Georgia Constitution of
1777

 It is based upon the Principles of the Declaration of
Independence
 It was not a constitution capable of supporting the
realistic needs of governing a state.
 It had three branches of government:
 Legislative
 Executive
 Judicial
Georgia Constitution of
1777

 Features of the Constitution
 Most Power was given to the Unicameral (onehouse) legislature.
 The legislature appointed the members of the
executive branch, including the state governor
 The legislature also appointed members of the judicial
branch
Georgia Constitution of
1777

 Governor served a one-year term.
 A superior court was created for each county
 Georgia citizens had many freedoms:
 Freedom of the press
 Freedom of Religion
 Trial by jury
Georgia Constitution of
1777

 Strengths
 Separation of the government branches
 Protection of basic rights
Georgia Constitution of
1777

 Weaknesses
 Legislature has too much power.
 Electing the governor, his council, and all state
officials
 The legislature had only one house - No check on its
power
 A one-year term limited the governor’s effectiveness.
Georgia constitution of
1777

 The constitution was not ratified by a vote of the
people; therefore, it did not represent their interests.
 With all of its weaknesses, it was still the state’s
constitution for 12 years
Question?

The Constitution of 1777 gave a lot
of power to the legislature (which
typically upholds the rights of the
people), and not to the governor.
Why do think that was such an
important issue in 1777?
Articles of
Confederation

 Foundation of the new government
 Written at first with a strong central government
 Many states apposed this idea
 They just got their freedom; they didn’t want to give it
away to a controlling national government.
Articles of
Confederation

 So… they provided a weak central government and
gave the states a lot of authority over their own
affairs.
 This was based upon their experience with the British
monarchy.
 It had too many limitations that kept the government
from running smoothly.
Articles of
Confederation

 Power the government had under the Articles of
Confederation.




Declare war
Coin money
Establish Post Offices
Send and recall Ambassadors
Articles of
Confederation

 Power the government did not have under the
Articles of Confederation.
 Levy (impose) taxes to fund the government (they had
to ask the states for support.)
 Could not regulate the trade between states. (States
could put tariffs on each other.)
 Could not raise an army without the states’
permission, leaving the country defenseless.
Articles of
Confederation

 Group Activity:
On your desk you will find instructions for each team
member, 4 incidents report case studies, 4 incident reports,
and 4 graphic organizers.
 Each member of the team needs to read one incident report
and complete the case study.
 Each member needs to share with the rest of the team what
he/she discovered in his/her case study.
 As a team, the members will fill out the graphic organizer,
using what you learned through the case studies.
 Individually, each member will answer the question on the
instruction sheet.
Articles of
Confederation

 Serious weaknesses of the AOC:
 Strong legislative branch, no executive or judicial
branch (no court system to settle disputes.)
 Each state had its own currency
 Congress could make laws but could not force the
states to comply with them
 One vote per state no matter the size of the state’s
population.
A Limping Government

 It soon became clear that the national government
was too weak.
 “a half-starved, limping government” - George
Washington
 States argued over borders and trade, and Congress
had no power to stop them
 Foreign governments did not know who to deal with
– USA or individual states.
 It became clear; we needed something else
Constitutional Convention

 In September of 1786, Alexander Hamilton and
James Madison called a meeting for the states to
discuss their disagreements.
 Only 5 representatives came
 Another meeting was scheduled for May 1787
Constitutional Convention

 Their intention was to revise the AOC, but they
wound up throwing it out altogether
 They wrote the Constitution of the United States.
 Georgia appointed six delegates to the Constitutional
Convention.
Constitutional Convention

 Two did not attend
 Two left early
 Two stayed and signed
 Abraham Baldwin
 William Few
Constitutional Convention

 Compromises during the constitutional convention
 Three-fifths Compromise: agreed upon by the north
and south which allowed for slaves to count toward a
state’s overall population by counting slaves as 3/5 of
a person
 Why?
Constitutional Convention

 Great Compromise: created a bicameral (two-house)
legislature where each state had two members in the
Senate but representation in the House of
Representatives is based on the state’s population.
 Abraham Baldwin helped develop the Great
Compromise
Constitutional
Convention

 Smaller states were worried that they would not get
equal representation.
 The Great Compromise made it fair for both the
larger and smaller states.
Georgia’s Role at the
Constitutional Convention

 Georgians supported a strong central government.
 To protect them from a threatened Indian war and
from the Spanish who had regained possession of
Florida.
 To ensure that a centralized government would
improve trade regulations (Savannah and coastal
regions)
Georgia’s Role continued…

 William Few represented Georgia well by casting
important nationalist votes during critical times at
the convention.
 He also worked hard to make sure the U.S.
constitution was approved by the Constitutional
Congress and by his home state.
 Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the U.S.
Constitution on January 2, 1788.