Starting a New Nation
• Issues facing the new nation?
• How do we set up a government at the
present time?
• What principles is the new system to be
based upon?
• Small State/Large State?
• Autonomy of the State?
Days in Government class…
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The argument on representation…
Sharing of Powers?
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles will in time prove to be very
weak.
Articles of Confederatoin
• The result of a Colonial fear of
tyranny…well we want effective
governance, but we don’t want a king and
we want the states to be able to preserve
their autonomy.
• The result…
No Chief Executive, No National Court System,
Laws need 9/13 state approval, All powers reserved
to states.
• Congress could:
• Declare war and make
peace
• Raise an army/navy
• Make treaties/alliances
• Coin and borrow money
• Regulate
weights/measures
• Est. a post office
• Regulate Indian affairs
• Congress could not:
• Levy taxes
• Regulate foreign or
domestic trade
• Settle disputes among
states
• Collect state debts owed
the government
• Enforce its powers
• Make laws with force
Conclusion?
• As you can see the Articles of confederation
were not an effective means of governance
and their inability to enforce measures or
levy taxes will in time prove to be too great
an obstacle…
• In time other events will illustrate the
weaknesses of the document.
British?
• They refused to leave the West and their
lucrative fur trade…
• And closed ports in Canada to the new
confederation of states.
• John Adams sent to negotiate…but he was
backed by a powerless government.
Spain
• Refused to honor our claims to the territory west of
Appalachia and Ohio River Valley.
• Established forts and Indian alliance throughout
region
• Refused us access to the Port of New Orleans and
Mississippi
• Refused us access to West Indies trade that they
controlled.
• John Jay sent to negotiate but…weak government
behind him
Shay’s Rebellion: a turning point
• To some degree the foreign problems that
arose after the Revolution were
expected…however the problems
domestically were not expected.
• Wealthy who loaned the government money
favored high taxes to enable the government
to repay them…
• Problem is that puts enormous pressure on
poor farmers.
• Conflict between
debtors/creditors…poor/rich
• Farmers losing their farms…on the way to
debtor prison
• Enter Daniel Shays…a former soldier
turned farmer.
• Eventually the rebellion was stopped but it
had served its purpose pointing out not only
the poor condition of class and economics
in the new nation but also that its new
system of governance was not effectively
meeting the “inalienable” needs of the
people…John Locke
• Washington: “what a triumph for our
enemies to find that we are incapable of
governing our selves!”
Final Straw:
• It was becoming increasingly obvious that
the new nation was exactly the opposite of
what they had fought for and what they had
hoped to become…the problem: National
Unity or Disunity.
• Citizens viewed themselves as a “citizen of
the country of Massachusetts” even under
the articles
• Hence our nation was not a nation but a
splintered fragment of independent states.
• A new conflict brews…Nationalists led by
Washington/Franklin/Jefferson and James
Madison who advocated a strong National
Government. And the States Rights group
led by Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams.
• The call for “changes” to the Articles of
Confederation was first ignored but after
Shays Rebellion the second was noted and
the delegates met at the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia May 1787.
Conflicts at CC
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New Government or “fix” articles?
National or State orientated?
Powerful or weak?
Popular rule or appointment?
Representation by state?
Role of slavery?
New or Fix?
• As there initial intention was to fix the
system it became obvious as they got farther
and farther into the process that repair was
going to be redesigning. So a new system
was to be implemented.
National or State Orientation?
• Can be largely attributed to two facts:
• 1. The articles based on the “state” system
were ineffective and the reason the
delegates were there.
• 2. Look at the guys in favor of National
system: Washington/Franklin and Jefferson.
Enough said.
• A reverse:
• Articles of Confederaton
National Power
• Constitution
State Power
Strong or Weak…
• Caused much deliberation will be settled
largely on the basis of the historical flaws of
the Articles of Confederation.
• Question became…how do you give the
Nation a strong government but check its
power and share it with states?
• They decided on Checks and Balances and
Seperation of Powers.
Popular Rule
• One of the most heated debates of the
event…problem is all delegates recognized
that the government should be based on the
rule of the people…but not everyone had
“confidence” particularly Alexander
Hamilton who chastised the public as being
incompetent. Electoral College is the
answer.
Representation
• New Jersey Plan: Unicameral based on
equality.
• Virginia Plan: Bicameral legislature based
on states population.
• The Great Compromise: our current system
The issue of Slavery
• Issue won’t die!
• Slaves and representation.
• South wants them as “1 person” yet won’t
treat them as people? Why
representation…North they don’t count as
people so why count in representation?
• 3/5 compromise the solution…
• Biggest problems still to come…
• Slave Trade compromise
The New Government:
• Brief, Brief Overview…think back to
Government:
Ratification
• The next difficult task…those in favorFederalists, those against: Anti-Federalists.
• An example: your reading of Federalist 10.