Main Idea What were the Articles of Confederation and how were they unable to deal with the problems of a new nation?

OK, we won our Independence and everyone was very excited!

Very excited…

After declaring independence in 1776, American political leaders created new constitutions and declarations of rights that articulated the roles of national and state governments to protect their rights.

These documents protected individual rights and limited government power.

Power was typically placed in the hands of state governments to protect their autonomy & property rights were strongly protected.

This protection of property extended to…

Articles of Confederation The first government we tried, was called the Articles of Confederation. Under this government, the 13 states were unified and a central government with very limited power was created.

After all, they knew what they didn’t want in a government…

So they went the other way…

Articles of Confederation Under the Articles, there was no real national government. 13 individual republics united loosely together. Power lay in the hands of the States.

Articles of Confederation But it got worse… During the Revolution, the Congress printed $250,000,000 of money they didn’t have to pay for the war.

Financial Crisis This created a financial crisis that had to be dealt with. If America would not pay off its debts, then the new nation could not receive credit.

No credit, no international business. No international business, no economy!

Financial Crisis Since each state controlled its own economy, currency and credit the 13 individual states really controlled the economy of the United States.

Financial Crisis If the Federal Government controlled the economy, currency and credit then the financial crisis could be dealt with. But that would require a new government.

The Articles of Confederation, had to go!

Write a summary about the Articles of Confederation and how were they unable to deal with the problems of a new nation.

Main Idea What were some of the key issues they had to resolve to get all 13 states to accept the Constitution?

It had been decided that instead of having 13 individual republics, each sovereign & independent, we needed one government with power over the states. This went against everything the people thought before.

Constitutional Convention 55 men arrived in Philadelphia to debate the new Constitution. Among them were: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison

Constitutional Convention James Madison was the central figure in the writing of the Constitution.

They had a few things going for them: 1.) They knew they needed a new form of government. 2.) They knew what they didn’t want.

Constitutional Convention They had a lot of…

Constitutional Convention And they had…

Constitutional Convention Two main sides to the debate: The Virginia Plan The New Jersey Plan

The U. S. Constitution Threatening to derail the convention was the issue of slavery.

The U. S. Constitution But there was another problem… Representation in the House of Representatives depended on population. Southern states believed they would be under-represented in Congress, and slavery could be outlawed by northern states who were turning against slavery.

The U. S. Constitution 3/5

The U. S. Constitution Slaves would each count as 3/5 of a person for the purposes of representation in Congress. This increased the population of southern states by 20%

The U. S. Constitution And it provided enough southern votes in Congress to fend off any challenges to slavery until the Civil War.

Write a summary about the key issues faced at the Constitutional Convention and how they solved them.

Main Idea How did the Constitution balance the needs of states with the federal government to unite 13 states with different needs, views on economy, slavery and western expansion?

President Washington Dealing with this was President Washington

And…

Economic crisis When President Washington met with his cabinet, one of the first issues to come up was the debt from the Revolution.

Economic crisis The new, stronger, federal government had just inherited a debt of $54,000,000 (in 1790 dollars)

Economic crisis Alexander Hamilton also wanted the federal government to assume the debts the states had accumulated under the Articles of Confederation. Another $21,000,000

Economic crisis This would put the federal government in charge of the U.S. economy, the states would not have any control over it.

Economic crisis Since most southern states had paid off their war debt already, this was not a popular plan in the South.

Autonomy was still a major issue, so was fear of a strong central government taking rights from the people. To combat this, Jefferson wanted to keep political power centered in the states.

After all, the entire Revolution had been fought by the colonists protecting the autonomy of their colony from being taken from them by a strong central government led by a King. Jefferson didn’t want a President to do the same thing!

So Jefferson wanted to protect the 13 states by keeping autonomy with them; not giving it to a central (or Federal government).

Blue = < 1 person per sq. mile Orange = > 50 people per sq. mile

Economic crisis A deal was struck between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson Hamilton would get federal control of the entire debt of the united States

Economic crisis A deal was struck between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson The capital of the united States would be located in the south, giving southern states access to the central government.

Write a summary about how the Constitution balanced the needs of states with the federal government to unite 13 states with different needs, views on economy, slavery and western expansion?