Chapter 9: The Confederation and the Constitution 1776-1790

The Pursuit of Equality New nation “All men are created equal” -what about slavery and women? Republican motherhood- Mothers raised the future leaders of the Republic Keepers of nation’s conscience Abolitionism began to take hold (especially with the Quakers of Philadelphia)

The Articles of Confederation States had own state Constitutions Reflected fear of centralized power & excessive popular influence States were clearly sovereign Maintained property qualifications for voting and citizenship

Weaknesses and Strengths of the Articles of Confederation No chief Executive Congress was weak: could not tax, regulate commerce or raise an army States printed their own money & sought trade with nations on their own Unanimous vote of states to amend the Articles Strengths Borrowed money to wage revolutionary War A model of a loose federation of states Two significant pieces of legislation passed….Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Major issues under the Articles of Confederation Difficulties over trade, finance and interstate/foreign relations, as well as internal unrest led to calls for significant revisions to the Articles of Confederation Inflation ran high States had own tariffs and tax barriers Britain continued to hold western frontier forts Spain closed Mississippi River to American Commerce France demanded Revolutionary War payments

The new nation in 1783

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Answered the question of how new areas become states once people arrived there Statehood would be a two stage process… When 60,000 inhabitants are in area they would write a state constitution and send it to Congress for approval, if approved a new state was created with equal footing to the original 13 states

Shay’s Rebellion Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts mostly poor farmers angered by crushing debt and taxes There was a lack of an institutional response to the uprising, which energized calls to reevaluate the Articles of Confederation

Constitutional Convention In May of 1787 , delegates from 12 states (not RI) meet to discuss revising the articles of Confederation Washington, Hamilton, Franklin and James Madison, “The Father of the Constitution” were present Decided that a new constitution was needed

Electoral College Election of President An electoral college would directly elect President based on indirect vote of people. Electoral College is determined by state totals of United States Senators (constant) plus number of representatives (variable) 2 (Senators)+ x (Representatives) = electoral vote of state

Currently 538 electoral votes / 270 needed to elect President

Series of Compromises Great Compromise-two houses one based on population one based on equal representation Slavery- slaves count as Three- Fifths – five slaves counted as three free persons for representation and direct taxation The slave trade would legally end in 20 years- 1808 Postponed a solution to the problems of slavery, setting the stage for recurring conflicts over these issues later

The Great Debate To approve or not approve the new Constitution Federalist Anti-Federalist Promoted new Constitution as necessary to create strong federal government to deal with both domestic and foreign issues Many were former Loyalist, owners of substantial property, and from the eastern seaboard More state’s righters that feared a centralized power Many were laborers, lived on frontier

State Conventions were called to ratify the Constitution By June 21, 1788 9 states had ratified Constitution making it the Supreme Law of the Land. Four laggard states (Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island) The Federalist Papers, written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton sought to convince laggard states to approve Constitution. Rhode Island held out to approve document until a Bill of Rights was approved. The minority had triumphed again, only ¼ of white males voted at all towards ratifying the Constitution. Also, as first written only ¼ of the four parts of the federal government were voted on by “We the People”

The Father of the Constitution The Federalist Papers The Father of the Constitution "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. ... In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - James Madison, Federalist Papers, number 51