Confederation and the Constitution

In 1776, the Articles of Confederation was formed ► Under the Articles of Confederation:  Each state would have one vote  The national government could declare war, make peace, sign treaties, and make money

The problem with the Articles of Confederation was that states acted independently ► The national government had no way of raising money or enforcing the laws ► The new United States was failing under the Articles of Confederation

The story of Shays’ Rebellion illustrated the need for a stronger central government ► Daniel Shays was a farmer from Massachusetts who led a protest against increased state taxes ► In fact, Shays led a group of 1,200 farmers toward the arsenal at Springfield, MA ► Massachusetts called up their militia to stop the rebellion (four farmers were killed)

During the Revolutionary War, many Americans did not want to develop a strong central government ► The main reason is that England had a strong central government and the US was fighting to get away from England

Many Americans favored a republic ► Republic: a government in which citizens rule through elected representatives ► Many Americans feared that a democracy would allow too many uneducated people to become involved in politics

Shays Rebellion was a big deal because it showed that the national government could not solve major problems ► As news spread about Shays Rebellion, many states agreed to send delegated to a convention in Philadelphia in 1787

Almost immediately, at the Constitutional Convention, it was agreed to dump the Articles of Confederation ► The delegates had to create a new type of government

James Madison put forth the Virginia Plan ► Virginia Plan: create a two house legislation where a state’s representation would be based on its population ► The Virginia Plan would favor the larger states

Smaller states did not like the Virginia Plan ► William Paterson created the New Jersey Plan ► New Jersey Plan: create a single house Congress in which each state had one vote

As the debate continued, Roger Sherman put together the Great Compromise ► There will be two houses of Congress:  Senate: All States would each have one vote  House of Representatives: representation would be based on state population

There was still a huge argument over the issue of slavery ► Should slaves count in a state’s population? ► Southern states wanted slaves to count, while Northern states did not ► Counting the slaves would give the South a huge political advantage

3/5 Compromise ► 3/5 of the slave population will be counted toward the state population ► Of course, those slaves will have no political representation ► The North compromised because they needed South’s economic resources ► Many Northerners thought the slavery issue would “die out” and eventually go away

The delegates at the Convention created a federalist government ► Federalism: power is divided between a national government and several state governments ► National government = Federal government  Federal government: control foreign affairs and regulate trade between states  State governments: control everything else (education)  Concurrent powers: powers shared by Federal and State governments (taxing, court systems, etc.)

The delegates also created a separation of powers within the Federal government ► Three branches of government were created:  Executive Branch: President of the United States  Legislative Branch: Makes the laws  Judicial Branch: Makes sure the laws are “Constitutional”

The three branches allowed for a checks and balances system: ► Checks and balances: system gives each branch the power to check, or stop the other branches ► Therefore, all of the branches of government are equal

Because of checks and balances… The President can veto any law passed by Congress The President can veto any law passed by Congress ► Congress can over-ride a bill with 66% of the vote ► The Judicial Branch reviews all laws ► If a law is determined as “Unconstitutional,” it means that a law has violated someone’s Constitutional rights

How Congress works… ► House of Representatives  Based on a state’s population  Its members serve two year terms, therefore it is directly responsible to the people because voters can change members quickly

How Congress works… ► Senate:  All states are equal (today each state has two Senators)  A Senator serves a six year term  The voters do not have as much of an impact on the Senate

President (Executive branch) ► Serves a 4 year term ► Can be elected to a maximum for 2 consecutive terms

The President is elected through the electoral college ► Each state has a certain amount of votes, based on population ► Whoever wins the state controls the electors from that state ► Today, a President needs 270 electoral votes to win

The Constitutional Convention ended on September 17, 1787 ► For the Constitution to be ratified, 9 of 13 states had to agree ► In reality, all 13 states had to agree for the Constitution to really work

Federalists: supporters of the Constitution ► Federalists were satisfied with the balance of power between the Federal and state governments ► In a sense, Federalists trusted government ► Famous Federalists: George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton

Anti-federalists: those opposed to the Constitution ► Anti-federalists did not want a strong central government ► Anti-federalists did not trust that government would not abuse its power ► Famous Anti-federalists: Patrick Henry, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee

Anti-federalists wanted their rights guaranteed ► To make this work, the Bill of Rights were proposed ► The Bill of Rights = first 10 Amendments to the Constitution ► The Bill of Rights spelled out all rights that Americans would have under the law ► Over time, 27 Amendments were added to the Constitution