Creating a Republic

Chapter 7

Section 1 A loose Confederation

In forming Governments the states each wrote a constitution.

Constitution- a document that sets out the law, principals, organization, an process of a government.

States did this for two reasonsA written constitution

would spell out the rights of all citizens

Limit the power of the government

The Virginia constitution included a bill of rights.

Bill of Rights- list of freedoms that the government promises to protect.

State constitutions were set up similar to the colonial governments in structure.Divided power between executive and

a legislature.Legislature was elected by voters to

pass lawsEvery state but Pennsylvania had a

governor to carry out the laws Under state constitutions more

people had the right to vote.White males aged 21 and owner of a

certain amount of land or pay a certain amount of taxes

Articles of Confederation

Delegates of the Continental Congress drafted a plan for the country.Delegates believed that

the colonies needed to be united by one national government.

It was hard to write a constitution that all states agreed on.Most states did not see

themselves loyal to one government but loyal to individual state.

The Congress approved the Articles of Confederation in 1777Very loose alliance of the

13 colonies

Limited power of Articles of

Confederation

Each state sent delegates to Congress. Each state had one vote.

Congress had the power to:Declare warAppoint military officersCoin moneyResponsible for foreign affairs

Congress could pass laws but 9 states had to approve it

Congress could not regulate trade between states or states between other countries.

Could not tax states.Articles had no president to

enforce the law.

Dispute over

land in west

Before Articles were approved, land disputes arose about the land west of Appalachian Mountains.

Maryland refused to ratify the Articles until Virginia and other states that claimed land in the west ceded the land.

Maryland thought these states would become more powerful

Ceded- gave up

Weakn

esses

of

the

Confe

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ion

States were feuding over land.New York and New Hampshire both were claiming VermontThe Articles did not give the government the power to handle this problems.After war was over the country now owed millions of dollars to people and countries.Congress could not tax under the Articles

Money Troubles

During the war Congress printed paper money.Continental money had

little to no value.Continental money not

backed by gold or silverStates began printing

its own money which never equaled the same in all states.

States did not accept money from other states.

Taking

Advantage

of AmericaGreat Britain ignored

Treaty of Paris by not removing troops from the Ohio Valley.

Spain closed New Orleans port to American Shipping Closing of port hurt the

farmers in the west near the Mississippi River.

Farmers depended on the port to ship the goods East.

AdmittingNew States Congress did have

productive moments.They passed laws on

how to govern the Northwest Territory.These laws established

how territory would be governed and how it can become a state.

Land Ordinance of 1785 Set up a system for

settling the NW territory.Territory would be surveyed

and divided into townships Townships then would be

divided into 36 sections of 1 square mile each

Congress would sale each section to settlers for $640 apiece.

One section in every township was set aside to support a public school

Northwest Ordinance

Passed in 1787 the Ordinance set up a government for the NW territories.Guaranteed basic rights to

settlersOutlawed slaveryProvided a vast region to be

made into territories later.Once a territory had a

population of 60,000 “free” settlers it could ask congress to be admitted as a state.

Once made a state it would be equal to the original states in all respects

Northwest Territory Became the states of:

Wisconsin 1848Illinois 1818Indiana 1816Michigan 1837Ohio 1803

Call for Change NW Ordinance was a great

achievement for the new government.

Congress still could do nothing about the economical state and the country fell into a depression.

Depression- a period when business activity slows, prices and wages fall, and unemployment rises.

Farmers Revolt

Depression hit farmers hard.During war Farmers borrowed money

for land, seed, animals, and tools. After war was over the demand for

farming goods went down and farmers could not pay back loans.

In MA the state raised taxes and seized farms from those that could not pay.

Shays’ RebellionDaniel Shay, Massachusetts farmer

who fought at Bunker Hill and Saratoga organized an uprising in 1786.

Over 1,000 farmers took place in Shays’ Rebellion.

Attacked courthouses and prevented the state from taking the farms.

Massachusetts legislature sent in the militia to drive them out.

Convention called

Because of Shays’ Rebellion, Americans saw that the Articles of Confederation were not working.

Leaders of several states met in Philadelphia in May 1787 to revise the Articles.

In the end they created a whole new government.

The Constitutional ConventionSection 2

Delegates to the Convention

The Constitutional Congress opened May 25, 1787.

Every state sent representatives but the state of Rhode Island.

55 delegates in all. 8 had signed the Declaration of Independence.

Most of the men were young and represented the new generation

James

MadisonBest-prepared of the

delegates. 36 years old

representative from VA.Shy but intelligent.Came to Philadelphia a

lot of research on history, government and commerce

Became known as Father of the Constitution

Secret Debates

Delegates wanted to keep the talks over what to do secret. They wanted to speak freely without having influence from

the outside. They closed all the windows and doors.

This made the room extremely hot. After meetings began the delegates realized they

had to do more than just revise the Articles of Confederation. They had to write a brand new constitution.

The delegates disagreed on which form the new national government should take

The Virginia PlanVirginia Plan was proposed by James Madison and

Edmund Randolph. (delegates from Virginia)Called for a strong national government with

three branches Legislative Branch- pass the laws

Would consist of 2 houses where seats would be awarded on population of the state.

Larger states would more representatives than smaller ones

Executive Branch – carry out the laws Judicial Branch- courts that would decide if laws were

carried out fairly.

The New Jersey Plan William Paterson presented the New Jersey Plan

Set up like Virginia Plan with the exception of : There should only be one house in the Legislative

Branch Each state, regardless od population would only

have one vote.Small states feared that under the Virginia

plan large states could outvote them in congress.

Large states said it was only fair that states with more people should have more representatives

Great Compromise For a while no one could agree on a plan and the congress

began to fall apart. Roger Sherman of Connecticut worker out a compromise that

he hoped would satisfy both sides. Compromise- a settlement in which each side gives up

some of its demands in order to reach an agreement Sherman compromise called for a two house system

Lower house would be called the House of Representatives that would be elected by popular vote.

Larger states got what they wanted because larger states would have seats awarded by population.

Upper house would be called the Senate Members of senate would be chosen by state legislatures.

Regardless of the population each state would have 2 senators.

July 16, 1787 the Great compromise was barely passed

Northern and Southern states Comprimise

Slavery was another big argument between the states. Would slavery make up part of states

population? Would the slave trade still bring enslaved

Africans to the US?

South and Slavery Wanted to let slavery count into population

even though they were not allowed to vote. If slaves were counted the southern states

would have more representatives. Northerners objected because if slaves did

not vote they should not be counted. Both made another compromise. If a

southern state had 5,000 slaves, 3,000 would be counted in the population.

This agreement was known as the Three-Fifths Compromise

North and Slave Trade

1787 northern states had banned slavery. Delegates from the North wanted congress

to ban the slave trade in the whole country. The southern states warned congress that

this would ruin the economy of the country. Both sides compromised again. Northern

states agreed that Congress could not outlaw slave trade for 20 years. After which time Congress could do as they wished.

Northerners also agreed no state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to an owner.

Signing the Constitution At the end of the summer there were 3 questions that

Congress has left to answer. How many years should the President, head of the executive

branch, serve? How should the system of federal courts be organized? Would members of Congress be paid?

September 17,1787 was ready to be signed. After 9 state governments approved the document it

would take affect. All but 3 delegates signed the Constitution. Those three

felt it had to much power in the national government. Edmund Randolph George Mason Elbridge Gerry

Ideas Behind the ConstitutionSection 3

Rome’s Influence

Delegates wanted to create a Republic. Republic- a government in which

citizens rule themselves through elected representatives.

The only problem delegates found with a republic was they didn’t survive long.

Founding fathers liked the virtues of the Roman Republic of independence and public service

Roman officials would serve in public office not for money, but because they were devoted to the republic

Rome’s warning

Founding Fathers realized when the Roman republic fell it was no longer a republic, but a dictatorship under Caesar Augustus.

Dictatorship- a government in which one person or small group holds complete authority

They knew in order for the republic to last the citizens had to remain independent and devoted to public service.

Britain's influence Despite the war with Britain they

respected the traditions of freedom.

Founding Fathers looked to the Magana Carta for inspiration. States that English monarchs had to

follow the laws they enforced States that people hold certain rights

that can not be take away: private property and trial by jury

English Bill of

RIgthsFounding fathers took examples

from the English Bill of Rights Government elections should be held

regularly Trial by jury And the right to bear arms Also affirmed the right of habeas

corpus Habeas corpus- the idea that

no person could be held in prison without first being charged with a specific crime

f

American Experience

Americans enjoyed a long tradition of representative government

Americans were use to using written documents to spell out powers and limits of governments and the people. Mayflower compact

Founding Fathers also remembered all the grievances they held against England.

Most of what was in the new constitution came from state constitutions and from the Articles

Ideas from the Enlightenment Most of the ideas in the

Constitution came from the ideas from the European Enlightenment.

Founding fathers drew from John Locke and his writings on Natural Rights

Framers of the Constitution wanted to protect natural rights

Separation of

power French Enlightenment thinker Baron de

Montesquieu influenced how the government was formed.

In his book The Spirit of the Laws, stressed the importance of the rule of law.

Stated “ powers of government should be clearly divided up and split up” Legislative Executive Judicial

This idea was know as separation of power

Separation of power- designed to keep any person or group from gaining too much power

Legacy of the Constitution

Founding fathers drew up the constitution using many traditions from all over the world.

In the end the government they created was unlike any other that came before it.

As many other countries came into their own they used our Constitution to create there governments

Ratification and the Bill of RightsSection 4

Federalists vs Antifederalists In 1787 and 1788 each state

elected delegates to a special state convention that would decide if that state would ratify the Constitution.

In every state there was a heated debate between two groups. Federalists- supporters of the

Constitution who favored a strong federal government

Antifederalists-opponents of the Constitution and a strong federal government

Federalists Argued that the Articles of

Confederation left to much power with states, that produced an imbalance that produced a weak federal government.

Constitution gave the government the authority to function effectively but at the same time it protected the rights and powers of individuals and states.

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote a series of essays that explained and defended the Constitution.

These essays are called the Federalist papers today

Antifederalist Thought the Constitution left the national government to strong and the states to weak.

Thought it gave the president to much power.

Most people expected Washington to become the first president.

Antifederalists admired Washington and knew he would not abuse the power but were uncertain of future presidents.

Key Issue Antifederalists main concern with the

Constitution was that it did not include a bill of rights.

They wanted to make sure that the war they just fought was not for anything.

Federalist replied that it was impossible to list all of a persons natural rights. They said the Constitution protected the people well enough . Antifederalists said that the rights that the

Constitution protected would be easily ignored.

States Vote to Ratify One by one the states started voting on the Constitution.

Delaware December 7, 1787 Pennsylvania December 12, 1787, New Jersey December 18, 1787 Georgia January 2, 1788, Connecticut January 9, 1788, Massachusetts February 6,1788, Maryland April 28,1788, South Carolina May 23,1788, New Hampshire June 21,1788, Virginia June 25,1788, New York July 26, 1788

All but two states ratified the Constitution at first. Later Rhode Island May 29, 1790 and North Carolina

November 21, 1789 followed suit and ratified the Constitution.

Vermont became a stand and they ratified the Constitution January 10, 1791

Adding a Bill of Rights

Americans voted in the First election under the new Constitution in January 1789. As expected Washington became the first

President John Adams was chosen as the Vice President

The first capital was chosen in NY city. This is where the first Congress met.

The first thing Congress did was to add a bill of rights to the Constitution. This was to please the states that did not want

to ratify it without a bill of rights.

Making changes to Constitution

Framers of the Constitution established a way that the constitution could be amended if the need arose.

Amend- to change The framers did not want people to take it lightly when

changing the Constitution so they made it difficult 1789 Congress proposed a set of 12 amendments

that were written by James Madison In order for the amendments to hold they had to

be approved by the states. December 1791 ¾ of the states had ratified 10 of

the 12 amendments. These amendments became known as the Bill of Rights

What is in the Bill of Rights?

Madison made it clear that the Bill of Rights did not give Americans any rights. It simply was a list of rights that belonged to all human beings.

Some of the rights were intended to prevent the same abuse Americans suffered under British rule. 3rd amendment forbade the government from quartering

troops in citizens homes without their consent. 6th and 7th guaranteed the right to a trial by jury

Other amendments were to protect a persons rights. Right to freedom of religion. 1st Amendment

With the Bill of rights the framework of the Government was now set and the Constitution became a living breathing document that could be changed as the country changed.