Georgia Constitution and The Articles of Confederations

Standards The student will describe the impact of events that led to the ratification of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both the Georgia Constitution of 1777 and the Articles of Confederation and explain how weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation led to a need to revise the Articles Describe the role of Georgia at the Constitutional Convention of 1787; include the role of Abraham Baldwin and William Few, and reasons why Georgia ratified the new constitution.

Word Review Ratify- To approve or make valid Unicameral - Consisting of a single branch, chamber or house, as a legislative assembly. Bicameral - having two branches, chambers, or houses, as a legislative body. Confederation - local/state governments make their own laws. A weak overlying central government.

Reading Guide AOC 1. What problem did the colonists face after gaining independence from Great Britain? They did not know what kind of government that should have? 2. How did their experience with heavy-handed British rule effect the establishment of the new form of government? They wanted a government that couldn’t do much 3. How many governments did they have under the Articles of Confederation? 13 Each state had their own government. 4. What was the Congress of the Confederation? A group of representatives that make laws. 5. How many branches of government did they have? 1 Congress was the only branch of government.

Reading Guide AOC – Part II 6. How was voting determined among the states? each state got one vote. 7. What were the PROS of the government established by the AOC? 1) for a not too strong (weak) government; 2) states could keep their power and independence; 3) the power to create a military to protect all the states. 8. What were the CONS of the government established by the AOC? Did not give congress the power to enforce laws No power to collect taxes for the military Every single state had to agree to the changes 9. What made this very difficult to resolve? Each state had different needs based on economy, population, and size of the state. People had different opinions – some wanted more government others wanted less.

Reading Guide: Georgia’s Constitution 1. Citizens of Georgia had two opinions regarding who should have power in the New Government. Explain the two sides. The power was in the hands of a few wealthy landowners To give all the people of Georgia a chance to govern themselves In the Georgia constitution of 1777, the Parish system was eliminated. What was it replaced with? County system What type of legislature did the Georgia Constitution of 1777 create? Unicameral (one house) What powers did the legislature have? They had the power to make appointments for the judicial branch (the courts) and the executive branch (the governor). 5. According to the Georgia Constitution of 1777, what group had the most power? The 12 lawmakers from the legislature who served as an executive council. They could accept or reject any proposals initiated by the governor.

The Georgia Constitution of 1777 1777 – 1789 (12 years) Based on the principles of the Declaration of Independence Not capable of meeting the needs of governing the state. Three Branches of Government

Legislative Unicameral, or one branch Powers Appoint members of the judicial and executive branch

Executive Branch Governor Appointed by legislative branch Limited to a ONE year term Very little power

Judicial Branch All Courts Legislature appointed the positions for this branch

Freedoms of the People Freedom of : Press Religion Trial by jury The people were not given the opportunity to ratify the constitution

Articles of Confederation 1776 – 1789 America’s first constitution, but not the same as we have today Provided a very WEAK central government Due to their experience with Britain’s monarchy, so their goal was to give as much power as they could to the people through “autonomy” of the states. Too many limitations caused the government not to function smoothly

National Government’s Powers Did not have Power Declare War Coin Money Establish post offices Send and recall Ambassadors Could not impose tax Could not regulate the trade of goods between the states (states could put taxes on each other)

Overall Weakness of the AOC Strong legislative branch No Executive branch No Judicial branch Each state had its own currency All 13 states had to approve a law for it to pass ONE vote per state no matter the size of the population

AOC Video Link

The Articles of Confederation QUICK QUIZ! The Articles of Confederation

Under the Articles of Confederation, a President would lead the country. Think About It  True  False 

Under the Articles of Confederation, states would be independent. Think About It   True  False

The Articles of Confederation were easy to change. Think About It  True  False 

Under the Articles, states with more people got more votes in Congress. Think About It  True  False 

Under the Articles, Congress did not have the power to collect taxes. Think About It   True  False

Under the Articles, Congress could pass laws and force states to follow them. Think About It  True  False 

The Articles of Confederation created the first American government. Think About It   True  False

Creating a New U.S. Constitution Government

Problems with the Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation were purposefully designed to provide the people with as much power as possible. After their recent history, they wanted to limit taxes. (1)This created a very weak central government and lead to many problems including: Fighting over land and sea rights (2)Lack of funds meant they could not maintain an Army or Navy and they could not build roads or canals (3) Difficulty passing laws because all 13 states had to agree

Constitutional Convention (4) The convention was held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1787. There were 55 delegates in attendance, representing every state except Rhode Island. (5) The initial intention of the meeting was to simply revise the Articles of Confederation, but it resulted in an entirely new government and constitution.

Georgia in the Constitutional Convention (6) Georgia, and other Southern delegates, were unified in their relentless support of slavery. This lead to: (7) Three-Fifths Compromise- a compromise agreed upon by the North and the South which allowed for slaves to count toward a state’s overall population by counting slaves as “3/5 of a person.”

Georgia in the Constitutional Convention Georgian, Abraham Baldwin, is given credit for changing his vote to side with the “small states” in the Congressional representation debate. This decision evened the numbers for and against the Virginia Plan and allowed for the Great Compromise. (8) The Great Compromise- created a bicameral legislature where each state had two members in the Senate but representation in the House of Representatives was based on the state’s population.

(9) Abraham Baldwin One of four Georgians at Constitutional Convention Served FIVE terms as U.S. Congressman Served TWO terms as U.S. Senator (10)Most famous for his role in the creation of the University of Georgia and served UGA’s first president.

William Few (11) He did not make a major impression at the Constitutional Congress (12) But- he later served as a senator, a representative, and a judge in the state of Georgia (12) In New York he became a member of the legislature and a bank president.

Georgia Stories Video Link