CHAPTER 5-Shaping a New Nation
Section 1-Experimenting with Confederation
Section 2-Drafting the Constitution
Section 3-Ratifying the Constitution
Section 1-Experimenting with
Confederation
 During the Revolutionary War, the states had
united under a similar goal: independence.
 However, the states were reluctant to unite
under a strong central gov’t.
 Americans favored a republic-a gov’t in which
citizens rule through their elected
representatives.
 Republicanism- the ideas that gov’t should be
based on the consent of the people, meant
different things to many Americans.
 State constitutions limited the powers of gov’t
leaders and guaranteed specific rights for its
citizens.
 State constitutions also varied greatly in giving
its citizens the right to vote.
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The Continental Congress started the process
of drafting a constitution for the central gov’t
while the states were drafting their own.
The Cont. Congress had to answer 3
questions:
Representation? By state or population?
Can supreme power be divided?
Who gets the western lands?
Congress decided that each state would have only one
vote, although each state differed in size, wealth, and
population.
 The Congress proposed a new type of gov’t in a set of
laws called the Articles of Confederation.
 The AoC proposed 2 levels of gov’t that shared
fundamental powers. State gov’t was supreme in some
matters and nat’l gov’t was supreme in others.
 The delegates called this gov’t a confederation, or
alliance.
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The AoC gave the nat’l gov’t the right to:
Declare war
Make peace
Sign treaties
Borrow $$
Set standards for coins and weights
Establish a postal service
Deal with Native American affairs
 However, the AoC did not create an executive
dept to carry out and enforce the laws of
Congress, and no nat’l court system to interpret
the meaning of laws.
 Maryland would not approve the AoC until all
states gave up their claims to the western lands.
 Eventually all states gave up their claims and the
AoC went into effect in 1781.
 Despite the weaknesses of the AoC, two
benefits did come from how the delegates chose
to deal with the western lands.
 The Land Ordinance of 1785 established a plan
for surveying the land west of the Appalachians.
 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 divided the
lands into territories and set requirements for
admission of new states.
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After the Revolutionary War Americans started
moving west across the Appalachian Mountains to
land known as the Northwest Territory. This land was
north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi
River.
In 1785 the United States government sent men to
survey the Northwest Territory. The men divided the
territory into townships. Each township was six miles
long by six miles wide. The townships were divided
into four equal parts: one for public buildings such as
schools and courthouses. The rest was for sale.
**First area of land where slavery
was prohibited.
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The 3 stages to becoming a state included:
Congress would appoint a territorial governor.
When a territory had 5,000 voting residents,
the settlers could write a temporary constitution
and elect their own gov’t.
When the territory reached 60,000 residents
they could write a state constitution to be
approved by Congress.
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The AoC had several weaknesses:
It lacked nat’l unity
Congress did not recognize pop differences
Changes could only be made unanimously
Congress could not tax to pay off war debt
Congress could not regulate interstate or foreign
trade
No executive or judicial branch
Section 2-Drafting the Constitution
 Since the states had placed such heavy limits on
the nat’l gov’t it was unable to solve the nation’s
many problems.
 Interstate trade was the worst of the problems.
 James Madison and Alexander Hamilton called
for a meeting of delegates to discuss these
problems.
Only 5 states sent representatives to the Annapolis
Convention. Meanwhile….
 Daniel Shays, a farmer in MA, was planning to revolt.
 He and many other farmers had heavy debt and their
farms were about to be taken away.
 Shays and 1200 other men marched into the city where
they were met by the militia.
 4 of Shays’ men were killed and the rest were scattered.
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Shays’s Rebellion caused panic and anxiety across the
nation.
 It now became obvious that a stronger nat’l gov’t was
necessary to solve the nation’s problems.
 A new convention in Philadelphia was called to revise
the AoC and all states except Rhode Island sent
delegates.
 George Washington was elected to be the presiding
officer of the convention.
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Delegates realized the need for change and eventually
gave up the idea of revising the AoC.
 One big issue faced was how to give fair representation
to both large and small states.
 James Madison & Edmund Randolph proposed the
Virginia Plan with a bicameral legislature (lower and
upper house) based on population & 3 branches of
gov’t. Strongly supported by large states.
 William Patterson proposed the New Jersey Plan with a
unicameral legislature where each state had one vote.
Strongly supported by small states.
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 Delegates refused to agree on either plan.
 Roger Sherman suggested the Great
Compromise (aka Connecticut Compromise)
which offered a bicameral legislature. Each state
would have equal representation in the Senate
and representation based on population in the
House.
 It also provided for 3 branches of gov’t.
Representation based on pop raised the issue of
whether or not slaves should be counted into pop.
 Delegates agreed to the 3/5 Compromise which allowed
3/5 of a state’s slaves to be counted as population for
representation and taxation purposes.
 Another compromise dealing with slavery was the Slave
Trade Compromise; the delegates decided to put off the
issue of slavery for the future, but agreed that the slave
trade would end in 1808.
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After reaching these compromises, delegates decided
that powers of gov’t should be divided between the
state and nat’l gov’t and that the nat’l gov’t should
have 3 branches.
Delegates protected the rights of the states, but also
gave some powers only to the nat’l gov’t.
The 3 branches included:
Legislative-makes laws-Congress
Executive-enforces laws-Pres, VP, Cabinet
Judicial-interprets laws-Supreme Court, other courts
 Distrust of popular sovereignty led the delegates
to create a complex method for electing the
President.
 Instead of each person directly choosing the
Pres they would choose a number of electors
who would cast ballots for candidates.
 The Electoral College was made up electors=
# of Senators + # of Reps.
Section 3-Ratifying the Constitution
 After spending 4 months drafting the Constitution
the delegates printed the full text document.
 The Constitution established a gov’t based on
limited gov’t, separation of powers, and checks
and balances.
 Limited gov’t is the principle that even gov’ts
must obey a set of laws and respect the rights of
citizens. They are “limited” in what powers they
have and what they can do.
 Separation of powers divided authority to govern
b/t different branches of gov’t. This idea came
from Montesquieu, a French philosopher who
believed good gov’ts had separate branches that
had their own jobs, but also worked together.
 Checks and balances allow each branch to
check the powers of the other two. This keeps
any one branch from becoming too powerful.
 Many Americans were shocked at the changes
made by the Founding Fathers and the fact that
the AoC had been abandoned.
 The framers set up a procedure to ratify
(approve) the Constitution in which each state
would hold a convention to approve the new
document.
 Ratification required that 9 of the 13 states must
approve.
 Supporters of ratification called themselves
Federalists because they favored the balance of
power b/t the state and nat’l gov’t.
 Their opponents came to be called the
Antifederalists because they opposed having a
very strong nat’l gov’t.
Leading Federalists included George Washington,
James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.
 Leading Antifederalists included Patrick Henry, Samuel
Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee.
 Both sides held debates and published articles to
combat their viewpoints.
 The Federalists published a series of 85 essays called
The Federalist Papers to explain the principles found in
the Constitution.
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Federalists vs. Antifederalists
 The main argument of the Antifederalists was
that the Constitution had no bill of rights to
protect the people, and they refused to ratify until
it was added.
 In 1789 Congress submitted 12 amendments
and by 1791 10 amendments were agreed upon.
 The first 8 included personal liberties and the
last 2 imposed limits on the nat’l gov’t.
BILL OF RIGHTS-10 AMENDMENTS
1st-freedom of religion,
speech, press, petition,
assembly
 2nd-right to bear arms
 3rd-freedom from quartering
troops
 4th-protection against
unreasonable search and
seizure
 5th-trial by jury, double
jeopardy, self-incrimination,
due process of law.
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6th- impartial jury, speedy
trial, notification of charges.
7th-right to trial by jury in civil
cases
8th-protection from excessive
bail/fines, and cruel/unusual
punishment.
9th-rights of the people
10th-powers reserved to the
states and the people.
Constitutional Facts:
 The amendments are divided into 3 parts:
1-12 are known as personal liberty amendments
(4-8 are rights to the accused), 13-15 are known
as the Civil War amendments, and 16-27 are
known as the 20th Century amendments.
 The Constitution is divided into 3 parts:
The Preamble, the 7 Articles, and the 27
Amendments.