The Constitution Unit 2

Homework Due Wednesday Quiz Tomorrow Slides 1 to 16

The Critical Period 1783 to 1789 Problems at the end of the American Revolution – The economy was in disarray. The national government could not get needed money from the states. Could not tax. – Violence broke out on the frontier. – Border and trade disputes broke out between the states. Each state instituted tariffs against imports from the other states. – Daniel Shays led a rebellion – Foreign currency held more value than national or state money. – Trade became difficult. France and England would not sign trade treaties. Spain would not allow free navigation of the Mississippi.

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? I. Currency Issues The United States did not have a common currency. Americans carried money from the federal government, state government, and foreign nations.

Merchants stopped accepting money from outside of their own state, causing a lot of money to become worthless. This caused an increase in inflation.

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? II. Debt Congress could not tax the people and depended on money from the states. Therefore, the U.S. was unable to pay its debts! Examples: - The U.S. owed money to France, Holland, and Spain for loans made during the Revolutionary War. - The U.S. had not paid many of their own soldiers!

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? III. International and Domestic Problems The U.S. lacked the military power to defend itself against Great Britain and Spain. States acted as individual countries and seldom agreed. Example: - Connecticut and Virginia almost went to war over land claims!

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? Courts (Judicial Branch) The nation lacked a national court system. Supreme Court

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? President (Executive Branch) The nation did not have a President, or Chief Executive. White House

The Articles of Confederation Established a confederation—an association of independent sovereign states with certain common goals Formally adopted the Articles of Confederation in November 1777 Powers of the new government The states retained most of their powers. Weak national government – Legislative branch, Continental Congress – Each state had only one vote, regardless of population.

A New National Government Nine of the 13 states had to agree on any major law. All 13 states had to agree to amend the Articles. The new government’s major problems involved money. –Large war debts –No power to impose or collect taxes –Could not afford an army or navy –Could not repay money it borrowed from foreign governments and from individual Americans during the war

Land Ordinance of 1785 Dividing western lands The territory was divided into 10 districts. Land would be surveyed and divided into a neat grid of townships, each 6 miles square. Each township had 36 sections, each 1 mile square. Government owned four of the sections. One section would be sold to support public schools. This same regular grid was used in other territories. It ended many boundary disputes.

Northwest Ordinance was passed in – Encouraged orderly settlement and the formation of new states, all controlled by law – Promised settlers religious freedom and other civil rights – Did not allow slavery in the Northwest Territory – A single governor was put in charge. A district could become territory with a population of 5,000 adult males. Then could send a nonvoting representative to Congress A territory could write a constitution and apply for statehood with a population of 60,000.

Constitutional Convention 12 states attended some or all of the meetings. Politicians in Rhode Island were opposed to a stronger government; they chose not to take part in the convention. James Madison kept a detailed account of the convention in his diary. Controversial plans Congress had to find a balance between the large and small states and northern and southern interests.

3/5ths Compromise The Issue: how slaves would figure in the representation caused great disagreements. South wanted slaves counted for representation but not taxed. North considered slaves property and should be taxed. It was finally agreed that slaves would be counted as five slaves would be counted as three for both purposes. (3/5ths a person

Commerce Compromise Issue: Regulating slavery and taxing of imports and exports. Compromise> slave trade would end in 20 years but slavery was allowed to continue. Issue: North wanted tariffs to protect against foreign competition. Southern agricultural exporters did not want tariffs to hurt their trade. Compromise: Congress could tax imports but not exports

Presidency Compromise Issue: length of term and how the president would be elected. Compromise: four year terms electoral college Compromise: indirect election through the electoral college system. The founding fathers did not trust the average citizen to elect the president

Electoral College 538 members: Numbers equal to representation in both houses of Congress – 435 representatives in the House – 100 members in the Senate – 3 members from the District of Columbia – 538 members a person needs 270 votes – Article II of the Constitution/ 12 th amendment – Members chosen by state legislatures

Flexibility of the Constitution The Elastic Clause: Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 states that congress can make all laws “necessary and proper” The Amendment Process: Article V describes how the Constitution may be formally amended. Both Congress and the states must agree to the changes. Judicial Interpretation: The Supreme Court and lower Federal Courts review cases.

House of Representative All revenue bills begin in the House Bring impeachment charges To select the president if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes (270 )

Senate Special Powers of Senate Approve presidential appoints (simple majority) Ratify treaty 2/3 vote Act as a jury in case of impeachment Select VP if no candidate has majority of electoral votes

Federalists and Antifederalists The new Constitution created a strong national government with certain powers left to the states. When it was published, the drastic changes surprised and angered some people. They feared the idea of a too-powerful national government. Federalists: supporters of the Constitution Antifederalists: opponents of the Constitution

Federalists and Antifederalists Antifederalist viewpoint They were less organized and less unified than the Federalists. Their core consisted of farmers and planters. Agreed on one central issue: they distrusted any central authority Believed strong national government would lead to a kind of tyranny like the kind they fought against in the Revolution. Worried that the government would abuse both states’ rights and individual liberties Thought the new government favored the educated and wealthy over ordinary people Led by Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee Robert Yates, New York delegate, wrote anti-Constitution essays under the name Brutus.

The Federalist Papers Circulated widely in other states Collected in a book, The Federalist, also known as the Federalist Papers A series of essays discussing and defending the Constitution were published in New York newspapers. Written under the pen name Publius Publius was three Federalists: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay Main goal of essays was to persuade New York delegates to ratify the document by explaining the advantages it would bring

Adding a Bill of Rights Constitutional amendments Several crucial states had ratified the Constitution only because they were promised a bill of rights. Once the new Congress was elected, it needed to add the bill in the form of amendments to the Constitution. James Madison took charge of putting the Bill of Rights through Congress. He pointed out that in England the constitution limited only the king’s power, not Parliament’s. The amendments would protect against all abuses of power. The states approved 10 of the 12 amendments that Congress had approved. They became the Bill of Rights.

Adding a Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights First eight amendments dealt with individual civil liberties. Ninth Amendment stated that listing certain rights given to the people did not mean that other rights did not exist as well. The final amendment addressed the actions that states could do. Tenth Amendment defined two kinds of government powers. –Delegated powers: powers that the Constitution gives to each branch of the national government –Reserved powers: powers that the Constitution does not specifically give to the federal government or deny to the states Reserved powers belong to the states or to the people.