Problem-Based History
The Constitutional Convention
(c) 2010 AIHE
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“The Plan”
• Background Information
• Introduce Documents
• A.R.T.I.S.T.
• Document Conclusion and BIG
Picture
• Introduce the Problem
• Avenues of Discussion
• Historical Result
• Impact(s)
• Conclusion
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Post-Revolution
America as a Separate Nation
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Introduction
The Articles of Confederation was the United States' first constitution. Proposed by
the Continental Congress in 1777, it was not ratified until 1781.
The Articles represented a victory for those who favored state sovereignty. Article 2
stated that "each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every
power...which is not...expressly delegated to the United States.…" Any amendment
required unanimous consent of the states.
The Articles of Confederation created a national government composed of a
Congress, which had the power to declare war, appoint military officers, sign
treaties, make alliances, appoint foreign ambassadors, and manage relations with
Indians. All states were represented equally in Congress, and nine of the 13 states
had to approve a bill before it became law.
From www.digitalhistory.uh.edu – The Critical Period: American in 1780’s
What is the main idea / big picture?
Under the Articles, the states, not Congress, had the
power to tax. Congress could raise money only by
asking the states for funds, borrowing from foreign
governments, or selling western lands. In addition,
Congress could not draft soldiers or regulate trade.
There was no provision for national courts.
The Articles of Confederation did not include a
president. The states feared another George III
might threaten their liberties. The new framework of
government also barred delegates from serving more
than three years in any six year period.
The Articles of Confederation created a very weak
central government. It is noteworthy that the
Confederation Congress could not muster a quorum
to ratify on time the treaty that guaranteed American
independence, nor could it pay the expense of
sending the ratified treaty back to Europe.
From www.digitalhistory.uh.edu – The Critical Period: American in 1780’s
What is the main idea / big picture?
The Articles' framers assumed that
republican virtue would lead to states to
carry out their duties and obey
congressional decisions. But the states
refused to make their contributions to
the central government. Its acts were "as
little heeded as the cries of an
oysterman." As a result, Congress had to
stop paying interest on the public debt.
The Continental army threatened to
mutiny over lack of pay.
A series of events during the 1780s
convinced a group of national leaders
that the Articles of Confederation
provided a wholly inadequate
framework of government.
From www.digitalhistory.uh.edu – The Critical Period: American in 1780’s
What is the main idea / big picture?
Threat of a Coup
Following the British surrender at Yorktown, Washington moved 11,000
Continental Army soldiers to Newburgh, N.Y. By 1783, the army was near
the point of mutiny over Congress' failure to pay them. In March,
Continental Army officers, camped at Newburgh, N.Y., considered military
action against the Confederation Congress. On Mar. 15, Washington strode
in. "Do not open the flood gates of civil discord," he told them, "and deluge
our rising empire in blood." Washington strongly believed that the military
needed to be subordinate to civilian authority.
On a 90-degree June day in 1783, former Revolutionary War soldiers,
carrying muskets, marched on the Philadelphia statehouse where Congress
was meeting. They threatened to hold the members hostage until they were
paid back wages. When Congress asked Pennsylvania to send a detachment
of militia to protect them, the state refused, and the humiliated Congress
temporarily relocated, first in Princeton, N.J., and later in Annapolis, Md.,
and New York City, N.Y.
From www.digitalhistory.uh.edu – The Critical Period: American in 1780’s
What is the main idea / big picture?
Economic Problems Abound
The Revolution was followed by a severe
economic depression in 1784 and 1785. To
raise revenue, many states imposed charges
on goods from other states. The national
government was on the verge of bankruptcy.
• Interest rates were astronomical
• Foreign nations wouldn’t lend
America money
• Paper money was inflated and
virtually worthless
• South lost 60,000 slaves hurting
agricultural production
• Britain enforced the Navigation Acts
limiting access to markets
• States waged economic warfare on
each other
What is the main idea / big picture?
Foreign Policy Issues
Four majors issues that plagued
America during this period:
1. Britain refused to abide by
the terms of the Treaty of
Paris (1783)
2. North African pirates
abducted American sailors
3. Spain closed the Mississippi
River to American
navigation
4. Nations of Europe were
reticent to show any respect
for America
What is the main idea / big picture?
Lighting the Fuse
In 1786, nearly 2,000 debtor farmers in
western Massachusetts were threatened with
foreclosure of their mortgaged property. The
state legislature had voted to pay off the state's
Revolutionary War debt in three years;
between 1783 and 1786, taxes on land rose
more than 60 percent.
When lower courts started to seize the
property of farmers such as Daniel Shays, a
Revolutionary War veteran, western
Massachusetts farmers temporarily closed the
courts and threatened a federal arsenal.
What is the main idea / big picture?
Primary Sources
History in the Raw!
(c) 2010 AIHE
Why Use Primary
Sources
Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the
record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement
during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived
during that period.
Bringing young people into close contact with these unique, often
profoundly personal, documents and objects can give them a very real sense
of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
Three major outcomes of working with primary
sources:
1. Engage Students
2. Develop Critical Thinking Skills
3. Construct Knowledge
From the Library of Congress, teacher resources.
…an opinion begins to prevail that a general convention for
revising the articles of Confederation would be expedient.
A
R
T
I
S
T
- George Washington to John Jay, 1786
Under this impression, Your Commissioners, with the most
respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their unanimous
conviction, that it may essentially tend to advance the interests of
the union, if the States, by whom they have been respectively
delegated, would themselves concur, and use their endeavours to
procure the concurrence of the other States, in the appointment of
Commissioners, to meet 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; and to report such an Act
for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as
when agreed to, by them, and afterwards confirmed by the
Legislatures of every State, will effectually provide for the same.
- Report of the Annapolis Convention, 1786
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A
R
T
I
S
T
So far as I have yet seen, they do not appear to threaten serious
consequences. They may conclude too hastily that nature has
formed man insusceptible of any other government but that of
force, a conclusion not founded in truth or experience …
- Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787
Things cannot go on the same train forever. It is much to be feared,
as you observe, that the better kind of people being disgusted with
these circumstances, will have their minds prepared for any
revolution whatever. We are apt to run from one extreme to
another. To anticipate and prevent disastrous contingencies would
be the part of patriotism and wisdom.
- George Washington to John Jay, 1786
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A
R
T
I
S
T
I hold it that a little rebellion now and again is a good thing,
and as necessary in the political world as storms in the
physical. Unsuccessful rebellions indeed generally establish the
encroachments on the rights of the people which have
produced them.
- Jefferson to Madison, 1787
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Two Additions
R and B
•R&B is the logical extension of
the ARTIST analysis.
•R&B stand for Reliability and
Big picture ideas respectively.
•It is absolutely imperative that
students have a grasp of the
reliability of historical
documents as well as the big
picture ideas contained in them.
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Analysis of R & B
Historical Actor
Reliability
Big Picture
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Annapolis Committee
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Initial conclusion
• Do these documents have a general theme?
• What themes may (or may not) be represented by the
documents and the painting?
• What is the BIG picture of history that these
documents represent?
• Is there anything “between the lines” that should be
read into these documents?
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Big Picture?
Come on, what does ALL of this really mean to us?
(c) 2010 AIHE
John Jay as Case Study
Until our Affairs shall be more perfectly arranged, we shall treat under
Disadvantages, and therefore I am not surprised that our Negociations with Britain
and Barbary are unpromising. To be respectable abroad it is necessary to be so at
Home, and that will not be the Case until our public Faith acquires more Confidence,
and our Government more strength.
- Jay to Jefferson, July 14, 1786
The more we are ill-treated abroad the more we shall unite and consolidate at home.
- Jay to Richard Henry Lee, 1785
Justice must have a sword as well as a balance
- Jay to Edward Rutledge, 1786
It is my first wish to see the United States assume and merit the character of one
great nation, whose territory is divided into different States merely for more
convenient government and the more easy and prompt administration of justice, just
as our several States are divided into counties and townships for the like purpose.
- Jay to John Lowell, 1785
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Just a bit more Jay
I have long sought, and become daily more convinced
that the construction of our Federal government is
fundamentally wrong. To vest legislative, judicial, and
executive powers in one and the same body of men,
and that, too, in a body daily changing its members,
can never be wise. In my opinion, these three great
departments of sovereignty should be forever
separated, and so distributed as to serve as checks on
each other.
- Jay to Jefferson, 1786
(c) 2010 AIHE
Redrawing the government or not, a question of
the fundamental direction of the nation.
If you were a
well respected
member of the
community what
would you
support?
• How would you “solve” the problem of
the strength of the national government?
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Not Support expansion
of Federal Power
• One course of action would be to actively
oppose any expansion of federal power on a
variety of grounds.
• What problems could arise from such a
course of action?
• What could be the possible benefits of
opposing expansion
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Support Expansion
of federal power
• Another course of action would be to support
redrawing the framework of government of
America.
• What problems could arise from such a
course of action?
• What could be the possible benefits of
supporting expansion?
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Have no opinion and
do nothing
• There is always the possibility of doing
absolutely nothing at all, sitting on your hands,
and keeping your mouth shut.
• What problems could arise from such a
course of action?
• What could be the possible benefits of doing
nothing?
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What America
Actually did
The route that was actually taken and shaped the course
of the nation.
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Some answers
1. 12 states sent delegates to Philadelphia in 1787
2. Through compromise developed a plan of
government that was tacitly acceptable
3. Created a government that embodied the
philosophies of Locke, Montesquieu, and
Rousseau
4. Used a system of popular vote to ratify the
document
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The Delegates
• Delegates who attended – “An assembly of demi-gods!” - TJ
• Qualifications and experience
• Military experience and in Continental Congress
• Occupations
• Most were very wealthy
George Washington
Benjamin Franklin
James Madison
The Delegates
(continued)
• Collective beliefs and philosophies of the delegates
• Importance of those who weren’t there
Not there by choice or by fiat
Thomas Jefferson
Patrick Henry
Samuel Adams
Competing Plans for
Government
NJ Plan
VA Plan
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Compromises
The Constitution becomes a document based on a
series of compromises on many different levels.
Representation
Slavery
Selecting a
President
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Normally I would offer up ideas on how the decisions
impacted American history in both the short and
long-term. However in light of Dr Sheehan’s
upcoming presentation I believe that would be more
than redundant (and again it would do very poor
service to Dr Sheehan’s presentation).
(c) 2010 AIHE