From Confederation to
Constitution
1781-1791
Articles of
Confederation
Constitutional
Convention
Source:
images.pcmac.org/.../Chapter_8_Confederation_to_Constitution.ppt
Constitution
Timeline
1777
1781
1783
1786 –
1787
1787
1788
1789
Patriots win
the battles of
Saratoga
Articles of
Confederatio
n go into
Effect
Articles of
Confederatio
n Adopted
British
surrender at
Yorktown
Treaty of Paris officially ends the
Revolutionary War
Shay’s
Rebellion in
Massachuset
ts
Constitution
al
Convention
held in
Philadelphia
United
States
Constitution
is Ratified
http://www.quia.com/cm/300985.html
United
States
Constitution
is written
George Washington
becomes the first President
of the United States
Confederation Congress
 From 1776 to 1787, the United States was
governed by a group of men called the
Confederation Congress.
 These men accomplished five important things:





Governed the nation during the war
Negotiated the Treaty of Paris
Ratified the Articles of Confederation
Passed the Land Ordinance of 1785
Passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
The Northwest Territory
 The
Confederation
Congress set up
laws on how to
divide the
Western lands
that it now
controlled.
The Land
Ordinance of
1785
 This ordinance
called for surveyors
to stake out sixmile-square plots,
called townships, in
the Northwest
Territory.
The Northwest Ordinance 1787
 The Northwest Ordinance described how
these new lands were to be governed. It was
important because it set a pattern for the
orderly growth of the United States.
Provisions of the Northwest
Ordinance
Conditions for Settlement
Conditions for Statehood
 Slavery was outlawed in
 When a territory had at
the Northwest Territory
 Freedom of Religion was
guaranteed
 Trial by Jury was
guaranteed
least 60,000 people, they
could apply to become a
new state
The Articles of Confederation
 During the American
Revolution, the original
13 states ratified (or
agreed to) a document
called:
The Articles of
Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation
Powers Given to Federal
Government in the Articles
Powers NOT GIVEN to the Federal
Government in the Articles
 Wage war
 No power to enforce laws
 Make peace
 No power to levy taxes
 Sign treaties
 No power to regulate trade
 Issue money
 Required all 13 states to
approve changes to the
Articles
Weakness of the Articles of
Confederation
 Led to problems after the war:
 Because the Federal government couldn’t
levy taxes, they had no way of getting money
to pay soldiers that had fought in the war.
 This led to rebellions and violence.
Problems continued:
 Individual states had the
power to tax their citizens.
Some states took
advantage.
Massachusetts was taxing
its people into poverty.
 This led to Shay’s
Rebellion. In January 1787,
a group of farmers, sick of
being taxed, attacked the
federal arsenal. Though
the rebellion was put
down by the state militia,
it got the attention of the
Founding Fathers.
The Constitutional Convention
of 1787
 Incidents such as Shay’s Rebellion and the
need to establish interstate trade laws led to
a convention in Annapolis, MD
 Only agreement point: another convention in
Philadelphia in 1787
 Originally, Philadephia convention’s purpose
was to REWRITE the Articles, considered the
law of the U.S.
 After much debate, they ended up trashing
the Articles and writing an entirely new
document: the CONSTITUTION.
 Twelve states sent delegates to the
Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in
1787. Only Rhode Island refused to attend.
 The 55 delegates to the Constitutional
Convention became known as our Founding
Fathers, or “Framers”—those who framed, or
outlined, the new laws of the U.S.
Shhhhhh: It’s a secret!
 The delegates to the convention didn’t want
to be pressured by the politics of the day.
 They posted guards at the doors and kept the
windows closed and locked to keep people
from spying on the meetings and spreading
news of what was going on.
 Despite Ben Franklin’s attempt to do otherwise…
 On May 29, 1787, the delegates to the
Constitutional Convention got down to the
business of forming a new government.
 The challenge to our Founding Fathers was to
set up a STRONG but LIMITED national
government: Strong enough to keep the
country together, but not so strong as to
become oppressive like the kings in England.
The Virginia Plan
 Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed the
Virginia Plan:
 The government would have 3 branches
 A legislature to make the laws
 An executive branch to enforce the laws
 And a judicial branch to interpret the laws
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/teacher_lessons/3branches/3bgovt.htm
 Under the Virginia Plan, each state would
have representatives in the legislature
according to the population of that state. For
example, heavily populated states, like
Virginia, would have more representatives
than small states like Connecticut.
The New Jersey Plan
 Small states didn’t like the idea of the bigger
states having more of a voice in the
government.
 William Paterson presented and alternative
plan called the New Jersey Plan
 Under the New Jersey Plan, each state would
have an EQUAL number of representatives in
the legislature no matter how big or small the
state.
The Great Compromise
 To keep both the big and small states happy,
the delegates came up with a compromise.
 The legislative branch would have 2 houses or
be bicameral but representation would be
different in each house.
 The Senate would have 2 representative from
each state
 The House of Representatives would have
representation based on state population.
The Great Compromise
Virginia
Plan
The legislative
branch would have
two houses.
Both Houses would
have representation
based on state
population
New Jersey
Plan
The Legislative
branch would have
one house.
Each state would
have one vote in the
legislature
The Senate would give each state
equal representation
The Great
Compromise
The legislature would be
bicameral – have two houses
The House of Representatives
would have representation
according to state population
The Great Compromise
Simplified
Legislative Branch
Senate
Equal
Representation
2 Senators from
each State
House of
Representa
tives
Representation
Based on
population
Slavery and the Constitution
 Because representation in the House of
Representatives would be based on
population, the delegates had to decide who
would be counted in that population.
 The Southern states wanted to count slaves
as citizens for the purpose of
REPRESENTATION only.
 In other words, slaves would have no rights
guaranteed by the government
 BUT they would count for the purpose of having
more representatives in the house for the
Southern states.
 Of course, the states that didn’t have large
slave populations disagreed with counting
slaves for representation in the House.
The Three – Fifths Compromise
 Once again, the delegates compromised.
They agreed to allow the slave states to count
3/5ths of their slaves for representation in the
house, BUT, those states would also pay
federal taxes on population counting 3/5ths of
the slaves.
http://www.quia.com/rr/540554.html
http://www.quia.com/quiz/2038406.html
Federalists vs Anti-federalists
 Once the Constitution was written, it had to
be ratified – or agreed to by the states.
 Those people in favor of the Constitution
were called FEDERALISTS.
 Those people opposed to the Constitution
were called ANTI-FEDERALISTS.
Federalism?
 Federalism is a system of government in
which power is shared between the central or
(federal) government and the state
governments.
Federal
Government
State
Governments
 Federalists were in favor of making the
Central or Federal government stronger than
the state governments.
 Anti-federalists thought
the Constitution took
too much power away
from state governments
and did not guarantee
rights of the people.
 They were afraid that
the federal (or central)
government would
become too powerful
and begin to treat the
people the way the
Kings in Europe had
treated them.
Federalists
Anti-federalists
Supported removing some
powers from the states and
giving more powers to the
National Government
Wanted important political
powers to remain with the
states
Favored dividing powers
among different branches of
government
Wanted the Legislative
Branch to have more power
than the Executive Branch
Proposed a single person to
lead the Executive Branch
Feared that a strong
executive might become a
king or a tyrant
Believed a Bill of Rights
needed to be added to the
Constitution to protect
people’s rights
The Federalist Papers
 Three well known
politicians wrote The
Federalist Papers and
had them printed in
New York newspapers.
 The Federalist papers
argued in favor of
ratifying the
Constitution.
John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James
Madison wrote the Federalist Papers.
The Nation was divided between the Federalists and
the Anti – federalists.
The Federalists outnumbered the Anti-federalists. By
June of 1788, nine of the thirteen states had agreed to
ratify the Constitution.
However, Virginia and New York, two very strong and
influential states, had not yet agreed.
Even without these two states, the Constitution could
become law because it only required nine of the
thirteen states to agree.
The Founding Fathers didn’t want the country to be
divided.
So, they agreed to add a Bill of Rights to the
Constitution. This convinced Virginia and New York to
agree to ratification. Finally, by 1790, North Carolina
and Rhode Island joined the other states and everyone
was in agreement.
The Bill of Rights
 James Madison drafted
the Bill of Rights and
sent these ten
amendments to the
Constitution to the
states for ratification.
 In 1791 these rights
became law.