CHAPTER 3

CREATING THE CONSTITUTION

Section 1

Governing a New Nation

Government by the States

• Leaders in individual states began creating governments.

• 11 of the 13 states wrote new constitutions to support their governments.

• A constitution is a document stating the rules under which a government with operate.

Writing State Constitutions

• Colonist had been unhappy with governors appointed by the British Crown.

• The new constitutions minimized the powers of state governors.

• Most of the power was given to the state legislatures elected by the people.

• The governor served as the stated executive: the person who runs the government and sees that the laws are carried out.

• The new constitutions allowed more people to vote. In order to vote, white males had to be 21 or over. They also had to own a certain amount of property.

Protecting Rights

• To prevent abuses against the government, states sought to protect individual rights.

• Virginia was the first state to include a bill of rights in its constitution. It included freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to trial by jury. It also barred “cruel and unusual punishments.”

• Many other states followed Virginia’s lead. Ex: Massachusetts included freedom of religion.

The Articles of Confederation

• The continental congress created a plan for the nation as a whole.

• It was called the Articles of Confederation.

Form Of Government

• The government under the Articles had just one branch-a one-house legislature called congress.

• There was no executive and no system of national courts.

• All states would be equal, and each had a single vote.

• 9 states had to agree before a law could go into effect.

Limited Government

• The new states did not want to risk giving too much power to a central government far from the people.

• Most power remained in the hands of the states. • Congress could not regulate trade or collect taxes

(ask the states for the money it needed).• Congress could deal with foreign nations and with

Native Americans outside the 13 states. It could make laws (but not enforce them), declare war, coin or borrow money, and run a postal service.

Settling the Western Lands

• The Articles had to be approved by all 13 states.

• Some would not give their approval until other states dropped their claims to vast areas of land west of the Appellation Mountains.

• The western lands that the states had given up were turned over to the national government.

Land Ordinance of 1785

• Surveyors were to divide public lands into townships, 6 miles on each side (grid of squares).

• Within each township there would also be a grid, 1 mile on each side.

• These 36 sections would be sold for no less than $1 and acre.

• Within each township, one section was set aside to support schools-reflected the belief of the nation’s leaders that democracy depended on education.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787• Investors were eager to buy land in the Northwest Territory.• This ordinance, passed by Congress, guaranteed basic rights

for settlers in the territory and banned slavery there. • The Northwest Ordinance set a three-step process for

admitting new states.• (1) When a territory was just starting to be settled,Congress

would appoint a governor, a secretary, and three judges. • (2) Once the territory had 5,000 free adult male settlers, it could

elect a legislature. • (3) When the free population reached 60,000, the territory

could ask to become a state. • Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were carved

out of the Northwest territory.

Growing Problems

• Under the Articles, the United States had many successes.

• But the United States faced growing problems.

• Many Americans concluded that the Articles did not give the government enough power to solve these problems.

Economic Problems

• Each state set its own trade policy. • Each state tried to help its own farmers and

manufacturers by setting taxes on goods brought in from other states-discouraged trade between states.

• Each state printed its own money-made trade harder.

• Central government did not have the power to tax-little money to run the government.

Foreign Affairs

• Because the United States seemed to be weak, powerful nations viewed it with scorn.

• British troops continued to occupy forts in the Northwest territory, although the peace treaty required that the forts be turned over to the United States.

• The Spanish (controlled New Orleans) refused to let Americans ship products down the Mississippi River.

• Western farmers had to send products along the rigged trails over the Appellation Mountains (far more costly).

Shays’ Rebellion• An economic depression is a period when business activity slows, prices

and wages drop, and unemployment rises. • The depression hit farmers in Massachusetts especially hard.• As crop prices declined, many were unable to pay their taxes. • The state government began seizing farms and selling them to get back the

taxes.• Angry farmers demanded that the legislature stop the farm sales and that

the state issue more paper money to make it easier to get loans.• Daniel Shays led an uprising of about 1,000 Massachusetts farmers. When

the farmers tried to seize arms from a state warehouse, they were arrested. • This event frightened some leading Americans. They believed a stronger

central government would protect against popular unrest.• Congress asked the states to send delegates to a convention in

Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.

1. Which state was the first to provide protections through a bill of rights?

CORRECT: Virginia

EXPLANATION: Virginia was the first state to provide individual protections through a bill of rights.

2. Under most state constitutions, which of the following were NOT allowed to vote?

CORRECT: women

EXPLANATION: In most states, only white male property owners over the age of 21 could vote.

3. The government of Massachusetts responded to Shays's Rebellion by

CORRECT: using the state militia to arrest leaders of the rebellion.

EXPLANATION: Massachusetts used the state's militia to put down the rebellion and arrest its leaders.

4. When did individual states begin creating their own governments?

CORRECT: before the Continental Congress

EXPLANATION: The states wrote constitutions before and during the Continental Congress, when the United States was moving toward independence.

5. What made the passage of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance possible?

CORRECT: states turning over their western land claims to the national government

EXPLANATION: The national government could not pass the ordinances until it was able to lay claim to those lands that the ordinances specified.

Section 2

The Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention Begins

Aims of the Convention

• Many delegates argued that revising the Articles would not be enough.

• The delegates voted to keep their debates secret (public kept out).

• The delegates would be free to speak their minds-even if their discussions took the convention far beyond its original aims.

The Delegates

• 55 delegates from 12 states took part in the convention. • Rhode Island did not send any representatives.• George Washington (who was quickly voted president

of the Convention), and Ben Franklin had been respected leaders of the Revolution.

• Alexander Hamilton of New York was only 32. • Another influential delegate was James Madison of

Virginia (36).• James Madison took careful notes during the meetings.

His notes became a rich source of historical information.

The Virginia Plan

• Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed a plan for a new, strong central government.

• James Madison was the Principal author of this Virginia Plan.

Three Branches of Government

• Congress would continue to be the legislative branch. But two additional branches would be created.

• The executive branch would carry out the laws. This would be one person-the president.

• The judicial branch would consist of a system of courts to interpret the law.

A Two-House Legislature

• Rather than a single legislative body, it would consist of two parts-a lower and a upper house.

• Roger Sherman of Connecticut said the people “should have as little to do” with the selection process as possible because they can be misled.

• James Wilson of Pennsylvania warned against shutting people out of the process. Election of the legislature by the people was “not only the cornerstone, but the foundation of the fabric.”

The Great Compromise

• One part of the Virginia plan nearly tore the convention apart.

• The plan called for representation based on population.

• This idea drew support from the bigger states.

The New Jersey Plan

• They wanted each state to have the same number of votes in Congress.

• William Patterson of New Jersey introduced a modified plan on behalf of the small states.

• It called for a single house of Congress, with equal representation for each state.

• It expanded the powers of Congress to raise money and regulate commerce.

Terms of the Compromise

• A compromise is an agreement in which each side gives up part of what it wants.

• Roger Sherman of Connecticut worked out a compromise that he hoped would satisfy both the large and the small states.

• Delegates narrowly voted to accept Sherman’s proposals with a two-house Congress.

• The lower house (House of Representatives) was to be based on population.

• The upper house (Senate) would give each state two seats.

Debates Over Slavery

Three-Fifths Compromise

• Southern delegates said that slaves should be counted in calculating how many representatives a state should have in Congress.

• Northern delegates said that because enslaved people could not vote, they should not be counted.

• Each enslaved person would be counted as three-fifths of a free person.

• Northern delegates agreed in order to keep the South in the Union.

Slave Trade

• Some northern delegates wanted to ban the buying and selling of people anywhere in the country.

• Southern delegates protested that a ban would ruin the South’s economy.

• Ships would be allowed to bring enslaved people into the county for a period of 20 years.

• Then Congress could bar the importation of enslaved people. But the slave trade within the United States was not effected.

A New Constitution

• Gouverneur Morris, a gifted writer was largely responsible for writing the Preamble.

• The Preamble highlights a major difference between the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation.

1. Which region benefited most from the Three-Fifths Compromise?

CORRECT: the southern states

EXPLANATION: The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three free people for every five slaves, providing more Congressional seats to the South.

2. What decision did the delegates to the Constitutional Convention make about the slave trade?

CORRECT: to not restrict slaves from being brought into the country for another 20 years

EXPLANATION: One of the Founders' compromises about slavery was to continue the slave trade for at least 20 years.

3. Which of these resolved the conflict between the two plans of government proposed during the Constitutional Convention?

CORRECT: the Great Compromise

EXPLANATION: The Great Compromise provided for two houses of Congress and included elements of both the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan.

4. What might be true about the United States government today if the Virginia Plan had been adopted?

CORRECT: Legislation favoring large states would be passed.

EXPLANATION: The Virginia Plan allocated representation according to population and gave large states an advantage in Congress.

5. Which group argued that the Constitution must spell out ways to protect the basic rights of citizens?

CORRECT: Antifederalists

EXPLANATION: The Antifederalists worried that a strong central government might trample on individual liberties.

Section 3

Debating the Constitution

Federalists Versus Antifederalists

• The convention had set a process for states to ratify, or approve, the Constitution.

• Each state was to hold a convention.

• The Constitution would go into effect once it was ratified by nine states.

The Federalist Position

• They favored a strong federal, or national, government.

• James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay published the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 newspaper essays in support of the Constitution.

• For the Union to last, they argued, the national government had to have powers denied to it under the Articles .

The Antifederalist Position

• Leading Antifederalists, such as George Mason and Patrick Henry of Virginia, agreed that the Articles were not strong enough. They felt that he Constitutional Convention went too far.

• Reasons for opposing the Constitution:• (1) Weakening the States• (2) No Bill of Rights• (3) President may easily become a king.

The Ratification Debate • Delaware acted first. They approved the Constitution.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut quickly followed.

• Antifederalists hoped to win in Massachusetts, but a major campaign by Constitution supporters won ratification.

• Maryland and South Carolina had ratified-8 states only 1 more was needed.

• If large and powerful Virginia rejected the pact, New York and other remaining states might do do too. But Virginia approved.

• Meanwhile, while Virginia was debating, New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify. New York and North Carolina followed.

• Rhode Island became the lat of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution.

The Bill of Rights

• Congress began taking steps to prepare for a new government.

• George Washington was elected the first president, with John Adams as VP.

• Many of the states had insisted that a bill of rights be added. This became one of the first tasks of the new Congress that met.

• The first Congress passed a series of Amendments. These amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.

• The Bill of Rights aims to protect people against abuses by the federal government.

1. Which of the following was one of the arguments put forth by the Antifederalists?

CORRECT: The Philadelphia Convention had exceeded its powers in writing a new Constitution.

EXPLANATION: Antifederalists criticized the Philadelphia Convention by saying that it had not been given the power to write a new Constitution, as its original task had been only to revise the Articles of Confederation.

2. Which of the following would NOT be protected by the Bill of Rights?

CORRECT: a business owner raising prices

EXPLANATION: The Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech, religion, and rights of the accused; it does not protect against business owners raising prices.

3. The basic purpose of the Bill of Rights was to

CORRECT: guarantee individual rights.

EXPLANATION: The Bill of Rights was concerned with protecting individuals, not government.

4. Which of these statements best describes the ratification of the Constitution?

CORRECT: In key states, the tide slowly turned in favor of ratification.

EXPLANATION: Some states were initially reluctant to ratify the Constitution, but one by one they did.

5. Which of the following states do you suppose was NOT considered to have a crucial vote?

CORRECT: Rhode Island

EXPLANATION: The decisions of the large states were important. If Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, or New York had not chosen to ratify the Constitution, the United States might have fallen apart.