Colonial Policies
• King controls the colonies, Parliament has little control
• 2,000 miles away- too hard to govern
▫ Colonies become used to self-governing
• Federal relationship
• More taxation

Colonial Unity
• Albany Plan
▫ Ben Franklin’s idea: yearly congress of delegates
 Raise defense
 Trade
 Criminal matters
• Stamp Act Congress
▫ Act requires stamps on all paper products
▫ Delegates to New York- draft grievances against
King

First Continental Congress
• Intolerable Acts
• Delegates to Philadelphia
▫ Low turnout
▫ Urge boycott and creation of local committees
• Call for a second congress the following May

The Second Continental Congress
• 1774- after Lexington and Concord
• Representatives
▫ All colonies send representatives
▫ George Washington attends and is elected to lead the army
• Becomes our first national government
▫ Served for 5 years until Articles of Confederation
▫ All powers in a unicameral legislature

Independence
• Committee of 5 drafts Declaration of independence- largely the work of Jefferson
• First state Constitutions
▫ Common features:
 Popular sovereignty
 Limited government
 Civil rights
 Separation of power and checks and balances

What are the Articles of
Confederation?
• November 15, 1777
• Established a firm league of friendship among the States
• “for their common defense, the security of their
Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare”
• Formal approval or ratification was needed by all 13 States

The Articles Of Confederation
• The Articles of Confederation established “a firm league of friendship”.
▫ Under this plan, each State kept “its sovereignty, freedom, and independence…”

Governmental Structure
• Congress was sole body
• Unicameral-delegates chosen yearly by state
• Each state had one vote
• No executive or judicial branch

Powers of Congress
• Make war and peace
• Send and receive ambassadors
• Make treaties
• Borrow money
• Set up a money system
• Establish a post office
• Build a navy
• Raise an army
• Fix uniform standards of weights and measures
• Settle disputes among the states

State Obligations
• Obey articles and acts of Congress
• Provide funs and troops
• Treat citizens of other states as equally as their own
• Surrender fugitives from justice to one another
• Submit their disputes to Congress
• Allow open trade and travel between and among States
• Retained those powers not explicitly given to the
Congress

Weaknesses of Articles of
Confederation
• States were fiercely independent
• Weaknesses:
• Instability of Union
• No Judicial Branch
• No Executive Branch
• No Power to Regulate Commerce
• No Power to Tax
• Couldn’t provide for national defense
• Each state had one vote, regardless of size
• 9 of 13 required for law; Unanimous to amend

Critical Period
• States don’t support the federal government
▫ Make agreements with other nations
▫ Form their own militaries
• Taxed each others goods
• Printed own money
• Shays’ Rebellion
▫ Group of debtors lead a force to close the state courts
▫ Attack federal arsenal

The Constitutional Convention
• The Framers
▫ 12 states send delegates: not Rhode Island
▫ Average age: 42, most in their 30s
• Procedure
▫ George Washington elected President of the convention
▫ Worked in secrecy
▫ The decision:
 Not just amend but throw out the Articles

The Virginia Plan
• Madison
• Three branches
• Bicameral congress
• Power of veto
• Oath to support the federal government
• Considered radical

The New Jersey Plan
• Unicameral Congress
• Each state equal representation
• Plural executive
• Limited powers for tax and trade

Compromises
• Connecticut
▫ Two house congress
 Senate equal number of reps
 House of Representatives based on population
• Three-Fifths
▫ All free persons are equal and slaves are 3/5 of all other persons
• A bundle of compromises

Ratification
• September 17 th 1787 the Constitution is signed
• Nine states ratify however they need a key state such as New York or Virginia
• 1789- finally ratified and becomes the new national government