The Critical Period
& the Constitutional Convention
of 1787
APUSH
“These United States”
 Americans were citizens of their
states 1st

State constitutions, 1776-1778, had
Bicameral legislatures (except PA)
 Weak executives
 Bills of Rights
 Frequent elections
 Expansion of suffrage

 They were citizens of the US 2nd
 John Adams called it a “confederacy of
states…each of which must have a
separate government”
 It was NOT a single nation
The Articles of Confederation
 General Principles
 Strong statement of states’ rights
 Congress’ powers were limited
The Army had gone home
 They didn’t have any money to “incentivize” the
states





League of friendship/common defense &
general welfare
Established a common treasury
Laws were passed with a 9/13 vote
Amendments to the Articles needed 13/13 vote
Money Problems

The country was in debt
$160 million from the war
Some was owed to foreign
countries, some to private
citizens
 Some of it was “paid for” by
just printing more money
 People didn’t like this
because printing money
causes inflation
 The money lost 98% of its
value & “wasn’t worth a
Continental”

Money Problems, con’t

Congress tried to get the AoC
amended so that it would have the
power to tax


It failed twice
In the meantime, the states were
steadily decreasing their
contributions to Congress

By the late 1780s, the states were
behind in paying 80% of the funds
requested by Congress to operate
the government & pay off the debt
Problems with Foreign Countries



When the war ended, Spain started
claiming land that the U.S. had won as
a result of the Am Rev.
France started demanding repayment
of its loans to the US
Britain stopped trading with the US,
refused to remove troops from the NW,
& refused diplomatic relations with the
US until the US paid war debts
Economic Recession

After the war’s end, there were few jobs… &
no money, but so the states did everything
they could to raise money so they could pay
off their debt to Congress
The states tightened credit (banks couldn’t
loan money)
 The states fought over boundaries (for
control of resources)
 States taxed each other
 They demanded payment of taxes in “specie”
 They brought lawsuits against debtors

Farmers’ Problems
 A major economic depression began in 1784
 In 1786 MA voted to pay off its debt in three years
 This meant a HUGE tax hike
 MA Farmers didn’t have the money to pay--& not in specie

Farmers turned to bartering & were used to paying off debts when
they could, not “immediately” as was now demanded by the state
government
Massachusetts Farmers Fight Back
 Shays’ Rebellion, 1786
 Daniel Shays got 2000 angry men
to pick up muskets…
They stormed courthouses &
stopped farm auctions (preventing
foreclosures)
 They demanded their farms back in
3 western MA counties
 In a letter to John Adams, James
Warren explained how bad things
had gotten: “We are now in a state
of anarchy and confusion bordering
on a civil war”

The Rebellion was Crushed
 The army was sent to arrest
the leaders
 BUT, many of Shays’
followers were later elected
to the MA legislature

There they cut taxes & got Shays
pardoned
The Country in Jeopardy
 Legacy of Shays’ Rebellion
 Many, like GW, believed the nation was becoming ungovernable


“I predict the worst consequences from a half-starved, limping
government, always moving upon crutches and tottering at every step….
I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged
somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union in as energetic
a manner as the authority of the state governments extends over the
several states.”
Many Feared that Americans had learned the lesson of the
Revolution only too well
When they didn’t like the tyranny of King George they rebelled
 Now, when they didn’t like the tyranny of their states they rebelled

Pair Share
 With your table partner, come up with a thesis
statement & 2 examples that answer the 2003 AP
Essay Q: Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of
Confederation were effective in solving the problems that
confronted the new nation.
 Successes
 Ran the war & negotiated peace with Great Britain
 Ordinance of 1785
 Northwest Ordinance, 1787
 Failures
 Foreign policy/defense
 Finances/getting the states to pay
Call for changes to the Articles fail?
 In 1786, 5 states tried to solve interstate trade problems
 They needed 9 states to agree, but they could only get 5
 But what came out of it was a pledge to review the AoC
 “to render the constitution of the federal government adequate for
the exigencies of the Union.”
 Congress invited the states to send representatives to
Philadelphia in May of the next year


“for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of
Confederation.”
Madison and Hamilton went to work to convince Washington to
attend. They feared that without his pre-announced support of the
convention, that they wouldn’t get enough states to attend.

Madison’s wife, Dolley, got Martha Washington to agree…
The PA Statehouse (aka Independence Hall)
 They met in the
same room where
the D of I was signed
 It was a HOT
summer


May through
September
The window was kept
shut for privacy & to
keep bugs out
Three Month of Debate
 The Virginia Plan
 Favored large states
 The New Jersey Plan
 Favored smaller states
 Impasse on other issues debated
 Connecticut Compromise
 Aspects favoring both big and small
 The Constitution
 Abandonment of AoC principles
 Federalism
 Checks & Balances
Ratification of the Constitution of 1787
 Federalists
 Federalist Papers
 Anti-federalists
 No Bill of Rights
 9/13 needed to
ratify