FROM CONFEDERATION TO UNION: The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

Powers of State Government after the Revolution Legislative branch elected two house legislature Executive branch elected governor Judicial branch system of courts  All white males who owned some property could vote  Higher property ownership qualification to hold office

New Central Government Articles of Confederation  Established a central government consisting of one body – Congress  Each state given one vote  9 out of 13 needed to pass laws  Unanimous vote required to amend

Accomplishments of the Articles  Winning the War - Negotiated favorable terms in the treaty of peace  Land Ordinance of 1785 – Established public policy for western lands  Northwest Ordinance 1787 –  Granted self-government to territory and prohibited slavery  Established rules for creating new states

Social Change After the War  Abolition of Aristocratic Titles  Reinvented the Role of Women  Separation of Church and State  Slavery

Weakness of Articles of Confederation Foreign Relations:  European nations had little respect for the new nation that could not:  pay debts  force states to adhere to the Treaty of Paris  take effective and united action in a crisis  Britain and Spain threatened to take advantage of U.S. weakness – interested in western lands

Weakness of Articles of Confederation Domestic Issues:  Shay’s Rebellion – Rebellion of farmers against high state taxes, imprisonment over debts, and lack of paper money  Depression as a result of foreign trade reduction  Quarrels between states

Annapolis Convention  Although representatives from all states were invited, only 5 states sent delegates to Annapolis  Madison and Hamilton persuaded others to reconvene in a new meeting to revise the Articles

Issues at the Constitutional Convention  Change the Articles or draft an entirely new document?  Nationalists favored a strong central government  System of Checks and Balances

The Debate over Representation  The Virginia Plan  Favored large states  New Jersey Plan  Favored small states  The Great Compromise  Provided a two-house congress  Equal representation in the Senate  Representation based on population in the House of Representatives

Slavery  How were slaves going to be counted?  Were the slave trade and slavery itself to be allowed under the Constitution? 3/5 Compromise:  Each slave counted as 3/5 of a person for taxation and population  Slaves could be imported for 20 years (until 1808), at which time Congress could vote to abolish the practice “ Great as the evil is, a dismemberment of the Union would be worse.” --James Madison

Trade  Northern states wanted central government to regulate interstate commerce and foreign trade.  South was afraid taxes would be placed on agricultural products (i.e., tobacco & rice) Commercial Compromise – Congress regulates interstate and foreign commerce, including tariffs on imports, but prohibited taxes on exports

The Presidency Election  Some argued that President should hold office for life  President’s term – 4 years but set no limit to the number of terms  Electoral College –feared too much democracy might lead to mob rule Powers  Veto acts of Congress  May appoint federal judges who serve for life

Electoral College Election of the President was yet another compromise. Here’s how it works:  People from each state choose electors (process different from state to state)  # of electors based on population  Meet as one body to vote for President – vote for two people (most votes=President, the second most votes=Vice President)  If no one received the majority, the House of Representatives selects President based on majority vote

Federalists v. Anti-Federalists  Federalists supported the Constitution and wanted a strong national government Federalist Papers  Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison writing as Publius  85 essays, printed in newspapers, explaining the Constitution and trying to convince people to ratify the Constitution  Anti-Federalists- opposed the Constitution because it lacked a Bill of Rights, their protection against government interference

What did they ratify?  A federal system government  Separation of powers into three branches  System of checks and balances  Popular sovereignty as the guiding principle