A NEW NATION 8th Grade

A New Nation…. From May 25 until September 17, 1787, 55 delegates from different states met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Constitutional Convention. The delegates had wanted to improve the Articles of Confederation, under which the central government of the U.S. did not have enough power to govern effectively. Instead of improving the Articles, the delegates ended up creating the U.S. Constitution as a new framework of government to replace the Articles.

Delegates Signing the Constitution…

THE GREAT COMPROMISE…. VA  When discussing how the new government should be run, delegates from the states began a series of debates regarding the establishment and organization of the legislature. The Virginia Plan called for a strong bicameral (two- body) legislative branch, with each state's representation based on its population. It also planned to create executive and judicial branches.. The smaller states, however, felt that a population-based legislature would not give them any real representation, so New Jersey offered an alternative.

The Great Compromise…Nj and CONN. Under the New Jersey Plan, there would be a unicameral (one-body) legislative branch with equal representation among every state. The disagreement was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, often called the Great Compromise. This plan called for a bicameral legislative branch in which the House of Representatives had state representation based on population (to satisfy the large states) while the Senate had equal state representation (to satisfy the small states).

Three-Fifths Compromise      The Three-fifths Compromise dealt with the differences of opinions over representation. It also answered the question of whether slaves would be counted as part of a state's population in the House of Representatives. Delegates from the North and South disagreed as to whether slaves should be counted in a state's population, since slaves did not have the rights of citizens. Northern delegates believed that slaves should not be counted as part of the state's population because it would hugely increase the representation of southern states in the House. The delegates compromised and determined that 3/5 of a state's slave population would count toward its actual population.

Commerce Compromise      The Commerce Compromise responded to the conflict between Northerners—who wanted tariffs on imported goods in order to limit foreign competition—and Southerners—who did not want tariffs, since they depended on selling their cash crops overseas. The compromise determined that the government would be able to tax imports but not exports, satisfying both parties.

Slave Trade Compromise      The northern and southern states were divided over the issue of slavery. In the Slave Trade Ban Compromise, delegates agreed to prohibit Congress from passing any laws banning the slave trade before 1808.

Republicanism      The concept of republicanism was important to the creation of the new government in the United States. Republicanism can be defined as a concept of limited government in which elected representatives serve at the will of the people. The basis for this idea is that the only legitimate government is one based on the consent of the governed.

Federalists and Anti-Federalists      With the new Constitution increasing power in the central government, many felt that state governments and individuals would not have any power themselves. Two political groups formed based on whether the Constitution should be ratified. The Federalists supported the Constitution because it would create a stronger federal government. The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, wanted states to have more power; they opposed the Constitution because they thought the federal government had too much power.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay supported the Federalist viewpoint and anonymously wrote a set of 85 essays called the Federalist Papers. These essays were published between October 1787 and August 1788 with the goal of explaining how the new government would work and to convince Americans to ratify the Constitution. Federalists felt that the rights of individuals would be protected by the constitutional provision of the separation of powers, which divided the governmental power into three branches and gave each branch the ability to check the other branches. This ability, known as checks and balances, would keep any one branch from obtaining total power.      

Anti-federalists did not support the Constitution because they believed it gave the central government too much power over states and individuals. They pointed out that, by making a federal government more powerful than the state governments, any federal decision would automatically cancel any state decision, meaning that the states would have no real authority. In order to address these concerns, the Anti- Federalists supported the addition of a bill of rights to the Constitution, which would guarantee the rights and liberties of individuals.

Electoral College  One way of resolving concerns was by instituting the Electoral College, in which state electors chose the president instead of having the president elected directly. Through this process, individual states would still have influence, but most of the delegates hoped that having educated electors would prevent a popular tyrant from being elected by just gaining votes from the masses.

Bill of Rights       Most concerns about a too-powerful central government were addressed by the 1789 proposal to add a bill of rights to the Constitution. Made up of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights limits the powers of the U.S. government by guaranteeing certain rights to individuals. BP_BILL of Rights.

Early Political Parties…. The Federalist Period spans roughly the years from 1789 to 1801. This time period was marked by the dominance of the Federalist Party in American politics. Though George Washington warned against the divisiveness of political parties, the two-party system would become a mainstay of the United States government.

Early Political Parties- Federalists The Federalists emerged in the 1790s under Alexander Hamilton. Federalists supported a strong central government and believed in a broad interpretation of the Constitution through the elastic clause. Federalists also supported Hamilton in his creation of a national bank and his desire for the U.S. to pay back its debts from the Revolutionary War. Federalists were supported by merchants and traders who were encouraged by the strong principles of the centralized government.

Democratic-Repulicans The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, were started as an opposition to the Federalists. Supporting the needs and aspirations of yeoman farmers, Democratic Republicans supported farmers rather than merchants. Democratic-Republicans supported a weak national government that left the states to make major decisions, and they believed in a narrow interpretation of the Constitution. They opposed the creation of a national bank and many other issues that Alexander Hamilton supported.