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•States are very nervous about creating
too strong of a central government
STATE GOV’TS
-Each wrote a Constitution
-Guaranteed certain rights
speech, religion, press
ex.- Virginia Statute of
Religious Freedom
-Representative
governments with weak
executives
-Limited democracy ---most states limited voting
to property owners
British settlers in North America had
founded not one colony but many,
each with its own governor, council,
and colonial assembly. This system of
distinct, self-governing colonies
encouraged people to think of the
colony as the primary unit. Because of
this, most people’s allegiance was to
the colony in which they lived. The
Revolutionary War gave the colonies a
common goal, but as these colonies
became states, they remained
reluctant to unite under a strong
central government. The challenge
was to develop a system of
government that balanced the
interests of several states with those
of the nation.
Need for Cooperation
-Revolutionary War
• Land destroyed; money was low
because of war debts
-Strength of the British military
• Afraid the British might regroup
and retaliate against them
-weakness of the colonial militias
• Many men died in Revolution and
military supplies were very low
Congress proposed a new type of
government in a set of laws called
the Articles of Confederation—one
in which two levels of government
shared fundamental powers. State
governments were supreme in
some matters, while the national
government was supreme in other
matters. The delegates called this
new form of government a
confederation.
ARTICLES
Created National government
for all 13 states, but not strong
-unicameral Congress
-1 vote per state
- larger states want more votes
-very limited powers
- to central government
-distrust of gov’t
- wanted merely a “League of
Friendship”
WESTERN LANDS
-how to settle new lands?
-ownership of land
-landed ceded to the union for all
-Land Ordinance, 1785
divided land into sections for
settlement/territories
-N.W. Ordinance, 1787
defines statehood and banned
slavery in NW territories
The ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781
awaited settlement of the western claims of eight states.
Vermont, claimed by New Hampshire and New York, was
not made a state until 1791, after disputes were settled the
previous year. The territory north of the Ohio River was
claimed in whole or in part by Virginia, New York,
Connecticut, and Massachusetts. All of them had ceded
their claims by 1786, except for Connecticut, which had
claimed an area just south of Lake Erie, known as the
Western Reserve; Connecticut ceded this land in 1800. The
territory south of the Ohio was claimed by Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; in 1802, the latter
became the last state to cede its claims.
In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Congress
provided a procedure for dividing the land
into territories. The Northwest Ordinance
also set requirements for the admission of
new states, which however, seemed to
overlook Native American land claims.
There were three basic stages for becoming
a state:
1. Congress would appoint a territorial
governor and judges.
2. When a territory had 5,000 voting residents
(usually white male property owners), the
settlers could write a temporary
constitution and elect their own
government.
3. When the total population of a territory
reached 60,000 free inhabitants, the
settlers could write a state constitution,
which had to be approved by Congress
before it granted statehood.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest
Ordinance of 1787 became the
Confederation’s greatest achievements.
STATE CONFLICTS
-Weak national gov’t
-No real authority
-Different currencies
- Could not exchange easily
between colonies
-trade barriers
-border disputes
- Disagreed on who controlled land
-war debts
The Continental Congress printed currency to
finance the Revolution. Because of widespread
counterfeiting, engravers attempted to
incorporate complex designs, like the unique
vein structure in the leaf on this eighteen-pence
note. In case that wasn’t enough, the engraver of
this note also included the warning: "To
counterfeit is Death."
-Who should pay? Should they pay?
WEAKNESSES OF
THE ARTICLES
-Could not tax
-Had to ask states for funds and
all were poor
-Hard to enforce laws
-Could not regulate trade
- Within US and with other
nations
-No executive
- No real “leader” of nation
No court system
CALL FOR REFORM
-state problems
- Paper money worthless;
people and government broke
-debt and high taxes
Daniel Shays was angry. A veteran of the
Revolutionary War battles at Bunker Hill and
Saratoga, he had returned to his farm in
western Massachusetts. Because of the heavy
debt that he carried, however, he faced debtors’
prison. Shays felt that he was the victim of too
much taxation. During the summer and fall of
1786, farmers like Shays kept demanding that
the courts be closed so they would not lose
their farms to creditors. Their discontent boiled
into mob action when Shays led an army of
1200 farmers to close the courts. State officials
called out the militia; four were killed and the
rest scattered. Clearly, though, something was
wrong.
-Shay’s Rebellion
-When Massachusetts
farmers revolted over high
state taxes and caused
people to realize the
weakness of the government
-Shay’s Rebellion exposed weakness
-States call for reform
“Let our government be like
that of the solar system. Let
the general government be
like the sun and the states
the planets, repelled yet
attracted, and the whole
moving regularly and
harmoniously in their several
orbits.”
~John Dickinson~
CONVENTION
-May 1787 Philadelphia
•Constitutional Convention met in
Independence Hall in Philadelphia
•George Washington is leader
-12 of 13 states
Rhode Island absent
•Feared a strong central
government
-55 Delegates
•Many leaders missing because
were in other countries or were
afraid of too big a government
In May 1787, delegates from all the
states except Rhode Island gathered at
the Philadelphia State House—in the
same room in which the Declaration of
Independence had been signed 11 years
earlier. Most of the 55 delegates were
lawyers, merchants, or planters. Most
were rich, well-educated men in their
thirties and forties. They included some
of the most influential leaders at the
time, such as Ben Franklin, Alexander
Hamilton, and George Washington.
George Washington was elected presiding
officer by a unanimous vote.
DECISIONS MADE
-rewrite government
•Convention was meant to revise
articles
•Threw them away, started over
-1 vote per state
-keep meeting a secret
In spite of the sweltering heat, the
windows were tightly sealed to prevent
outsiders from eavesdropping on the
discussions. The delegates wanted to
feel free to speak their minds without
causing alarm or opposition among the
general public. They agreed to keep
whatever was said in the meeting room a
secret until their work was done.
•Wanted to speak freely without
public influence
-majority rules
•Delegates divided on where
power should come from - people
or states?
ISSUES AT DEBATE
-representation
•Should representation be equal
or based on population?
large states
•Have more people, want rep. to
be based on population
small states
•Have less people, want equal rep.
from each state
-slavery
•Should the U.S. keep it?
•Do slaves count in population?
-economics
•Can the government tax?
•How to pay off debts
Key Issue: Should states with more
people have more representatives, or
should every state be represented
equally? What about slaves? Do they
count?
PLANS PROPOSED
-Virginia Plan
-James Madison - “Father of
the Constitution”
-3 branches (strong national
government)
-bicameral Congress (2 houses)
-population based
James Madison is known as the “Father of
the Constitution” not only for his proposal of
the Virginia Plan, but also for his actions
during the convention. He addressed the
convention more than 200 times, and when
he was not speaking, he took notes. Sitting
near the front of the room so that he could
hear everything that was said, Madison wrote
down nearly every word. From this record,
we know what happened at the convention
every day.
•Number of lawmakers to
Congress depends on states’
population - favors LARGE
states
New Jersey Plan
-small state plan
•3 branches, 1 house Congress
-equal voting
•Keep small states from being
taken over by large states
-group executive
-promoted state’s rights
William Paterson proposed the New Jersey
Plan, which promoted states rights for the
small states.
COMPROMISES
-Great Compromise
•Roger Sherman (Conn.)
-Agreement made at the
Convention of 1787 that
created a two house legislature
with one house based on
population and the other based
on state equality
- House
•To represent people,
representation based on
population
-Senate
•To represent state; equal
representation (2 people now)
Roger Sherman proposed the Great
Compromise, which became our U.S.
Constitution
COMPROMISES
Representation based on population
raised the question of whether slaves
should be counted as people. Southern
delegates, whose states had many slaves,
wanted slaves included in the population
count that determined the number of
representatives in the House. Northern
delegates, whose states had few slaves,
disagreed. Not counting Southern slaves
would give the Northern states more
representatives. The delegates finally
agreed to the Three-Fifths Compromise.
This settled the political issue, but not the
economic issue of slavery. Slaveholders,
especially in the South, worried that if
Congress were given power to regulate
foreign trade, it might do away with the
slave trade. To resolve this issue, the
convention gave Congress the power to
regulate trade but prevented it from
interfering with the slave trade for 20
years.
-3/5 Compromise
-Agreement made at the
convention of 1787 that slaves
would count as 3/5 a person
for the census to determine
the population of each state
•3 of every 5 slaves count
-Slave Trade Compromise
-Agreement at the convention
of 1787 that Congress would
not tax exports and slave
trading could be banned in
20 years
NEW GOV’T
-much stronger than Articles
of Confederation
-power to tax
•Congress and states
-regulate trade
•Congress controls interstate
trade
-strong executive
•Called a President
•1 term = 4 years
-needed 9 of 13 to ratify
•Pass/approve
September 17, 1787, delegates at the
Constitutional Convention declared the
new constitution complete. Now it
would be sent to the states for
ratification.
The framers set up a procedure for ratification that
called for each state to hold a special convention.
The voters would elect delegates to the
convention, who would then vote to accept or
reject the Constitution. Those in favor called
themselves Federalists. Those opposed called
themselves Anti-Federalists.
“They…divided the
powers, that each might
be a check upon the
other…and I presume
that every reasonable
man will agree to it.”
~Federalist
Alexander Hamilton
“You are not to inquire
how your trade may be
increased, nor how you
are to become a great
and powerful people, but
how your liberties can be
secured…”
~Anti-Federalist
Patrick Henry
RATIFICATION
-Federalists
-Political group who supported
the passage of the new
Constitution and its stronger
government
-Anti-Federalist
-Political group who opposed
the new Constitution and
thought it lacked a specific list
of people’s rights
• Wanted to protect the people
against federal government
RATIFICATION
-Federalist Papers support the
new government
• Convince Americans to adopt
the new Constitution
-written by Hamilton, Madison,
and Jay
-Bill of Rights promised
• Rights of the people
• Bill of Rights won the states
needed for ratification
Both sides waged a war of words in the public
debate over ratification. The Federalist, a series of
85 essays defending the Constitution, appeared in
New York newspapers between 1787 and 1788.
The Federalist provided an explanation of
Constitutional provisions, such as the separation of
powers and limits on the power of majorities, that
remain important today.