American History 1 – Constitutional Convention

Articles of Confederation What kind of government was set up? Weak Who had power? States Who lacked power? Federal government See notes chart of a list of problems

Did anything get done under the Articles? Yes. We negotiated our peace with Great Britain. Treaty of Paris, 1783 Adams, Franklin, Jay Recognized U.S. independence Gave U.S. fishing rights Doubled size of the new nation US ends persecution of Loyalists Ratified by Continental Congress early in 1784

Land Ordinance, 1785 Townships, public schools

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Laid out the process through which a territory could move to statehood Old Northwest (north of Ohio R. and east of Miss. R.) Eligible for statehood at 60,000 inhabitants Prohibited slavery

Shays Rebellion Mass. Farmers’ revolt showed weaknesses of the Articles. Other weaknesses found in notes chart

The Articles need to be changed. How? 1787 – Each state sends delegates to Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation George Washington unanimously elected President of the Convention.

Constitutional Convention Decide to discard the Articles and write a new Constitution Secrecy rule was enforced 55 delegates

Plans for the new government Virginia Plan – James Madison Called for three branches of government Two-house (bicameral) legislature with each state’s representation based on population Appealed to large states (VA, MA, PA, NY) Disliked by small states

New Jersey Plan Called for three branches of government One-house legislature – equal representation – one vote per state Smaller states liked this (NJ, DE, MD)

Great Compromise After six weeks of heated debate, Roger Sherman of Connecticut comes up with… The Great Compromise (Connecticut Plan) – create a two-house (bicameral) legislature with: Each state having equal representation in the Senate House of Representatives based on population

What to do when counting slaves? Representation, taxation, etc. North doesn’t want slaves counted South does Three-Fifths Compromise – every five enslaved persons counts as three persons (each slave counts as 3/5 of a person)

Commerce/Slave Trade North felt Congress should be able to regulate interstate and foreign commerce South didn’t like this because they feared that Congress would tax their exports

Slavery? Southerners worried that Congress might stop slave trade (importation of slaves into the U.S.) – their “peculiar institution” would be in danger

Compromise Southerners agreed that Congress could regulate trade between states and with other countries; Northerners agreed that Congress could not tax exports and could not interfere with slave trade before 1808.

Another Compromise: The Electoral College Some delegates though that Congress should choose the president; Some thought that the people should decide. Solution = Electoral College – group of people would be named by state legislatures to select president and vice-president. (today, voters choose electors)

To the states… Sept. 17, 1787 – Constitution was signed Sent to state ratifying conventions – 9 out of 13 had to agree before it would become law

Supporters and Opponents Supporters of the Constitution’s ratification were called Federalists Opponents of the Constitution’s ratification were called Anti-Federalists felt that too much power was given to the national government Demanded the inclusion of a Bill of Rights

George Nicholas – VA Federalist “If I have 500 acres…”

Bill of Rights Guarantee of individual freedoms was agreed to be added later To ease Anti-Federalist fears June 21, 1788 – New Hampshire becomes 9th state to ratify, Constitution goes into effect