Ch. 8: Creating the Constitution
The Articles of
Confederation
• After declaring
independence from Britain
in 1776, Congress tried to
unite the states under one
national government.
• However, many feared that
a strong central government
would trample the very
rights that they were fighting
to preserve.
• Their solution was the
Articles of Confederation,
America’s first written plan
of national government.
The Articles of Confederation
• The Articles created “a firm league of
friendship” in which “each state retains its
sovereignty, freedom, and independence.”
• The Articles formed a loose union in which
the 13 states cooperated for common
purposes.
• It was run by Congress, in
which each state had one
vote.
The Articles of Confederation
• The Articles of Confederation gave Congress
the power to make war and peace, raise an
army and a navy, print money, and set up a
postal system.
• However, in reality, these powers were
limited by the inability of Congress to impose
taxes.
• Instead, Congress had to ask the states for
money in order to do anything and the states
often ignored Congress’s requests.
Developing Western Lands
• After gaining independence, America was left
with western lands acquired from Britain in
the Treaty of Paris.
• But there was no orderly way of dividing up
and selling these lands.
• Settlers would just walk into the wilderness
and claim the land they liked.
• Disputes over who owned what land clogged
the courts.
Land Ordinance
of 1785
• The Land Ordinance of
1785 ended this
confusion.
• It set up a system for
dividing and settling
western lands, allowing
for the establishment of
towns.
• It allowed for the
transfer of federally
owned lands into
private holdings,
townships, and states.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• It divided the Northwest
Territory into smaller
territories.
• As soon as a territory
had 60,000 people, it
could apply to Congress
to become a state.
• It gave settlers the same
privileges as other
citizens. It banned
slavery in the Northwest
Territory.
Money Shortage
• Under the Articles of Confederation, the U.S.
had serious money problems. Congress
lacked the gold or silver it needed to mint into
coins. The states reacted by printing their
own money. No one knew what all this new
money was truly worth, but
most thought that it wasn’t
worth much.
Shays’s Rebellion
• The money
shortage was
particularly hard on
farmers who
couldn’t earn
enough to pay their
debts and taxes.
• In Massachusetts,
judges ordered
farmers to sell their
land and livestock
to pay off their
debts.
• Angry farmers led
by Daniel Shays
rebelled.
Shays’s Rebellion
• They closed down
courthouses to keep
judges from taking their
farms. Then they
marched on the national
arsenal at Springfield and
seized weapons stored
there.
• Since the Continental
Army had been
disbanded after the end
of the Revolutionary War,
Congress was unable to
stop them.
• Ultimately,
Massachusetts sent in its
own militia troops to end
Shays’s Rebellion.
A Call for a Convention
• Shays’s Rebellion was viewed as a sign that
the nation was falling apart.
• Congress called for a convention to consider
“the situation of the United States.” Each
state was invited to send delegates to
Philadelphia in May 1787, “for the sole and
express purpose of revising the Articles of
Confederation.”
U.S. History
Lacking the money to fund itself and the power to
raise money from the states, the national government
was in a financial crisis.
Chapter 8
Creating the Constitution
It soon suffered another setback when a group of
disgruntled
farmers
seized thecolonies
weaponsdeclared
stored attheir
the
On July 4, 1776,
the American
national
arsenal
in Springfield,
Massachusetts
and
independence
from
Great Britain.
Soon afterward,
started
an tried
uprising.
Having
disbanded
Congress
to unite
the states
underthe
one national
Continental
following
the awar
with central
Britain,
government.Army
However,
fearing
strong
Congress
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stop them.
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like
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raisedofitsfriendship”
own militiainand
put “each
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create “a firm league
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the
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state
retains its sovereignty, freedom, and
independence.”
A shocked Congress soon called for a convention to
consider
“the situation
of the
States.”
This document
was known
as United
the Articles
of
Creating the Constitution
• Fifty-five delegates from 12 • The delegates were
states attended (Rhode
“the well-bred, the
Island boycotted).
well-fed, the well-read,
• They met in the same place
and the well-wed.” In
that the Declaration of
Independence was signed.
other words, they
were among the best
Independence Hall
men in the country.
Philadelphia,
• Thomas Jefferson
Pennsylvania
(who was in Great
Britain at the time)
called them “an
assembly of demigods.”
• The first
action of the
Creating
the Constitutional
Convention
delegates was to
elect George
Washington
president of the
convention.
• He would play a
key role by
presiding over the
convention and
lending it his
prestige.
Constitution
• At 81, Benjamin
Franklin was the
oldest delegate.
• He arrived at the
convention each
day in a sedan
chair carried by
four prisoners
from a nearby
jail.
James Madison
“Father of the
Constitution”
• He was the main author of
the Constitution, having
prepared himself for the
issues discussed long before
the convention occurred.
• He addressed the convention
more than 200 times.
• He took notes on everything
said (over 600 printed pages)
so that we know what went
on inside the convention day
by day.
• He would later be our nation’s
fourth president.
Shared Beliefs
The Constitutional delegates agreed that . . .
• The basic purpose of government was to
protect the rights to “life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.”
• All powers of government came from “the
consent of the governed.”
• Liberty and equality were based on the “laws
of nature.”
• The best way to protect these rights was
through a republic, a country governed by
elected representatives.
Differing Beliefs
They disagreed about which people were
entitled to vote and to hold office. They
were divided over which should have more
power, the national government or the
individual states.
Clashing Views
on Three Issues
1. How should
states be
represented
in the new
government?
2. How should
slaves be
counted?
3. How should
the chief
executive be
elected?
Issue 1:
How should states be represented?
The Debate
• Large states, having many people, wanted to
have a representation based on state
populations (the number of people).
• Small states, having relatively few people,
wanted every state to have the same number
of representatives regardless of population.
The Virginia Plan
• Called for a strong national government with
three branches or parts:
– A legislative branch (Congress) to make laws
– An executive branch (chief executive) to carry out the
laws
– A judicial branch (system of courts) to apply and
interpret the laws
• The legislative branch would have two houses,
the House of Representatives and the Senate.
• The number of representatives that a state could
send to Congress depended on its population.
• Thus, the larger states favored the Virginia Plan
and the smaller states did not.
The New Jersey Plan
• It also called for a government with three
branches (legislative, executive, and judicial).
• However, the legislative branch (Congress)
would have just one house, not two.
• Each state would have an equal vote in
Congress, no matter how big or small.
• Thus, the smaller states favored the New
Jersey Plan and the larger states did not.
The Main Differences
Between the Two Plans
• The Virginia Plan called for two houses
of Congress and representation in each
house would be determined by
population.
• The New Jersey Plan called for a single
house of Congress with each state
having an equal vote.
The Great Compromise
• The delegates agreed to a
two-house Congress.
• One house, the House of Representatives,
would represent the people and would have
the number of representatives from each
state based on the state population.
• The other house, the Senate, would
represent the states with each state
having two senators that were elected by
their state legislatures (not by the voters).
Issue 2:
How
should
slaves be
counted?
• Having agreed to base
representation in the House of
Representatives on state population,
the delegates now had to decide
how slaves should be counted.
• 9 out of 10 slaves at this time lived in
the South
• Thus, southern states wanted
slaves to be counted the same as
any other person.
• However, the north argued that
slaves should be counted as
property that could be taxed like
any other property and not counted
in determining a state’s
population.
The Three-Fifths Compromise
• The delegates
finally agreed to
count each slave
as three fifths of a
person when
determining a
states population.
• The compromise
was a contradiction
to the statement in
the Declaration of
Independence that
“all men are created
equal.”
The Slave Trade
• The three-fifths
compromise brought up
the additional issue of the
slave trade.
• South Carolina and
Georgia’s economy
was based on slave
labor, so each believed
they needed fresh
slaves to survive.
• The delegates
eventually agreed that
Congress would have
the power to control
trade, but with two
limitations:
1. Congress could not
place any tax on
exports going to other
countries.
2. Congress could not
interfere with the slave
trade for 20 years (or
until 1808).
Issue 3: How should the chief
executive (president) be elected?
• Some delegates wanted a single chief
executive (the person in charge of the
government)
• Other delegates feared that a single
chief executive might turn out to be like
King George III, the leader they had
revolted against.
• These delegates wanted a three-member
executive (three people in charge).
• Eventually, the delegates agreed to a single
executive (the president).
Choosing the Chief Executive
• Some delegates wanted Congress to appoint the
president, but others argued against this, stating that
the president “must not be made a flunky of the
Congress.”
• Several delegates thought that the people should
elect the president, but Madison argued that voters
would naturally vote for someone from their own
states (which would be unfair to the candidates from
the smaller states).
• A third group of delegates argued that the
president should be elected by a specially chosen
group of “electors” from each state. They believed
that most Americans at the time would not know
enough about the candidates to be able to make an
informed decision as to who would serve them best.
The Electoral College
• After about sixty votes on the issue, the
delegates reached a compromise.
• They decided that the president and vice
president would be chosen by a special body
known as the Electoral College.
• The Electoral College would consist of one
elector for every member of Congress.
• Before 1820, state legislatures chose electors in
most states.
• Today, the people choose their state’s electors
when they vote in presidential elections.
Electoral College Votes By State
435 Representatives + 100 Senators + 3 from the District of Columbia = 538 votes
Therefore, a presidential candidate needs at least 270 votes to win.
Electoral Map of the 2008
Presidential Election
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/ob
ama_vs_mccain/
RED STATES were won by McCain
BLUE STATES were won by Obama
Signing the
Constitution
• On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was
finally finished and put up to a vote.
• Benjamin Franklin stated, “I confess that I do
not entirely approve of this Constitution . . . It
therefore astonishes me to find this system
approaching so near to perfect . . . and I think it
will astonish our enemies.” He added that he
approved the final plan “because I expect no
better, and because I am not sure that it is not
the best.” He then urged “every member of the
convention” to “put his name to this instrument.”
Some Delegates Refuse to Sign
• Some delegates feared that it gave the
national government too much power
and did not protect the rights of the
people, so they refused to sign the final
draft of the Constitution.
The Constitution Is Put
Before the Nation
• Nine of the thirteen state legislatures had to
ratify (approve) the Constitution before it could
become law and replace the Articles of
Confederation as our nation’s written plan of
government.
• To help build support for ratification, many
Federalists (supporters of the Constitution)
published persuasive writing.
• The Federalist Papers were articles written
by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and
John Jay urging ratification of the
Constitution.
• Benjamin Franklin was waiting to sign
the document that would hold the fate
and destiny of our nation. As he stood,
his eyes fell upon a carving on the back
of George Washington's chair, a carving
of half a sun. He stared thoughtfully at it
for a minute, then proclaimed words that
The Story of the Rising/ would be remembered forever, "I have
often looked at that picture behind the
Setting Sun Chair
president without being able to tell
whether it was a rising or setting sun.
Now at length I have the happiness to
know that it is indeed a rising, not a
setting sun."
• By this, he meant that we had risked
everything, and indeed did win. The sun
will continue to shine over America. If
we had lost, the painting would have
been declared a setting sun, bringing
darkness upon our nation.