Hurray Roger Sherman!
•
Legislature will be bicameral
•
One house will have equal representation
– chosen by the state legislatures
–
Indirect election
•
One house is based on population of the state

– elected by the people directly
What is population?
•
South-
–
Everyone
Slavery is wrong!
•
Not brought up
•
WHY?
–
Needed the Southern approval of the Constitution
•
20 years- International slave trade is history!
The players are:
•
Executive branch
•
Legislative branch
•
Judicial branch
Executive Branch
•
He or she must be a natural-born citizen of the United States
•
35 years of age
•
Have resided in the United States for at least 14 years
•
Serves a term of four years
•
Elected indirectly by the Electoral College
•
Makes sure that the laws of the United States are obeyed
•
Senate
–
6 years
–
Indirectly voted into office
•
House of Representatives
Legislative Branch
–
2 years
–
Directly voted into office
•
Chief function is to make laws
Judicial Branch
• United States court of appeals
– 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits
• United States district courts
– Trial courts of the federal court system

• United States Bankruptcy Courts
– Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases
• Supreme Court-MOST VISIBLE!!!!
Supreme Court
–
9 men or women
–
Appointed to office and approved by Senate
–
Life time
–
Interprets the law
–
Each year hears a limited number of the cases it is asked to decide
Checks and Balances
•
No one branch has more power than the other
•
Examples…
The Elastic Clause
•
Anything deemed necessary and proper for the government to continue running, is OK
•
Do we need a bill of rights?
•
NO!– It’s time to go home!