HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
Declaration of Independence
Articles of Confederation
Northwest Ordinance
Constitution
Federalist v. Antifederalist Papers
Bill of Rights
LEARNING GOALS
The student will be able to:
• Explain the key political ideas found in the
Declaration of Independence, Northwest
Ordinance, Articles of Confederation, Federalist
Papers, Anti-Federalist Papers, Constitution and
Bill of Rights.
• Analyze how these documents continue to serve
the needs of the United States of America.
EVENTS LEADING TO INDEPENDENCE
• End of French and Indian War
▫ Treaty of Paris gives Great Britain claim to all of
North America east of the Mississippi River
• Proclamation of 1763
▫ To avoid further conflict with Native Americans,
British government prohibited colonists from
settling west of the Appalachian Mountains
▫ Colonists ignored proclamation line
PROCLAMATION LINE of 1763
NEW TAXES
• Sugar Act
▫ Taxed sugar and other goods
▫ Placed duties on certain imports that had not been
taxed before
▫ Colonists accused of violating act would be tried in
vice-admiralty courts – single judge rather than jury
STAMP ACT
• Imposed a tax on documents and printed items
such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards
• First tax affected colonists directly because it was
levied on goods and services
• Colonist harass stamp distributers, boycott British
goods
• Prepare Declaration of Rights and Grievances
TOWNSHEND ACTS
• Townshend Acts imposed duties on glass, lead,
paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies
• Colonists protest “taxation without representation”
• Organize new boycott of imported goods
BOSTON MASSACRE
• Taunted by angry mobs, British
troops fire into the crowd,
killing five colonists
• Colonial agitators label the
conflict a massacre and publish
dramatic engraving depicting
the violence
TEA ACT
• Britain gives the East India
Company special concessions
in the colonial tea business and
shuts out colonial tea
merchants
• Boston Tea Party - Colonists in
Britain rebel, dumping 18,000
pounds of East India Company
tea into Boston harbor
INTOLERABLE ACTS
• King George III tightens control
over Massachusetts by closing
Boston Harbor and quartering
troops
• Colonial leaders form the First
Continental Congress and draw
up a declaration of colonial
rights
“The British are coming”
LEXINGTON & CONCORD
• General Gage orders troops to march to Concord,
Massachusetts and seize colonial weapons
• Minutemen intercept the British and engage in
battle
▫ “shot heard around the world”
• Second Continental Congress called
▫ Formed Continental Army & appointed G.
Washington as commander
▫ Issued Olive Branch Petition – last attempt at
resolving differences
The Shot Heard ’Round the
World!
Lexington & Concord – April 18,1775
IDEAS BEHIND THE REVOLUTION
• Enlightenment ideas spread throughout the
colonies in the 1760s and 1770s
• John Locke – key Enlightenment philosopher
▫ People have natural rights – life, liberty, and
property
▫ Social contract – every society has an agreement in
which the people consent to choose and obey a
government so long as it safeguards their natural
rights
▫ Government violates social contract – people can
overthrow the government
IDEAS BEHIND THE REVOLUTION
• English Law
▫ Magna Carta
 acknowledged certain specific rights including due
process, speedy trial, trial by jury of one’s peers
 Monarch did not have absolute authority, subject to rule of
law
▫ English Bill of Rights
 Due process, speedy trial, trial by jury, no taxation without
consent of property owners, presumption of innocence, no
standing army during peacetime, no quartering of troops,
freedom of travel, guarantee of regular legislative sessions
PHILOSOPHY
• Richard Henry Lee moved for independence on
June 7, 1776
▫ “These United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free
and independent states. . .”
• Motion adopted on July 2, 1776
• Formal explanation was needed to rally resistance
at home and invite foreign nations to aid the
American cause, especially France
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
• Three major parts:
▫ Preamble (heavily influenced by John Locke)
▫ List of 27 grievances of the colonies
 seen by Congress as the most important part
▫ Formal declaration of independence
GRIEVANCES
• Underwent the most change from the original draft
• – 24 changes
• Charged the King:
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with imposing taxes w/o consent
eliminating trial by jury
abolishing valued laws
establishing military dictatorship
Maintaining standing armies in peacetime
Cutting off trade
Burning towns
Hiring mercenaries
Inciting Indian violence upon colonies
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
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Officially broke ties with England
United States officially an independent country
Result: foreign aid could be successfully solicited
Source of inspiration
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
Outlined the form of government in
the new United States
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• Americans now had to create new political system
• Americans favored a republic – government in
which citizens rule through their elected
representatives
▫ Many feared democracy – government directly by
the people
▫ Power in hands of uneducated masses
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• Confederation – an alliance between the thirteen
states
• Congress – one vote per state
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Power to declare war
Make peace
Sign treaties
Borrow money
Coin money
Establish postal service
NEW LAND POLICIES
• Beginning of the Revolution
– Only a few thousand lived west
of the Appalachian Mountains
– Treaty of Paris of 1763
• Proclamation Line of 1763
• Forbid moving West
• By 1790’s
– Treaty of Paris of 1783
allowed Americans to move
west
– Around 120,000
• Settlers wanted to organize
their lands and join the Union
STATES RELINQUISH TERRITORIES
• All states relinquished land
claims in the new territory and
gave it to the congress
CONGRESS IN DEBT
• Congress had no power to tax
the inhabitants of the United
States
▫ Goal of the Land Ordinance of
1785
 To raise money through the
sale of land
 Pay off war debts
 Organize new territories
gained under the Treaty of
Paris of 1783
DIVIDING AND SELLING LAND
• Congress surveyed and Divided
the land in order to sell it to
people moving west.
• They passed the “Land
Ordinance of 1785” to divide
the land.
DIVIDING THE LAND
• Divided into Townships
▫ 6 Miles Long
• Townships divided into 36
Sections
▫ 640 Acres
▫ Sold at public auctions for at
least $1
LAND SPECULATIONS
• Speculators viewed the law as an opportunity to
accumulate land cheaply
▫ Concerned with the lawlessness in the West,
Richard Henry Lee urged, “the rights of property be
clearly defined”
▫ Congress solved this problem by setting up a new
Ordinance called “The Northwest Ordinance of
1787”
THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
Setting up government in the
Northwest Territory
THE NORTHWEST
ORDINANCE
• Passed in 1787
• Created the Northwest Territory
• Would divide the lands into 3-5
smaller territories
SETTING UP BOUNDARIES
• Northwest Territory
▫ First Organized Territory of the
United States
• Boundaries
▫ South of the Great Lakes
▫ North and West of the Ohio
River
▫ East of the Mississippi
ABOLITION OF STATE CLAIMS
• The new territory was to be
controlled by the central
government
• States had to give up their land
claims in the West
• Congress would be the
legislative body of the new
territories
REACHING STATEHOOD
• When the territory reached a
population of 5,000 “free male
inhabitants of full age” they
could form a legislature.
• Once the Territory reached a
population of 60,000 it could
apply for statehood
– These states would be
admitted to the Union with
equal rights of the original 13
states.
ESTABLISHING CIVIL RIGHTS
• Property Rights were Promised
• Religious Tolerance was
proclaimed
• Free Public Education
• No Cruel or Unusual
Punishment
• Trial By Jury
• NO SLAVERY
THE PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY
• Slavery and Involuntary
Servitude was illegal
RIGHTS OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS
• “The utmost good faith shall
always be observed towards the
Indians; their land and property
shall never be taken without
their consent; and , in their
property, rights, and liberty,
they shall never be invaded or
disturbed.”
Under the Articles of Confederation, the states had most of the power
while the national government was weak.
THE NATIONALISTS
• By the 1780’s an influential group called “The Nationalists”
wanted to strengthen the federal government.
• The nationalist included: former military officers,
congressmen, planters & lawyers.
George
Washington
Benjamin
Franklin
James
Madison
Alexander
Hamilton
NATIONALIST CONCERNS
WITH THE ARTICLES
• The Federal Government is too weak under the
Articles.
• Lack of a national court system & no economic
policies = chaos
• The US Government wouldn’t command respect from
other national governments.
• American citizens challenge to authority & demand
of individual freedoms was getting out of hand.
Shays Rebellion.. giving the Nationalists
support
The Causes:
• The wealthy loaned states $ to fight the
revolution.
• After the war wealthy lenders demanded
payment.
• To get payment they forced state government
to raise taxes - $ to repay loans.
• In Massachusetts, the state raised taxes only
to be paid in gold and silver which was more
scarce and valuable than paper $.
• Farmers in the West were hardest hit by the
taxes & after complaining to the deaf ear of
the legislature they revolted.
“this is taxation without representation”
FARMERS DRIVE OFF THE TAX COLLECTORS
The farmers complain to the state legislature to:
• Take back the taxes
• The legislature refused
• The courts seized their possessions
So the Farmers…
THE REVOLT
The farmers:
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Drove off the tax collectors
Forced the courts to close
Rioted
Marched to the gun depot in Springfield.
Congress was helpless
EFFECTS OF SHAY’S REBELLION
Realizing they were helpless in
restoring order• No army
• No aid to the states
Congressional leaders decided
to meet in Philadelphia to fix
the articles and strengthen
the federal government.
• “at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May
next, to take into consideration the situation of the
United States, to devise such further provisions as
shall appear to them necessary to render the
constitution of the Federal Government adequate
to the exigencies of the Union.”
 - Call of the Annapolis Convention
• “for the sole and express purpose of revising the
Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress
and the several legislatures such alterations and
provisions therein as shall when agreed to in
Congress and confirmed by the States render the
(Articles) adequate to the exigencies of Government
and the preservation of the Union.”
 The United States in Congress Assembled, Feb. 21, 1787
ON TO PHILADELPHIA…
Franklin
Hamilton
Madison
Washington
SELECTED FRAMERS OF THE CONSTITUTION
Name
State
Occupation
Dickinson, John
Delaware
Lawyer
Ellsworth, Oliver
Connecticut
Lawyer
Franklin, Benjamin
Pennsylvania
Inventor
Gerry, Elbridge
Massachusetts
Merchant
Hamilton, Alexander
New York
Lawyer
King, Rufus
Massachusetts
Lawyer
Madison, James
Virginia
Politician
Mason, George
Virginia
Politician
Morris, Gouverneur
Pennsylvania
Lawyer
Morris, Robert
Pennsylvania
Merchant
Paterson, William
New Jersey
Lawyer
Pinckney, Charles
South Carolina
Lawyer
Pinckney, Charles
South Carolina
Lawyer
Randolph, Edmund J.
Virginia
Lawyer
Rutledge, John
South Carolina
Lawyer
Washington, George
Virginia
Soldier
REPRESENTATIVES
• Each state sent participants (except Rhode Island)
▫ Leaders appointed by state legislatures – members
elected by property owner voters
• 55 delegates convened on May 25, 1787
ABSENCES
• Jefferson – in Paris – called group “convention of
demigods”
• Strong anti-nationalists Patrick Henry, Richard
Henry Lee, Samuel Adams did not attend
• Washington elected President
THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION
James Madison
JAMES MADISON’S PLAN
• National Principle –national government should
be stronger than the states
▫ Would prefer to make states administrative bodies
but delegates would never agree
▫ Believed government drew its power from the
people, not states
MADISON’S PLAN
• Separation of powers
▫ Each independent of each other with specified
powers
▫ Improve upon the state legislatures that
dominated
• Articles Scrapped
▫ Went against Congress’s explicit wish to revise
▫ U.S. government peacefully overthrown
▫ States in danger of losing sovereignty
REPRESENTATION ISSUE
• Madison’s Virginia Plan (Large State Plan)
▫ Representation in both houses of a bicameral
Congress based on population
▫ Larger states would have a political advantage
REPRESENTATION ISSUE
• Dickinson’s New Jersey Plan (Small State Plan)
▫ “Equal Representation” in a unicameral
Congress by states, regardless of size &
population
▫ Weaker states feared that under Virginia’s plan
stronger states would band together and
dominate the rest
▫ Impasse between the large & smaller states
threatened to break up convention
MAY 30TH PROPOSAL
• “Resolved. . . That a national Government ought to
be established consisting of a supreme
Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.”
 Edmund Randolph, Delegate from Virginia
GREAT COMPROMISE
• Strong, independent executive branch
▫ Military commander in chief
▫ Wide powers to appoint domestic offices
▫ Veto power
• Electoral College used to elect president rather
than direct vote
GREAT COMPROMISE
• Smaller states conceded representation by
population in House of Representative
• Larger states conceded equal representation in
Senate
• Every money bill would originate in the House
since big states would have to bear a larger
burden of taxation
CONSERVATIVE SAFEGUARDS
• Purpose was to check the excesses of the “mob”
▫ Unanimous feelings that manhood suffrage
democracy was something to be feared
▫ Safeguards
 Federal judges appointed for life
 Electoral college
 Senators chosen by state legislatures
END OF CONVENTION
• No one completely satisfied
• Needed 9 out of 13 to ratify
• No Bill of Rights
▫ States already had them
• Some delegates feared a new gov’t could do
anything not expressly prohibited
• Fragile consensus
• Constitutional Ratification Chart
NOTES OF DEBATES
“Sir, I agree with this Constitution to all it faults, if they are
such; because I think a general Government necessary for us.
. . I doubt. . . Whether any other Convention we can obtain,
may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you
assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their
joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all
their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their
local interest, and their selfish views. For such an assembly
can a perfect production be expected? It therefore
astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to
perfection as it does . . .”
- Ben Franklin, September 17, 1787
HOW WERE THINGS FIXED?
RATIFICATION PROVES TO BE A CHALLENGE
• 9 out of 13 states had to ratify for the new
constitution to go into affect
• The ratification would be democratic: state
citizens would elect conventions to decide whether
or not to ratify
• Even with all the compromising, large and small
states could still not agree
• Leaders split into two factions
▫ 1. the Federalists (pro-ratification)
▫ 2. the Anti-Federalists (anti-ratification)
AND IN THIS CORNER…THE FEDERALISTS
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison
John Jay
• Proponents of the Constitution
• Believed in a strong National Government
• Knew that state governments would be reluctant to ratify a
document that would strip them of power
• Appealed directly to state citizens through rallies and
written propaganda (Federalist Papers??)
FEDERALISTS CONTINUED…
• Argued that state legislatures, NOT the people had
approved the failed Articles
• The new Constitution would protect America against
tyranny and corruption through its strong system of checks
and balances, the three branches of government, and the
bi-cameral legislature
• Did not see a need for an addition of a bill of rights
• Constitution should remain “as-is” – since the Constitution
did not list any specific rights, no rights would be left out
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS
• Written by James
Madison, John Jay, and
Alexander Hamilton
• A collection of 85 articles
written to convince New
York state to approve the
Constitution
• James Madison’s papers
#10 and #51 would prove
to be the most influential
and important
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS CONTINUED
FEDERALIST #10
“Liberty is to faction
what air is to fire, an
aliment without which it
instantly expires. But it
could not be less folly to
abolish liberty, which is
essential to political life,
because it nourishes
faction, than it would be
to wish the annihilation
of air, which is essential
to animal life, because it
imparts to fire its
destructive agency.”
-James Madison
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS CONTINUED
FEDERALIST #10
• Main points of #10
▫ Factions, defined as “any group of citizens who
attempt to advance their beliefs or economic status
at the expense of other citizens” are dangerous and
real threat to liberty
▫ A well-formed, strong union can break and control
the violence of any faction
▫ The US Constitution will provide protection against
dangerous factions by uniting the nation’s citizens
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS CONTINUED
FEDERALIST #51
“In framing a government which is to be administered by
men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must
first enable the government to control the governed; and
in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
-James Madison
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS CONTINUED
FEDERALIST #51
• Main points of #51
▫ Humans by nature form alliances around common shared
beliefs
▫ Different interests must be represented in coalitions, aka
alliances made by citizens coming together for the same
cause
▫ Madison argues that the best and most successful
coalitions can only be formed in a large republic united
under one form of rule
▫ The bigger the republic, the greater the variety of interests,
the greater the variety of interests, the larger and more
successful the factions
SO… WHAT DID THESE “PAPERS” ACCOMPLISH?
• Probably only played a small role in securing ratification
• However….
▫ They have a lasting value as an authoritative and inspiring explanation of
the Constitution
▫ Showed citizens the importance of considering human nature when
choosing a method of government
▫ Showed that both humans AND government can be corrupted – a form of
government must protect against corruption and prevent both citizens and
leaders from abusing their power
STILL Not Ratified… What now??
• Even with the efforts of men like James Madison,
not all states were on the Constitution bandwagon
• People were still very afraid that all of the rights
they fought for in the war were being threatened
by the Constitutions open-ended structure
• The solution? The Framers realized that
ratification would NEVER happen without at least
the promise of a “bill of rights” – something the
framers had been avoiding
THINK AHEAD…
• What types of problems do you foresee the
framers having when putting together the
promised “Bill of Rights?”
• Do you think that the views of the Federalists or
the Anti-Federalists were more representative of
mainstream America? Why?
• Are the views of either group still visible in
American politics today?