Concepts: Governance Rule of Law SS8H3d Analyze the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and explain how those weaknesses led to the writing of a new federal Constitution. Concepts: Governance Rule of Law

GEORGIA STATEHOOD and the U.S. CONSTITUTION PAGE 30 IN GEORGIA JOURNAL SS8H4a ESSENTIAL QUESTION What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

Articles of Confederation It was basically the first U.S. Constitution. After the Declaration of Independence, it formally united the colonies against Britain. It created Congress which had authority over all the colonies. All thirteen colonies would be represented in Congress.

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION (1776-1789) STRENGTHS Federalism – power divided between central (national) gov’t and individual state gov’t Congress could: Declare war Send and recall Ambassadors Deliver mail Create money WEAKNESSES Weak central gov’t State gov’t too strong Uni-cameral legislature (Congress) States only had 1 representative and 1 vote in Congress No executive branch or president No national court system Could not tax the states to raise money Could not regulate (control) trade All 13 states had to approve a law for it to pass Each state had its own currency Too difficult to amend (change) the Articles No military

Constitutional Convention of 1787 Why did our Founding Fathers need to revise the Articles of Confederation? To create a stronger Federal (national / central) government that would UNITE the young country together. What happened to the Articles of Confederation? The Founding Fathers wrote a new constitution

Constitutional Convention of 1787 New Constitution (same as our current constitution) Included: 3/5ths Compromise – allowed slaves to count towards a state’s overall population by counting slaves as “3/5 of a person” Great Compromise – created a bicameral legislature where each state had 2 members in the Senate but representatives in the House of Representatives was based on the state’s population

Abraham Baldwin Signed the U.S. Constitution Helped get the Great Compromise passed Originally from Connecticut Lawyer 5 terms as a U.S. Congressman and 2 terms as a U.S. Senator Helped create UGA; first UGA president

William Few Signed the U.S. Constitution Originally from North Carolina Judge Georgia State Senator, Georgia State Representative New York State Representative

WILLIAM FEW HELPED WRITE THE CONSTITUTION BOTH MEN WERE REPRESENTATIVES FROM GEORGIA WHO HELPED CREATE AND SIGN THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. ABRAHAM BALDWIN PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THE GREAT COMPROMISE THAT HELPED CREATE A BI-CAMERAL LEGISLATURE WILLIAM FEW HELPED WRITE THE CONSTITUTION ABRAHAM BALDWIN WILLIAM FEW

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION of 1787

Constitutional Convention CAUSE EFFECT ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION THE U.S. CONSTITUTION Constitutional Convention of 1787 Federal government becomes more powerful Separation of Powers - Legislative branch makes laws - Executive branch enforce laws - Judicial branch interpret laws Bi-cameral legislature House of Representatives based on state population Senate – 2 representatives from each state State governments had too much power National government could not levy taxes, enforce laws, or control trade No executive branch (President) No judicial branch (no federal courts to settle disputes between the states) Great Compromise: Bi-cameral legislature benefits both big and small states (population) 3/5ths Compromise: 3 out of 5 slaves counted toward population and were also taxed Bill of Rights: 1st ten amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing rights for citizens

2 REPRESENTATIIVES FROM EACH STATE BI-CAMERAL 2 REPRESENTATIIVES FROM EACH STATE REPRESENTATIVES FROM EACH STATE BASED ON POPULATION

RATIFYING THE US CONSTITUTION Why did Georgia ratify the new U.S. Constitution? Wanted federal gov’t to have power to unite the country Needed federal gov’t to help fight Native Americans in order for Georgians to move westward onto new lands 4th state to ratify on January 2nd, 1788