The New Nation!

•Provided foundation of national government

•States were afraid of big government

•As a result, it was difficult for Congress to enforce policies over the states

Congress’ Powers

•Could declare war

•Could raise armies

•Could sign treaties

•Could NOT tax

• Britain allowed America to export goods to Britain

• Britain to NOT allow them to access goods from Caribbean

Major Achievements of the Articles of Confederation

•Commercial treaties

• Settling land in the West

Weakness of Articles of Confederation

• The states were not unified in their trade policies with Britain

• This hurt business for American artisans and manufacturers

• In turn, the States were under pressure to compete with one another

Problems with Diplomacy

•Diplomacy is the managing of relations with foreign countries

•Under the Articles, Congress could not force states to pay back debt to Britain from before the war (part of Treat of Paris)

Problems with Diplomacy

•When Congress tried to open trade with neighboring Spanish merchant, Southern states thought the government was working for Northern states and against them

Economic Crisis

•Unable to trade with Britain, America was sent into a recession

•Recession- a severe struggle to produce wealth for the nation = more debt

• States tried to recover by raising taxes

• Since citizens were in debt, the only solution was to print more money

• Leads to INFLATION- decrease in value of currency

Shays Rebellion•Massachusetts

• State stops accepting payment in worthless currency

•Helpless farmers rebel

•Mass. Militia opens fire

What did Shays’ Rebellion prove?

• The wealthy feared that state governments could only

Articles of Confederation

• If you were a delegate in Congress, how would you fix the problems with the government?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgAv7YhHRzQ

•Shays’ Rebellion

convinced states

to send delegates

to Philadelphia to

try to improve the

national

government

Disagreement•While all delegates

agreed that the Articles of Confederation were too weak, only nationalists agreed there should be a strong central government

• A committee was formed to compromise

Constitutional Convention

•Washington= presiding officer

• Ben Franklin, 81 years old, was a wise yet humorous asset who helped smooth debates

Proposals for new governmentVirginia Plan

New Jersey Plan

Connecticut Compromise

Proposed by:Proposed by:Rogers

ShermanWilliam

PatersonRoger Sherman

No. of No. of Legislative Legislative

HousesHouses1 2 2

Voting for Voting for representativesrepresentatives

More population = more

representation

Equal representation for all states

1 house = reps1 house

dependent on population

The 3/5 Compromise

•Population still played a role in representation

•If slaves were to be counted into population, the Southern states would have an advantage in representation

•To even this out, only 3 out of every 5 slaves were to be counted as part of population

Closing Thoughts

•Why was compromise essential in drafting the Constitution?

The power of the new government

•Write down all of the jobs that governments must have.

“We the people”

•popular sovereignty- power of the people in government

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OyU4O80i4

Federal Government

•In order to respect the power of states, the framers created a federal system

•federalism- shared power between the states and the federal government

•They also made sure the national government would not have too much power by separating their duties into 3 branches

Executive Branch•Executive- President at the head:

• proposes laws

• appoints judges

• puts down rebellions

• commands armed forces

• can veto laws put forth by Congress

• Appoint cabinet members (supporters with specific jobs)

Legislative Branch•Legislative- House of Reps and

Senate

•can override president’s veto by 2/3 vote in both houses

•can reject president’s picks for cabinet

•judges MUST be approved by Congress

Judicial Branch

•Judicial- Supreme Court Judges

•can hear all cases that fall under federal law

•interpret the law

•He said, she said...so who is right?

The Three Branches

BranchBranch PowersPowers

Executive

Legislative

Judicial

Opening Thoughts:

•When 55 delegates formed the Constitutional Convention, the event was held in secrecy. Who do you think the delegates worried might try to interfere with their proceedings?

Howard Chandler Christy, 1940

Only 39 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention are pictured in the Christy painting.

Men from New Jersey include: David Brearley, Jonathan Dayton and William Livingston

Not included are the 3 delegates who did not sign the Constitution: Edmund Randolph (VA), George mason (VA) and Elbridge Gerry (MA)

Held in Secrecy...•The Constitutional Convention was

held behind closed doors for the purpose of keeping outside scrutiny from interfering

•Above all, the founders feared “mobocracy”

•James Madison took copious notes which serve as the best record of what went on at the Convention

“A living breathing constitution”

•Amendments- are changes to the Constitution

•The framers knew that Constitution might need to be changed over time

•Amendments must have 2/3 support in both houses

•*In more than 220 years there have only been 27 amendments!

Preventing a Monster!

•The framers designed a government with three branches

•designated each branch interactive powers known as checks and balances to prevent tyranny in government

Making It Official!

•In order to make the document official, 9 out of the 13 states would have to ratify the constitution

•ratify- give official approval

Skeptical Massachusetts

•Sam Adams- was one of many Massachusetts men worried about the lack of a bill of rights in the Constitution

•bill of rights- protects individuals and states from corrupt government

NY and Virginia•By 1788, Maryland ratifies and

Congress has enough support to make the Constitution official BUT...

•VA and NY are powerful states who are important to include in nation

•James Madison promises a bill of rights later and Virginia and Massachusetts join

NY

•After VA and Massachusetts join, NY is pressured to ratify

Your turn!•Read and make AT LEAST 3

annotations. Try to find examples of the following:

• Importance of The Constitution

•Social Class Conflict

•Democracy vs. Federalism

•Balance of powers

•Strengths of the Constitution/ Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Federalists

Ratification

Anti-Federalists