Chapter 5 Shaping a Nation Section 1 Experimenting with Confederation Section 2 Drafting the Constitution Section 3.Ratifying the Constitution

Republicanism Basis for a Republic. Republic: Republican: The masses of people would not be able to handle a democracy because they were too uneducated to deal with the power. Republic: Government in which citizens rule through their elected representatives—who placed the power in the hands of capable and educated leaders. Republican: Idea that governments should be based on the consent of the governed people.

Continental Congress Debates Drafting a constitution proved difficult because they had to decide on three important issues: Issue 1 faced by Continental Congress Representation by population or by state? Dilemma—if by population some states were going to have the upper hand because populations vary and if by state then too much power would be exercised by smaller populated states.

Continental Congress Debates Issue 2: Supreme Power: Can it be divided? Initially the belief was that power could not be divided that either the states or some superior government would have the ultimate power. Chose a confederation. “Articles of Confederation” What is a confederation? An alliance limiting the power of the national government, but the states would have the majority of power that affected their individual populations.

Continental Congress Issue 3: Who gets the Western lands? Some states had claims to the land, so agreed on the Land Ordinance of 1785: Provided a plan for dividing the land and providing a means for small landowners to afford the land. Thus the Ordinance was a plan for dividing territorial land by providing surveys of the land. What was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and what did it do? Setting the criteria for new states to be formed out of the territories. Established a clear, orderly process and guaranteed that all states would be equal

Political Problems Faced by the Confederation (1) Confederation lacked national unity—each state acted independently by pursuing its own interests rather than the interests of the nation as a whole, (2) Did not recognize the differences in population among the state-- in the new confederation congress, each state given only one vote. (3) Articles could not be amended without unanimous consent making it impossible to change the government. (Rarely did all delegates attend sessions)

Economic Problems Faced by the Confederation Huge debt having borrowed huge sums of money from foreign countries, Having printed its own money during the war the money was relatively worthless, The congress had no power to tax therefore had no method of obtaining the necessary money to pay the debt, No power to regulate interstate or foreign commerce

Problem Between Creditors and Debtors Creditors wanted high taxes leaving the borrowers more deeply in debt In a court battle between the two if the creditor won this would leave the farmers exposed to having the creditors take their land as collateral Could put the farmers out of business and out of livelihood.

Problems in Foreign Relations The US could not pay its foreign debt to British merchants and would not compensate Loyalists for loss of property—British refused to evacuate its forts on the Great Lakes Spain owned the land to the West where the US would need to expand and in 1784 Spain closed the Mississippi River to trade denying Western farmers the mode of shipping their crops to Eastern markets.

Weaknesses under the Articles Confederation lacked national unity No cooperation with regard to the need for the whole. Articles could not be amended without unanimous consent The congress had no power to tax No power to regulate interstate or foreign commerce No central leadership--executive body was a committee No method of internal security Shay’s Rebellion

Successes Under the Articles Signed a peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War. Land Ordinance of 1785 Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Section 2 Drafting the Constitution

Events Leading to a Change Shay’s rebellion Farmer’s protest led by Daniel Shay with an army of farmers forcing the courts to close Dispute showed the inability of the government to provide national security General inability to govern. Conflicts between the states over trade and taxes on exports and imports

The Annapolis Convention Started with George Washington inviting representatives from Maryland and Virginia to discuss money crises between the states So successful that another meeting was called in 1786--Annapolis Convention Mainly to discuss commerce policy Persuaded delegates to call another convention in Philadelphia in 1787 Purpose to regulate commerce Sole purpose was to revise the Articles

The Constitutional Convention Began May 25, 1787 All states but Rhode Island attended RI--smelled a rat 74 delegates appointed from the states 55 delegates attended (lawyers, merchants , planters – wealthy and educated with experience) James Madison - Notes source of what we know--Father of the Constitution

Organization and Conduct George Washington chosen to preside Each state would have only one vote regardless of the size of its delegation Simple majority votes would decide issues Meetings had to have at least 7 states represented to conduct business Meetings were to be closed off

Debating Central Issues All agreed to abandon the Articles of Confederation Consensus on Limited and Representative Government Separation or division of powers among the three branches Limited state’s powers Stronger National Government Had two questions to consider: How could they strengthen the national government while preserving the rights of the states? How could it balance conflicting interests of different groups within society?

Decisions and Compromises Big states vs. small states Virginia Plan – favored large states basing representation on population New Jersey Plan – favored small states giving each state one vote Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise) – Bicameral legislature with two houses, one based on representation and one with equal representation Three-fifths Compromise Issue of counting a state’s slave population for representation purposes and for taxing purposes Agreed to count 3/5 of a state’s slave population when determining overall population Slavery – agreed not to outlaw slavery until 1808

Connecticut Compromise Bicameral legislature Lower House--House of Representatives Representation based upon population Initiate all revenue bills Upper House--Senate Two members from each state State legislatures would elect senators Fair and balanced between small and large states

The Question of Slavery Such a hot issue the Constitutional Congress really delayed the slavery question. North in general had either outlawed slavery or, as in Pennsylvania, taxed it out of existence. South’s economy depended upon it because it had become entrenched

Creating a New Government Form of Federalism, dividing power between the national government and the states Delegated powers (enumerated powers) are those given to the federal government Foreign affairs, providing national defense, regulating trade, coining money Reserved powers – those not given to the national government are reserved for the states Ex. Supervising education

Separation of Powers Three different branches Executive – execute or carry out laws Judicial – courts hearing cases to provide justice Legislative – make laws System of checks and balances Use the electoral college to choose the President – fear of the uneducated masses Changing the Constitution Allowed it to pass the test of time through the amendment process

Ratifying the Constitution Under Articles required unanimous consent Ratification (official approval by the people of the U.S.) required only 9 of 13 to go into effect What would happen to those who did not ratify it? Independent nations? New Hampshire was the Ninth to ratify by June 21, 1788--became effective – new government a reality in 1789 Although effective, VA and NY (two prominent states) had not ratified it Required some public debates but both did RI was the last, May 29, 1790

Two Sides Federalist Anti-federalist--did not support ratification Favored ratification Consisted of the Founders Merchants and people in coastal areas supported because of the need to regulate trade Anti-federalist--did not support ratification Inland people mainly farmers – saw little benefit in strong central government Extralegal document Wanted a Bill of Rights Federalist Papers – 85 essays written in support of ratification by John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton