Shaping a New Nation

Experimenting with Confederation  Following the Revolutionary War, the colonies became states  They adopted the Articles of Confederation as the nation’s first detailed, written plan of government – it gave the states more power than the Federal government  Previously, they were distinct, self-governing colonies  The war unified them with a common goal  They favored unity through a Republic

What’s a REPUBLIC? A government in which citizens rule through their elected representatives Republicanism is an idea that governments should be based on the consent of the people THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS THE POLITICAL PARTY!

State Constitutions Many states put constitutions into place, attempting to incorporate republican ideals from philosophers such as Adam Smith (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: )

Who gets to vote?  This varied from state to state  Generally males  But not all males…white, property-owning males (Maryland)  New Jersey gave right to vote to all property owners—and forgot to specify male or female…

Who’s our role model?  There were very few “models” from which we could mirror our young nation  Some Italian cities had become self- governing city-states during the Middle Ages, but nothing on this scale!  In ancient times, Greece & Rome were republics…

Better represent!  The Continental Congress tried to put together a unifying constitution, but disagreed over three different questions: 1) Representation by population or by state? (unequal in size, wealth, population. One state=one vote. 2) Western lands: Who gets them? 2) Supreme power: Can it be divided?  The Congress proposed a new type of government in a set of laws called THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION—one in which two levels of government shared fundamental powers.  New form of government called a CONFEDERATION, which = alliance.  The Articles gave the new government the right to declare war, make peace, and sign treaties.  Went into effect 1781

The Wild Wild West… Refers to the lands west of the Appalachians and north of the Ohio River. Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1787, which established a plan for surveying the land. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided a procedure for dividing the land into territories. Three stages for becoming a state: 1) Congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges 2) When a territory had 5,000 voting residents, settlers write temporary constitution and elect government 3) Population > 60,000, settlers write state constitution, which had to be approved by Congress. Then, Statehood. Yay!

Trouble in paradise… Of course, encountered problems:  Economic – debt amassed during the Revolutionary War ($190,000,000!). Lacked power to tax. Struggle between creditors and lenders – how to repay?  Political – lack of national unity. One state=one vote, regardless of population.  Domestic – again, national unity  Foreign-relations – lacked the money to repay British merchants for debts, and Loyalists for property damages during the war.  A very insufficient, weak central government.

The dilemma…  According to a group of people we call “Federalists,” the Articles of Confederation did not give enough power to the Federal government!  Anti-Federalists believed that the states should reserve more power than the Federal government.  Federalist Papers, “Founding Fathers Unite” s#the-founding-fathers-unite s#the-founding-fathers-unite  So what to do now?

DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION THE CONSTITUTION AS THE BASIS OF OUR GOVERNMENT

Nationalists Strengthen the Government Shay’s Rebellion not in not only resulted in the death of four rebels but also unsettled some of the nation’s leaders. Each state had debt-ridden farmers, who were mighty angry…

Time to talk about a stronger national government! America gets a Constitution, pics/constitution/videos#a merica-gets-a-constitution pics/constitution/videos#a merica-gets-a-constitution

Call for a convention…  One of the nation’s biggest problems was trade between the states, which led to quarrels over taxes and over navigation rights.  In September 1786, leaders James Madison and Alexander Hamilton called a meeting of delegates to discuss issues of interstate trade, to be held in Annapolis, Maryland. They would meet a year later in Philadelphia.

Fearful that more would rebel like Shay, 12 other states sent delegates to the Philadelphia convention, 11 years after they’d met in the same room in which the Declaration of Independence had been signed… Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington…

To revise, or not to revise? That is the question…  (The Articles of Confederation, that is)  They decided not to revise, so they decided to form a new government

Conflict Leads to Compromise! A few plans: Virginia Plan – proposes a bi-cameral legislature with membership based on each state’s populations, but it favored larger states with larger populations New Jersey Plan – proposed a single-house congress in which each state had an equal vote PEOPLE VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED BOTH PLANS! “By golly, that’s just a terrible plan, William Paterson!” And he thinks his is any better??

Hero of the day! – “The Great Compromise”  Roger Sherman, a political leader from Connecticut, suggested the “Great Compromise,” which offered a two house Congress to satisfy both large and small states.  Each state would have equal representation in the Senate (upper house)  Size of state population determines representation in the lower house, or House of Representatives

Why was the compromise a success?  Because it pleased those who defended states’ rights, as it preserved the power of the state legislatures. Thus, the issue of states’ rights begins!

Who will represent?  The issue of representation based on population raised the question of whether or not slaves should be counted as people  To include them would benefit the South, but place the North at a disadvantage. Why?  Agreed to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which called for three-fifths of a state’s slaves to be counted as population.

Forging a New Government…  Separation of powers Legislative – makes laws Executive – carry out laws Judicial – interpret the law 3 branches Legislative Executive Judicial

Division of Powers…  Federalism: Divided power between states and federal government. Powers reserved by the states:  Provide and supervise education  Establish marriage laws  Regulate trade within a state Gave the federal government the power to do the following:  Control foreign affairs/relations with other countries  Coin money  Provide national defense  Regulate trade between states

Creating the Constitution…  Once the government was set up, problem faced was how to elect the president.  2 problems: 1) No political parties 2) Fear that the popular vote would be divided among favorite regional candidates Solution? Electoral College, or a group of electors chosen by the states, would cast ballots for the candidates!

Creating the Constitution…  After 4 months of debate and compromise, the delegates succeeded in creating a constitution that was flexible enough to withstand the centuries to come…  Washington did “not expect the constitution to last more than 20 years.”  The voters at the convention still needed to agree on the constitution, send it to Congress, and then to the states for approval… TO BE CONTINUED…

Groupwork Instructions Get into groups of 2-3. Create a graphic organizer with illustrations that compares and contrasts the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and that leads to the Great Compromise. NOTE: Once you’re in groups, Ms. H will project the information that you need.