The Constitution and the New republic
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Deficiencies of the confederation Government(pg. 159)
o A decade earlier, the Americans had deliberately avoided creating a genuine national
government
 They feared that it would encroach on the sovereignty of the individual states
o 1787 they created a new government define by the constitution of the United States.
o American constitution derived most of its principles from the state documents
 One of the stablest and most successful government in the world
 American people thought the constitution took some of the characteristics of a
sacred document, a holy mystery.
 The constitution included Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and George
Washington.
 Constitution did not complete the creation of the republic
 Only define the terms in which debate over the future of government
would continue
Framing a new government(pg160)
o Mid-1780s- the confederation congress was so unpopular and ineffectual that they had
to move a lot of times.
o With great difficulty congress secured a quorum to ratify the treaty with Great Britain
ending the revolutionary war
o 18 member, 8 states voted on the northwest ordinance legislation
Advocates of centralization (pg160)
o They believed that they fought the revolutionary war to avert the danger of what they
considered remote and tyrannical authority
o Wanted to keep political power to the state where they could carefully and closely
control it
o 1780: wealthy people and powerful groups wanted a national government where they
can deal with the nation’s problems.
o American manufacturers
 Artisans and mechanics wanted to replace the various state tariffs with the
uniformly high national duty
 Merchants and shippers wanted to replace the thirteen different state
commercial policies with a single, national one.
 Land owners wanted the Indians to be removed from western tracts
 People who were owed money wanted to stop the states from issuing paper
money
 Investors in confederation securities wanted the government to fund the debt
and thus enhance the value of their securities.
o By 1786 many people wanted the confederation to change, but didn’t know how much
it would change by
o Alexander Hamilton- Political genius, New York lawyer, one time military aid to George
Washington
 Had been unhappy with the articles of confederation and the weak central
government they had created.
 Called for national convention take apart in the document
The Constitution and the New republic
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Founded important ally which helped him to persuade the Virginia legislation to
join an interstate conference to answer commercial questions
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Was held in Annapolis and only five states sent delegates to the meeting in
1786
 Hamilton representing New York recommended an idea and was approved
 Idea was for congress to call a convention to discuss how to help the
federal government meet demands for the union
o Didn’t think they would attract any interest
o Only with the support of George Washington did the
centralizers believe that they could prevail
o George Wash. Showed little interest in joining
 Was convinced to join when Shay’s rebellion started
A divided convention(pg162)
 May to September 1787: 55 men represented all states except Rhode
island came to one or more sessions of the convention
 later was known as the Founding Fathers
 convention unanimously chose George Washington to be the ruler of
the sessions
 decisions:
o Each state delegation only gets one vote
o Major decisions can be decided with majority
o Edmund Randolph proposed of a national government that has
supreme legislative, Executive, judiciary
o Confederation had no executive branch
o Approved the proposal with little debate
o The Virginia plan: called for new national legislature consisting
of two houses
 Lower house: Bigger the population the more
representative there are
 Upper house: were elected by people of the lower
house
 Small states hate the idea
 William Paterson from New Jersey submitted an
alternative to the Virginia plan
 Proposed a federal government than a national
government
 The New Jersey plan still made it so that each
state had equal representation
 Gave congress the power to tax and regulate
commerce
 Soon conceded an important point by agreeing that the
upper house should be elected by the state legislation
and not the lower house
The Constitution and the New republic
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And each state would always have one member in the
upper house
Compromise(pg162)
 July 2: Convention agreed to create a Grand committee
with a single delegate from each state
 Franklin will be the Chairman
 Committee made a proposal that was the basis of The
Great Compromise
 Proposal called for a legislature so that the state
can be represented in the lower house based on
population
 Each slave counted as 3/5ths of a free person to
determine the basis for representation and
taxation
 July 17, 1787: convention voted to accept the
compromise.
The constitution of 1787(pg163)
 James Madison- helped resolve two important
philosophical question
 The question of sovereignty and the question
of limiting power
o Question of sovereignty asks how both
the national government and the state
government exercise sovereignty at the
same time.
 Answer was that all power
flowed to the people and that
none of the governments were
truly sovereign
o Resolving the question of sovereignty
made distinct features of the
distribution of power
 Federal government- controls
tax, commerce, law, and
currency
 Constitution solved concentrated authority
o Afraid of creating a tyrannical
government
o Best way to avoid tyranny-keep
government close to people
Separation of powers(pg166)
o Madison said that large republic produce tyranny
o Many center of power
 Make large republic
The Constitution and the New republic
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 Help shape federal government
Government(pg166)
 Judicial, executive, and legislature branches
 Constantly compete with one another
 Senate and House of representative both
checking each
 President has power to veto acts
 Federal courts have protection against
executive and legislature
Federalists and Antifederalists (pg166)
 Philadelphia made a plan for different government
 New government would be made when nine of the 13
states agree with it
 No changes can be made until the constitution was
ratified by state
The federalist papers(pg167)
 Supporters of constitution-Federalists
 Had support of the Franklin and Washington
 Less committed to a Nationalist government
 Had support of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay
 Without powerful defense of the new
constitution anti fed repealed in crucial states.
The Antifederalist (pg167)
 Presented as defenders of the true principles of the
revolution
 Believed that constitution would betray
principle
 Believed they would establish a strong,
tyrannical center of power in national
government
o New government beliefs: increase
Taxes, obliterate states, wield
dictatorial power, favors well born over
other people, destroy individual liberty,
and lacked bill of right
 Government with central gov. creates
despotism.
 Wanted bill of rights
Debating the constitution(pg167)
 Federalist was afraid of chaos, disorder, and anarchy.
 Feared the power of the masses
 Wanted to create a government that function
distance from popular passions
 Anti-federate- afraid of danger of concentrated power
The Constitution and the New republic
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 Opposed the same reason the feds. Support it
 1787-1788 many states ratified and now possible for
constitution to go into effect
Completing the structure(pg168)
 First election was in early months of 1789
 Almost all senators and congressman favored
ratification
 No doubt that George Washington would be the first
president
 Many favored ratification because
 George Washington inaugurated in New York in April
30, 1789.
o Bill of rights(pg168)
 First congress= the continuation of the constitution
convention
 1789 most people agreed there should be a bill of rights
 12 approved by congress and 10 agreed by the states
 Nine placed limitations on congress
 Judiciary act of 1789 congress gave six members to the
supreme court 1 chief justice and 5 associate justices
o The Cabinet(pg168)
 First congress created three departments
 State, treasury and war
 Secretary of the treasury appointed to Hamilton by
Washington
 Secretary of war appointed to general Knox
 Attorney general was appointed to Randolph by
Washington
 Thomas Jefferson was secretary of state.
o Competing vision (pg168)
 One side want a strong national government
 Goal was to become a nation-state with
centralized authority
 Complex commercial economy
 Centralizers or federalists
 Should remain rural and agrarian
 Highly commercial or urban
 Central government of modest size
 12 years new government was in control by feds.
 Washington favored it
o Believed that president should remain
above political disagreements
 Hamilton became the secretary of treasury
 Hamilton’s belief
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Effective government should have people who
know what’s going on
o Needed the support of wealthy and
powerful people
 Federal should assume the debts from the
revolution
o Looked towards central governments
for payment
 Wanted a national bank
o Would create loans and currencies
Hamilton’s report on manufacturing
 Wanted two new taxes
o Tax on alcoholic liquor
o Tax on imports
 Protect American
manufacturing from
competition
o Fed. Offered an idea of how America
should become
Debating Hamilton’s program
 Old certificates were issued to merchants and
farmers for giving them war supplies
 Original holders had sold bonds during hard
time in 1780
 Madison wanted to divide the bonds to original
purchasers
 Hamilton disagreed and should pay bond
holders themselves
 Congress passed the funding bill Hamilton
wanted (national debt)
 Supporters struck bargain with Virginians to
pass the bill. (Debt to the federal gov.)
Location of the capital
 Capital moved from New York to Philadelphia
 Agreed to provide northern support if the
capital is in the south
 Capital now moved to Potomac river
Bank of the United states
 The B.U.S(bank of the united states) began in
1791
 Won supports of the population
 Many people profited from the program
 Small farmers had to pay tax burden
Establishment of the federalist party
The Constitution and the New republic
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Hamilton got so popular that the federalist
seemed like they felt threatened
 Had encourage formation of the local assoc.
 Seemed like federalists was creating a menacing
and tyrannical power
o Organized an opposition
 Called the republican party
o By 1790s republicans was went to
greater lengths than feds. to create a
system
o Republicans used more effort than
federalists
o Neither would concede
o This is called the first party system
 Differences over the French revolution
 French rev. grew more radical in 1790s
o Overthrew the monarchy and killed the
king and queen
o Federalist hated these action
o Republicans liked there spirit
 Most federalists were in commercial center in
the northeast
 Republican were most in rural area in the south
and west
 Washington favored feds. than republics
 Hamilton still a figure in government
 Whiskey rebellion
 1794- Farmer in west penn. Refused to pay
whiskey excise tax
o began terrorizing tax collectors
 Washington called out militia of three states
o Total of 15,000 men
o Led troops to penn.
o Rebellion quickly collapsed
o Federal gov. won allegiance of the
whiskey rebels
o Last of the original 13 states joined
union once bill of rights had been fixed
Native Americans and the new nation(pg172)
 Indians still fight back the republic’s claim to
lands
 Ordinance of 1784-1787 made conflict about
border with Indians
 Eventually defeated Indians
The Constitution and the New republic
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 West land for Indians or Americans?
 Indians and the constitution
 Did not know where to put the Indians nation
within the federal states
 Con. Barely mentions Indians
 Con. Thought the tribes as legal entities
 Not foreign nations or members of the united
states
o Maintaining neutrality
 1791 Britain sends in first minister to the US
o Madison was threatening to place trade
restriction
 1793 French went to war against Britain and its
allies
o American declared neutrality
 Citizen Genet
 American neut. Caused lots of problems
o Diplo. Repr. Edmond genet used
American ports to outfit French
warships
o Encourage American ship-owners to be
a French privateer
o Genet was ignoring Washington’s
policies
o Violating the neutrality act
o Washington demanded for the French
gov. to recall him
o Genet’s party had no power in France
 1794 royal navy seized American ships
Jays treaty and Pinckney’s treaty(pg174)
 Washington named jay as a commissioner to
England
 Instructed to secure compensation on the
British assault in America
o Jay’s treaty(pg174)
 Settled the conflict with Britain
 Set a commercial relationship with Britain
 American’s didn’t like the treaty
 In the end the treaty was passed
o Pinckney’s treaty
 American get the right to travel through the Mississippi
and deposit good to New Orleans
 Agreed to fix the northern boundary of Florida
 Needed Spanish authority to stop Indian raids
The Constitution and the New republic
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Washington’s Farewell Address(pg175)
 1797 Washington declared his retirement
 Hated the Republicans
 John Adams became the party’s nominee for president
 Federalists had majority of presidential electors
 Wanted Pinckney to be president and not Adams
 Jefferson became vice president
 Adams was president
o Divided federalists
 Adams wanted a divided party
 Hamilton remained the most influential Federalist
the quasi war with France (pg175)
 American relations with Britain and Spain improved but
the relations with France is decaying
 Thomas wanted war with France, but Hamilton and
Adams wanted conciliation
 Appointed a bipartisan- Charles Pinckney
 French wanted loan and bribe from French officials
 Pinckney rejected it
o The XYZ affair (pg176)
 Deleted the names of the three French agents
 Designating them a Messrs. X, Y, and Z
o France got mad
 US had an undeclared war with France for 2
years after the X, Y, and Z affair
o The Quasi war
 1798 congress created a department of the navy
 American began working with Britain and was an ally in
the war against France
 In the end France chose to talk to the united states
before conflict grew
 1800 Adams sent a commission to France
 Agreed to a treaty with the US and canceled old
agreements
Repression and protest (pg176)
o Alien and sedition acts
 Feds consider ways of taking out the republicans
 Alien Act:
 Placed challenges for foreigners who wish to be
in America
 The sedition act
 Allowed the government to prosecute who
engaged in sedition
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did not deport Aliens prevented gov. from making a
crusade on the republicans
 Alien act help discourage immigration
o The Virginia and Kentucky Resolution
 The republicans a theory with two resolution that can
reverse the alien and sedition acts
 Written by Jefferson and adopted by Kentucky
 Other one was drafted by Madison and approved by
Virginia
 Federal gov. was made by contract among the
states and got only entrusted power
 Republicans did not wide support of nullification
 Argument between Federalist and republican went to a
national crisis
The revolution of 1800
o The election of 1800
 Presidential candidates were the same as before,
Adams for the federalist and Jefferson for the
republican
 Adams and Jefferson had dignity but supporters didn’t
 Federalists and republican was very competitive on
letting their guy win
 At the end Jefferson was elected president
o The Judiciary act(pg 178)
 Only federal government left was the judiciary
 Judiciary act of 1801:
 feds. decreased number in supreme court by one
 increased federal judgeships as a whole
Crash course:
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1788 was the year of the first presidential election
The article of confederation was bad and lasted only 10 years
Article of conf. says that the government has one house body of delegate and had only one vote
No president and no judiciary
Required 9 of the 13 votes of the state to pass a decision
Congress was limited on what they can do
Can declare war, conduct foreign affairs and make treaties
Coin money, can’t collect tax
Need 13 out of the 13 states to amend the article
Indians signed treaty to surrender land north of the ohio river
Northwest ordinance of 1787: created 5 new states between ohio and Mississippi river
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Indians had a claim to the land and had to be treated better
Ordinance outlawed slavery in the five states
Both national gov and individual states had a lot of debt because of the revolutionary war
Main source of revenue became tariffs
Shay’s rebellion:1786 and 1787 Massachusetts rose up and closed the courts to prevent
foreclosing
o Showed that too much democratic liberty among lower class can threaten private
property
1787: met in Philadelphia to revise the articles of conf.
Instead of changing the articles they wrote a new charter
Delegates agreed that the government should have executive, legislative, and judicial branch
Wanted it to be republican instead of direct democracy
Hamilton wanted the president to serve life terms
Main object was to create a gov. that can protect against tyranny by the government itself and
by the people
Large states wanted James Madison’s Virginia plan
Small states wanted the new jersey plan
The great compromise: a house of representatives that is based upon the population of each
state, and a senate with two members from each state
House members served two year terms while senators served six year terms
House was designed to be responsive to the people
Senate was to never pass anything
The total number of white people plus 3/5ths the population of the slaves
Any escaped slaves must be returned to their master
Constitution protects against the radicalism that too much democracy can bring
Electors were supposed to be prominent, educated men of property
9 out of the 13 state were required to ratify the constitution
Hamilton, Jay, and Madison wrote 85 pages that are called the Federalist papers
o Persuasive essay for why a strong national gov. is nec. And not a threat to people’s
liberty
Second amendment was that the people could protect themselves from an army by being wellarmed
Anti-federalists were supported by common people
o Less need for a strong nat. gov.
o Afraid of the strong nat. gov because they were dominated by the wealthy
Constitution was starting point