The Constitution and the
New State
Chapters 9 and 10
Constitution Making
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1776 – 2nd Continental Congress called on
colonies to draft new constitutions
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Become “states”
Contracts that defined powers of govt
Drew authority from the people
Bill of Rights
Weak executive and judicial branches
State capitals relocated to interior of states
Economics
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Many large Loyalist lands were cut up into
small farms
Economic democracy preceded political
democracy
Trade with Britain was cut off, but the
foreign trade was open to colonies
Runaway inflation
Depression hits bottom in 1783
Articles of Confederation
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Loose confederation of
independent states
No executive or judicial
branch
Legislation required 9
states to agree
Amendments required
unanimity – impossible!
No power to regulate
commerce
No power to enforce
taxation – voluntary!
Articles Landmarks
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Land Ordinance of 1785
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Acreage of old northwest should be sold
Land would be surveyed and divided into
townships
One township reserved for education
Land Ordinance of 1787
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Procedure for admitting new states
Forbade slavery in old northwest
Made policy for how to handle
new territories
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Tutelage, then equality
Foreign Policy in the New Nation
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Britain closed West Indes to trade from US
Britain kept a series of forts on US territory
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Spain controlled Mississippi River
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Keep fur trade
US did not honor Treaty of Paris – restore loyalist
property
Closed the river to American commerce
Both Britain and Spain antagonized Indians
Showed need for a stronger US govt
Shay’s Rebellion
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Western Massachusetts – 1786
Farmers (many of them war vets) were losing
farms due to mortgage foreclosure or tax
delinquencies
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Attempted to force govt to issue paper money
and suspend takeovers
Followers were crushed by Mass army
Fear of “mobocracy” showed need for
stronger central govt
Constitutional Convention - 1787
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55 reps from 12 states met in secrecy
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3 Branches of govt – checks and balances
Great Compromise – Sherman Plan
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Conservative, well-to-do, young, nationalistic
No Sam Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Thomas
Jefferson, or John Adams
Balance small states with large states
Upper house with equal reps, lower house based on
population
Executive chosen through electoral college
3/5 Compromise – slaves counted as 3/5 of a person
for taxation, representation
Federalists v. Anti-Federalists
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Anti-Federalists opposed the stronger federal
government
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Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee
States’ rights devotees
Poorer classes
Alarmed at lack of bill of rights
Federalists
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George Washington, Ben Franklin
Wealthier, more educated
Promised a bill of rights by amendment
The Federalist Papers
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Written anonymously by Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
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Signed “publius”
Propaganda
 Persuade New Yorkers to pass
the Constitution
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Eventually the last 4 states
ratified because they had to
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The New Nation
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The nation was growing
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George Washington was unanimously elected
President by Electoral College
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Population was 4 million in 1790
Pop’n mostly rural, but cities were growing
Established a cabinet – state, treasury, and war
Bill of Rights passed in 1791
Judiciary Act of 1789
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Organized the supreme court – chief justice and 5
associate judges and federal district courts
John Jay became first chief justice
Alexander Hamilton
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First Secretary of the Treasury
Financial Genius
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Favored the wealthier groups
Bolster national credit
Assume the debt – pay off at face value plus
interest – 1790 Congress passed the measure
Assumption would chain the states to the federal
government
Bargained location of DC for the assumption
of debt
Pay for it with money from customs duties
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Tariff and excise tax on whiskey
Whiskey Rebellion
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Flared up in SW Pennsylvania in 1794 to
challenge new govt and Hamilton’s excise tax
Tarred and feathered revenue officers
Washington summoned several militias to
crush the rebellion, but found none
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Brutal display of force
First use of federal troops to put down rebellion
Government commanded new respect
Battle for the Bank
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Hamilton proposed the Bank of the US
Became a question of constitutionality
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Jefferson said no – it wasn’t in constitution
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Hamilton said it was “necessary and proper”
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Strict constructionism
Loose contructionism
Washington sided with Hamilton
Bank of US was created in 1791
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20 year charter
Foreign Policy
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Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation – 1793
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Avoiding the Franco-American Alliance of 1778
Washington and Hamilton believed that war needed
to be avoided
Jeffersonian Dem-Repubs opposed it
Britain violating neutrality
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Maintain forts on American soil
Sold arms to Indians who terrorized Americans
Seized US merchant ships and Americans in W. Indes
Jeffersonians called for a reaction, but Hamilton’s
economic program relied on British trade
Foreign Policy
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Jay’s Treaty
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Hamilton sabatoged – told the Brits secrets
Brits would leave posts on US soil and pay
damages for seizure of ships
BUT, Brits did not pledge to stop future seizures
or supplying natives with arms
US would still have to pay debts to British
merchants
Jeffersonians were very opposed – it was a
surrender to Britain!
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Planters were more harmed than urban merchants
Foreign Policy
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Pickney’s Treaty of 1795
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Spain struck a deal with the Americans because
they didn’t want them siding with British
US got free navigation of Mississippi
Territory north of Florida
Washington’s Farewell Address
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2-term tradition
Avoid permanent alliances
Suffered from partisan bickering
Adams as President
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Washington’s VP ran against Jefferson – 1796
Adams support in NE barely carried him
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71-68 in the Electoral College
Jefferson becomes VP
Hamilton plotted against him
Adams as President
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France
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Infuriated by Jay’s Treaty – saw an alliance with
UK and violation of Franco-American alliance
Began to seize US merchant ships
Adams tries to negotiate
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Sends 3 statesmen to Paris to meet Talleyrand
X,Y,Z demand a bribe to see him
“millions for defense, not one cent for tribute”
War hysteria sweeps US – Navy Dept and Marines
Adams keeps peace – sends new minister
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Allows for LA purchase a few years later
Alien and Sedition Acts
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Both aimed at minimizing Jeffersonians
Alien Act –
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Residence requirement for citzenship
Jeffersonians were less prosperous aliens
Sedition Act
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No defamation of govt officials
Fine, imprisonment
Free speech??
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions –
States’ Rights Position
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Jefferson wrote a series of resolutions that
passed the Kentucky legislatures
Madison wrote a similar one for Virginia
Feared that Federalists would end free speech
The federal govt is an agent of the states
Federal govt had exceed its constitutional
powers
States should nullify the alien/sedition acts
Federalists said that the people gave power