TEST #2 LECTURE NOTESThe Constitution and New Nation
VUS5-6
STATE CONSTITUTIONS
Virginia Declaration of Rights—George Mason Reiterated the notion that basic human rights should
not be violated by governments Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom—Thomas
Jefferson Outlawed the established church—the government
would not favor just one church—idea of religious freedom
Bill of Rights—James Madison Madison consulted the Virginia Declaration of Rights
and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom when creating amendments that would eventually become the Bill of Rights
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
After the Revolution, American political leaders were afraid to create a powerful central government like that of Great Britain
Thus, the new leaders of the American Nation created the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation: Provided for a weak national government—power wrested
with the state, not federal government Congress had NO power to tax or regulation commerce
between the states No common currency ($) was created for the new nation—
each state could have its own $ Each state had only 1 vote regardless of the state’s size There was NO executive (president) or judicial (supreme
court) branch
Articles of Confederation Video
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE (1787)
Established rules for the organization of land west of the Appalachian Mountains Provided rules for electing assemblies in the western
territories Laid out the process through which a territory could
become a state Stated that all new states would be equal to the
original 13 states Protected civil liberties in the territories Placed limits on the expansion of slavery in the new
territories Territories south of the Ohio River could have slavery Territories north of the Ohio River could not have slavery
The states actually worked together on the Northwest Ordinance
FACTORS LEADING TO THECONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The Articles of Confederation proved to be ineffective
Several factors will lead the government to look into making changes to the Articles of Confederation Boundary disputes between states Poor foreign relations Unpaid war debts Falling crop prices Shay’s Rebellion
SHAY’S REBELLION
Led by Daniel Shays in Mass. Farmers were heavily in debt after the
Revolutionary War The Mass. government began taking their farms for
payment In 1786, Shays called together 2,000 angry farmers
and attacked the court house at Springfield. The state government raised an army and ended
the rebellion The significance of Shay’s rebellion:
The Articles of Confederation had given the national government too little power
Americans were worried that the national government could not maintain order
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION—THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
A convention was convened and met in Philadelphia to amend the Articles, but a new Constitution was eventually created and the Articles were tossed out
Key leaders of the Convention George Washington
President of the Convention Rarely participated in the debates
James Madison—”Father of the Constitution” Usually led the debates Kept very detailed notes and records of the proceedings Created the “Virginia Plan”—proposed the idea of 3 branches of
government which became the foundation of the new government
He later created the Bill of Rights which were added to the Constitution
James Madison
KEY ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE US CONSTITUTION Made federal law the supreme law of the land when
constitutional States still had considerable leeway to govern
themselves Checks and Balances (Separation of Powers)—
Madison’s “Virginia Plan” Created 3 co-equal branches of government—Executive
(enforces laws—president), Judicial (decides constitutionality of laws—Supreme Court), Legislative (makes laws—Congress)
Helped to avoid a too-powerful central government Creation of the Senate
Helped to balance the power by large and small states Each state, regardless of size, has 2 Senators
Creation of House of Representatives The number of representatives for each state is determined
by the state’s population—larger populated states have more representatives
KEY ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE US CONSTITUTION (CONTINUED)
3/5 Compromise An attempt at making Southern states happy Counted slaves as 3/5 of the population when
determining representation in the House of Rep. Limited powers of the federal government to
those in the Constitution Amendments
RATIFICATION PROCESS Before the Constitution could take effect, it
had to be ratified, or approved by the states 9 of the 13 states had to ratify the
Constitution for the document to take effect
FEDERALISTS VS. ANTI-FEDERALISTS Not everyone in the newly formed United States was in
favor of ratifying the newly drafted Constitution Some were afraid the Constitution would create a too
powerful central government (Anti-federalists) Wanted a Bill of Rights added to the Constitution before
ratification—without the Bill of Rights, the Constitution would not have been ratified
These Anti-federalists were more conservative The leading Virginian opponents (against) to ratifying the
Constitution were Patrick Henry and George Mason Others believed the new nation needed a strong central
government to promote economic development (Federalists) The Federalists saw the federal government as needed to solve
national problems The leading Virginian proponents (in favor of) of ratifying the
Constitution were George Washington and James Madison
Patrick Henry
George Mason
THE FEDERALISTS PAPERS A collection of letters published in
newspapers by the Federalists explaining the ideas expressed in the Constitution
Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
The Federalist Papers were designed to persuade the American people to ratify the Constitution
BILL OF RIGHTS
The Anti-Federalists would only ratify the Constitution if a Bill of Rights was added—a series of amendments to the Constitution
Guarantees the rights of individuals and states
Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition
EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD—DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETING POLITICAL PARTIES
Several factors helped to create competing political parties in America’s early government
National Bank Controversy Washington and Hamilton created the Bank of the
United States Hamilton and Jefferson greatly disagreed that
Congress had the power to create the bank because the Constitution did not give this power to Congress
Hamilton argued that Congress had the “implied power” to create a national bank because of the “necessary and proper” clause
Greatly extended Congress’s power and led to the Whiskey Rebellion
WHISKEY REBELLION, 1794
Farmers in western Pennsylvania protested a tax on whiskey
Washington sent an armed force against the farmers
From then on, most people in the West opposed the Federalists
The Whiskey Rebellion proved that the Federal government had the power to enforce laws
Whiskey rebellion video
EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
Several factors led to the development of political parties in the early American government Controversy over the Federalists’ support for the
Bank of the US The Jay Treaty between the US and GB The undeclared war on France
The differing parties developed after George Washington’s presidency ended in the late 1790s
FEDERALISTS
• Led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton• Believed in a strong national government and
industrial economy• Were supported by bankers and business
interests in the Northeast.
Alexander Hamilton John Adams
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Believed in a weak national government and
an agricultural economy. Supported by farmers, artisans, and frontier
settlers in the South Opposed to the Federalists’ support for
the Bank of the United States the Jay Treaty the undeclared war on France
James Madison
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1800
Won by Thomas Jefferson The first American presidential election in
which power was peacefully transferred from one party to another
Jefferson is elected president by the House of Representatives because there was a tie in the election Jefferson and Alan Burr both had the same
amount of votes The House voted and elected Jefferson
IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS—JOHN MARSHALL’S COURT
John Marshall will serve as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court He was from Virginia Appointed by President John Adams He served as the guiding force of the early
Supreme Court Marshall’s precedent-setting decisions helped
to establish the Supreme Court as an independent and equal branch of the national government
John Marshall
IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS—JOHN MARSHALL’S COURT Marbury v. Madison
Established the power of the federal courts to declare laws unconstitutional: “judicial review”
McCulloch v. Maryland The state of Maryland was placing taxes on all bank notes from
the National Bank of the US A National Bank cashier brought suit against the state because of
the tax Marshall and the Supreme court made 2 important decisions:
1.) Congress has powers that are not expressly written in the Constitution
2.)prohibited the states from taxing agencies of the federal government states did not have power to impede or control the laws of the federal
government “the power to tax is the power to destroy”
Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824 Established the federal government’s right to regulate all aspects
of interstate commerce (interstate waterways)
EXPANSION RESULTING FROM THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
The land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean was contested by France and Spain
1800 Napoleon forced Spain to give him the land President Thomas Jefferson was afraid that Napoleon
would close the port of New Orleans to American shipping traffic
1802: Napoleon closed the port of New Orleans to American trade, effectively killing the Mississippi River as a shipping and trading lane This would nearly kill the US’s trade in the west
1803: Pres. Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to purchase the Louisiana Territory The US bought the land for $15 million The US gained 830,000 square miles of land—doubling the
size of the US
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
LEWIS AND CLARK
Jefferson had the new land, but had no idea of what the nation had purchased
Jefferson chose 2 men to go and explore the new territory Meriwether Lewis—Jefferson’s personal secretary William Clark—an Army officer
Lewis and Clark received help from an American Indian woman named Sacajawea Sacajawea served as the explorers’ guide and
translator
M. Lewis W. Clark
THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”
When George Washington left the office of president, he warned the United States to stay isolationist—not to get involved in any alliance with a foreign nation
The American Government tried to follow this advice until Great Britain and France went to war in the early 1800s (and extension of the French Revolution)
The US tried to trade with both Great Britain and France, but GB and France kept harassing American ships France tried to keep American goods from England England tried to keep American goods from France
THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”
Great Britain began to imprison American sailors and force them into the British Royal Navy
The United States did not like its citizens being forced into the British Navy
Great Britain was helping many Indians fight against American settlers
War Hawks A new breed of politicians who pressed for war
against Britain because of their actions against Americans at sea and settlers on the frontier.
Allies of President Madison
THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”
The Federalists opposed James Madison’s war resolution (“his” war on Great Britain)
The Federalists even threatened to seceded from the Union
The Federalists also wanted to add more amendments to the Constitution—although none were added
Major Battles of the War of 1812
RESULTS OF THE WAR OF 1812
The United States emerged victorious in the war
America’s victory caused the US to lay claim to the Oregon Territory
The victory also to increase American migration into Spanish controlled Florida
ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA—ADAMS-ONIS TREATY
Americans from Georgia were migrating into Spanish held Florida—causing problems between Florida’s natives and the settlers
The Americans wanted the US government to buy Florida from Spain
1819: Adams-Onis Treaty Spain agrees to sell Florida to the US for $5
million
MONROE DOCTRINE
Issued by Pres. James Monroe in 1823 The Doctrine warned Europe to stay out of
the Americas—both North and South America The American continents should not be
considered for future colonization by any European powers
Nations in the Western Hemisphere were inherently different from those of Europe, republics by nature rather than monarchies
The United States would not interfere in European Affairs
Cartoon depiction of the Monroe Doctrine
AMERICA’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1789-1824) Industrial Revolution—a time when goods were
stopped being produced in homes and were produced in factories
Before the War of 1812, the US got most of its textiles (cloth) from Great Britain
During the War of 1812, the US received a lot less cloth The Americans were almost forced to start producing their
own textiles Francis Cabot Lowell
Lowell recognized the need for more textiles in the US Lowell created a new type of spinning and weaving
machine that was run by water He built a factory in Massachusetts to produce cloth His factory helped usher in the Industrial Rev. to the US
AMERICA’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1789-1824)
Eli Whitney Created the Cotton Gin The Cotton Gin removed the seeds from cotton
and cleaned the cotton The machine was 50 times quicker than a human The Cotton Gin made cotton cheap The demand for cotton increased, causing a
need for more cotton plantations in the south The Cotton Gin secured slavery in the south—lots
of slave labor was needed to keep up with the demand for cotton—the South=“Cotton Kingdom”
Eli Whitney
Cotton Gin
TARIFFS
The United States Government passed tariffs (taxes on imported goods)
These taxes were issued to protect the young American Industry
The industrial North favored high protective tariffs to protect the Northern manufactured goods from foreign competition
The agricultural South opposed (were against) high tariffs that made the price of imported goods more expensive
TRANSPORTATION IN EARLY AMERICA—WESTWARD MIGRATION
Early Pioneers went west along poor wagon road in Conestoga wagons
Others used the vast network of rivers to travel westward
TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPS
As industry began to better develop, better transportation was needed to get products from factories to the market
Growth of the railroads due to the steam engine
Canals linked the interior to Atlantic port cities Led to the growth of an industrial economy Better roads were eventually created
Turnpikes: built by private companies that charged tolls. Usually built of stone and gravel
National Road: 80-foot wide stone road begun in 1811 and by 1852 almost 600 miles linking Maryland with Illinois
ERIE CANAL
Erie Canal: 8 years to dig; 40 feet wide, 4 feet deep, 363 miles long; linked the Great Lakes with New York City
WESTWARD EXPANSION AND MIGRATION
The people of the United States began to slowly move westward, past the Appalachian Mts. Into Indian territories
People moved from the coastal states into the Midwest, Southwest, and Texas
Sought economic opportunity in the form of land to own and farm
“Manifest Destiny” The belief that it was America’s “Manifest
Destiny” to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific provided political support for expansion
This belief caused the frontier to constantly be pushed further west
WESTWARD EXPANSION AND MIGRATION
During this period of westward migration, the American Indians were repeatedly defeated in violent conflicts with settlers and soldiers.
They were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands
Native Americans were viewed as “savages,” not only uncivilized but uncivilizable
Most whites hungry for valuable land wanted the Indians removed from east of the Mississippi River
The Indians were either forced to march far away from their homes (“Trail of Tears”) or forced to live on reservations
WESTWARD EXPANSION AND MIGRATION
“Trail of Tears” In 1830, Congress passed the Removal Act, paying
the Indians for the land and removing them to the West
The Cherokee, who had adopted many European ways, tried to resist.
In 1838, the US government forced out the remaining 15,000-17,000 from Georgia
About 4,000 died of small pox, along with starvation and exposure, en route to resettlement in the Indian Territory in what later became Oklahoma
By the end of the 1830s, virtually all the important Indian societies east of the Mississippi had been removed to the West
TEXAS—THE ALAMO
American settlers began to move into Texas—a territory controlled by Mexico Stephen Austin received a grant from Mexico to
create a colony in Texas By 1836, 50,000 Americans had settled in
Texas The Americans in Texas soon became upset
with Mexican rule in Texas In 1836, the Americans in Texas declared
their independence from Mexico which will turn into a major revolt against Mexican rule—the Alamo
TEXAS—THE ALAMO
Mexican President Santa Anna sent his army into Texas in January 1836 and reached San Antonio in February
A force on 187 Texans under William B. Travis took a stand behind the walls of a Spanish mission nicknamed "the Alamo“
Along with Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, the Texans held off 5,000 troops for 10 days
The Mexican troops finally fought their way into the Alamo and slaughtered everyone
After receiving word of the battle, Sam Houston united the Texans under the battle cry "Remember the Alamo!"
President Santa Anna
Jim Bowie
TEXAS—THE ALAMO
Eventually Sam Houston was able to defeat Santa Anna, and Texas became an independent nation
Houston approached the United States to enter Texas as a slave state
Texas was finally admitted as a slave state in 1845
Texas’ annexation will lead to a war between the United States and Mexico—The Mexican American War
MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
Mexico was upset when Texas became an American state
The US wanted war with Mexico to take possession of California and New Mexico
July 1846, the US took California In August, the US took New Mexico Sept. 1847, the War ended with the US as
victorious The US got the modern day states of California,
New Mexico, parts of Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,
OREGON TERRITORY
The territory of Oregon (modern Oregon and Washington state) was acquired from Great Britain in a treaty in 1846
The US and Great Britain nearly went to war over where the boundary of the Oregon Territory should be
The United States wanted the northern border of the territory to be at 54° 40‘, giving the US more land
In 1846, the US was at war with Mexico and accepted Britain’s offer at the northern border at the 49th parallel
Jacksonian Era—”the age of the common
man”
JACKSONIAN ERA
Election of 1824 Four men were running for president in 1824
Andrew Jackson Henry Clay John Quincy Adams William Crawford
Jackson was the least experienced, but many liked him
At the end of the election, none of the candidates had a clear majority
Because there was no clear winner, the election was handed over to the House of Representatives
Henry Clay gave his support to John Q. Adams
The House vote gave the election to John Q. Adams Adams received 13 state votes Jackson received 7 state votes
Many of Jackson’s supporters believed that Adams and Clay had created a “corrupt bargain”
Adams made Clay his Secretary of State The Democratic-Republican party split after
the election of 1824 Supporters of Adams and Clay became
National Republicans Supporters of Jackson became Democrats
John Q. Adams Henry Clay
The changing character of American politics in the “age of the common man” was characterized by Heightened emphasis on equality in the political
process for adult white males The rise of interest group politics and sectional
issues A changing style of campaigning Increased voter participation
Election of 1828 Before the election, property restrictions were
lowered Andrew Jackson ran on a platform that favored a
federal government with limited powers as well as a strict interpretation of the Constitution
He was a reform candidate whose hickory broom would sweep clean the “corruption”
the age of the “common man” had begun Jackson won the 1828 presidential election Jackson personified the “democratic spirit” of the
age by challenging the economic elite Jackson also used a “Spoils System”
He rewarded loyal party workers, campaign supporters, and financial contributors with government positions
a “kitchen cabinet” of close friends
Jackson felt that the executive branch should dominate.
Jackson alone vetoed twelve (12) bills. 9 by all the previous presidents
he acted out of personal disapproval rather than on constitutional grounds
Jackson was also instrumental in the removal of Indians from their lands—”Trail of Tears”
CHANGE IN POLITICAL PARTIES
The Federalist Party disappeared. New political parties, the Whigs and Know-
Nothings, were organized in opposition to the Democratic Party.
PANIC OF 1837
A financial crisis built on speculative fever Somewhat caused by the actions of Andrew
Jackson and his refusal to renew the charter of Second Bank of the United States
The end of the Second Bank of the US created a period of runaway inflation
May 1837: banks in New York City would only accept payment in gold and silver coins
Bank failures ensued The US fell into a 5-year depression