UPDATE YOUR JOURNAL
In your Table of Contents:
Page 62-63 Articles of Confederation

 After the end of the war, the founding fathers needed a plan for our country and they needed one FAST!
 Many feared creating a strong central government would threaten their rights.
 They created a “league of friendship” called the
Articles of Confederation.
 It created a loose group of 13 independent states, NOT a UNITED 13 States.
 THE FIRST WRITTEN PLAN OF GOVERNMENT IN
THE US.

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State governments were stronger than the national
(federal) government
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Could not collect taxes or enforce laws
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Could not regulate trade between states
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State and national govt’s created their own money…14 different currencies!

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No national court system
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No chief executive (president)
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No national army or navy
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One state one vote in Congress
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Required all 13 to pass amendments

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Land given to America in the Treaty of Paris was causing problems.
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Settlers were moving onto land and disputes broke out.
These disputes clogged the courts.
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Passed the Land Ordinance of 1785. It organized the
Northwest Territory into smaller territories.
 It divided the land into townships.
 Now the problem was what to do with them. Would they be colonies or states?

 Created rules for the new territory to become future states.
 Once a territory had 5000 settlers, they could form a government. have
 60,000 free citizens to become a state.

 Under the AOC, there were serious money problems.
• These problems were hardest on farmers.
• Judges ordered farmers in
Massachusetts to sell their land and livestock to pay off debts.

 Daniel Shays led an uprising of debt ridden
Massachusetts farmers against the Mass. Govt.
 There was no national govt. or army to stop the rebellion
 Finally stopped by a militia.
 The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to the realization that a new government must be created.

A monument erected in 1987 to commemorate Shay’s Rebellion bears the following line in its inscription:
"True Liberty and Justice may require resistance to law."
Why would this line be included in the monument’s inscription?

Respond to this question in your journal under yesterday’s closing:
Why would the idea of poor farmers rebelling be scary to many of the men working to create a new government for the United States?

 After Shay’s Rebellion, a convention was called to discuss “the situation of the United States”
 Issues to be debated
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Should we create a Strong or Weak Federal
Government?
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Will the new government continue the “one state one vote” or will it be based upon population?
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What will we do about the Slavery issue…?

 Pennsylvania
State House
 Independence
Hall
 When? May 25, 1787

 Who? 55 delegates: federalists, antifederalists and James
Madison.
 What? Our founding fathers came together to write the
Constitution.
 Professional backgrounds
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About half were lawyers
◦
Others were farmers, merchants, and doctors
 ¾ had been representatives in the Constitutional Convention.
 These delegates are what we call “The Founding Fathers”
 George Washington
 James Madison – called the Father of the Constitution because of his preparation and participation in it’s creation.

 Legislative branch has one houses
 House has one state/one vote
 Supported by smaller states
 Legislative branch had two houses
 House based on population
 Supported by larger states
 Three branches of government

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Unable to come to any sort of agreement, a committee met and came up with a compromise.
It set the government up as follows:
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3 branches of government
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2 houses in Legislative branch
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House of Representatives based on population
◦
Senate – 2 votes per state (equality)

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 Slaves should count for taxation = property
 Slaves should NOT count towards taxation.
 Slaves should NOT count as citizens for
Representation
 Slaves should count for representation.

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Because the issue of slavery was preventing the ratification (approval) of the Constitution, the delegates came up with yet another compromise.
In the 3/5ths Compromise, slaves would count as
3/5 of a person for population counts when setting taxes and representation. 5 slaves = 3 people
Although they reach a compromise for the
Constitution, the North and South still did not agree on the issue of slavery.
Slavery will continue to be a widely debated topic for many more years.

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Federalists – DEBATED FOR RATIFICATION
Wanted:
Strong Central Government
Powerful Executive Branch
To ratify the Constitution AS WRITTEN.
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay

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Anti-Federalists – AGAINST RATIFICATION
Wanted stronger states (state’s rights)
More people’s rights
DEMANDED BILL OF RIGHTS BE ADDED TO
PROTECT PEOPLE FROM THE
GOVERNMENT!!!
Thought the proposed constitution didn’t do enough to ensure people’s rights.
Patrick Henry and George Mason

 Federalists wrote a series of newspaper essays pointing out the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation

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The states each hold conventions to vote on whether or not to ratify (approve) the
Constitution.
The first states ratify it in December 1787 .
The last state doesn’t ratify the constitution until
1790!
 Now, the British Colonies are officially
The UNITED States of America!

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When? 1791
At the same time that seven of the states ratified the Constitution, they asked that it be amended to include a bill of rights.
Why? They believed it was needed to protect people against the power of the national government.
What? These amendments gave certain rights
(unalienable rights) specifically to the people of the US and to the states.

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1 st
2 nd
3 rd
4 th
5 th
6 th
7 th
8 th
9 th
10 th

 Q: In your own words, explain why you think that the Antifederalists felt that it was absolutely necessary for the Bill of Rights to be added to the
Constitution? If you had to live during this time, what would your stance have been? Why?