Journal #21 Constitution – a set of basic principles and laws that state the powers and duties of the government Republicanism – a system where citizens elect representatives who are responsible to the people Limited Government – a government where all leaders have to obey laws and no one has total power Suffrage – voting rights Ratification – official approval

Quotes of the Day “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?” “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Unit 5: A New American Nation Chapters 7-9

Bonus Questions During what years was the American Revolution fought? Name an important leader of the American Revolution besides George Washington What was the final major battle of the American Revolution? What was the final peace agreement of the American Revolution?

In This Unit We Will Learn About The Articles of Confederation Problems with the new nation after the Revolution The Constitution Citizenship and the new government (the 3 branches of government) The Bill of Rights

Ideas About Government After the colonies declared independence in 1776, they needed to form governments They used many political ideas from other people The Romans – republicanism and balance of power English Law – The Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights both limited the King/Queen’s power The Enlightenment, especially philosopher John Locke – natural rights American political traditions – the town hall meeting and the Virginia House of Burgesses

English Law 2 documents in English law had limited the power of Kings and Queens The Magna Carta – 1215 document which required the king to follow the law just like everybody else The English Bill of Rights – 1689 document that said that the king or queen couldn’t pass new laws without Parliament’s approval Parliament is the British (English) lawmaking body (similar to our Congress)

The Enlightenment When people began to argue for using reason and logic to solve problems – in the 1700s John Locke – believed that the government had a duty to protect people’s unalienable rights, if leaders failed to do this, they should be replaced

American Political Traditions The Mayflower Compact The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut Is considered the first written constitution in the colonies The Declaration of Independence

State Constitutions During the Revolution, nearly every colony wrote a new state constitution These constitutions showed a belief in republicanism, limited government, and suffrage for more people White men gained more voting rights

Forming a Union Some wanted a national government to hold the country together – others did not Eventually the 2nd Continental Congress created a committee to create a national constitution The committee creates the Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation A new Confederation Congress would become the national government The Articles of Confederation did not have a president or court system The Confederation Congress had very limited powers It could make coins and borrow money It could make treaties It could settle conflicts between the states It could ask for money and troops The Articles of Confederation were ratified in March of 1781

The Northwest Territory Under the Articles of Confederation, the national government controlled newly claimed “western” land The Confederation Congress decides to sell the land to the public The Land Ordinance of 1785 set up a system for dividing the public territory It divided the land into townships of 36 square miles Each township was divided into 36 lots of 640 acres each One of the lots was for a school, 4 went to Revolutionary War veterans and the rest were for sale to the public Importance: this is the basis for the Public Land Survey System which is still used today to identify land parcels for undeveloped land

Township

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Created the Northwest Territory which is the land that now includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin The Northwest Ordinance had other important provisions It created a system for bringing new states into the Union It required that public education be provided in the region Stated that “there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the territory.” – based on a proposal by Thomas Jefferson

Problems in the New Nation 7.2

Weaknesses of the Confederation Congress and the Articles of Confederation Problems with other countries – they did not respect our weak central government Problems with trade – the government couldn’t regulate it Economic problems in the U.S. – related to interstate (between state) trade and inflation – led to a depression

Problems with Other Countries The story of Thomas Amis on the Mississippi River in 1786 The Confederation Congress couldn’t protect citizens because it could not force states to provide soldiers Britain was slow to turn over their forts in the U.S. The Spanish closed the lower Mississippi to U.S. shipping People began to criticize the weak Confederation Congress

Problems with Trade After the Revolution the British refused to trade with the U.S. The British also forced Americans to pay high taxes, called tariffs, in order to sell their goods in Britain At the same time, British goods flowed freely into the U.S. The Confederation Congress could not fix the problem because it didn’t have the power to pass its own tariffs

Economic Problems in the U.S. Trade among the states was a problem The ability of states to print their own money was another problem Some states printed large amounts of money to pay off war debts – this leads to inflation (when money becomes less valuable) The Confederation Congress couldn’t regulate the printing of money These factors lead to a depression

Shay’s Rebellion Farmers were having economic trouble in Massachusetts, courts were taking their land as payment of debts In September 1786, some of the farmers started a revolt Armed with pitchforks and other farm tools, the citizens shut down courts in part of the state A Revolutionary War veteran named Daniel Shays was the main leader of the revolt

Shays Rebellion The state government orders the farmers to stop the revolt or die Most of Shays’ rebels are arrested or surrender by 1787 14 of the rebels are sentenced to death, but most are eventually freed, including Shays The state knew that many citizens agreed with the rebels There were different responses to Shays’ Rebellion George Washington and Thomas Jefferson

The Significance of Shays Rebellion Shays Rebellion showed the weakness of the Confederation government and led some Americans to admit that the Articles of Confederation were not working Massachusetts asked the national government to help but Congress could not do much Many Americans began to call for a stronger national government

A Push for Change In 1786 the Virginia legislature called for a conference to talk about changing the Articles of Confederation A convention was held in Annapolis, Maryland but not every state sent representatives James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, who were at the Annapolis Conference, called for another conference in 1787 to improve the constitution of the national government