U.S. History 5.2 Drafting the Constitution MAIN IDEA: At the Philadelphia convention the delegates rejected the Articles of Confederation and created a new constitution. WHY IT MATTERS NOW: The Constitution remains the basis for our government.

CONVENTION -May 1787 Philadelphia -12 of 13 states Rhode Island absent -55 Delegates

Shay’s Rebellion: America’s First Civil War 1786

The Fear of Shay’s Rebellion The story of Daniel Shays: A veteran of the Revolutionary War, Shays faced financial ruin and debtors’ prison because of debts (back taxes) owed on his farm. Summer and fall of 1786, Shays, and others like him, kept demanding that the courts be closed so they would not lose their farms to creditors. The discontent of these men boiled over into mob action when in September 1786, 1200 strong marched to the arsenal at Springfield (TO DO WHAT?). State officials called out the militia and 4 rebels were killed; the rest scattered. Clearly, if so many are rebelling, something must be wrong!

Nationalist Strengthen the Gov’t Shays Rebellion frightened people all over the nation ｧ Every state has debt-ridden farmers ｧ Both private property and the nation’s reputation are at stake! o As George Washington put it – others will be happy to see that we are unable to govern ourselves. o He feared that with 13 sovereign states all pulling against one another we would soon be ruined as a nation. ｧ What we clearly needed was a stronger national government States had been so afraid of tyranny that they had severly limited the government’s powers

Call for Convention Big problem: trade between states o This led to fights between states as to taxes on goods between them (called tariffs)  September 1786, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton asked for a meeting to discuss trade issues o Only 5 states sent delegates to the meeting! (Annapolis, MD) o Meanwhile, Shays Rebellion (MA) occurs and another meeting is set for Philadelphia on trade and other problems Why do you think news of Shays Rebellion made states decide to participate in the Philadelphia convention? o This time, 12 states send delegates

DECISIONS MADE -rewrite gov’t -1 vote per state -keep meeting a secret -majority rules CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS ﾘ People come from every state except Rhode Island ｨ Great secrecy – hush, hush, windows closed ﾘ 55 men in all; most were lawyers, merchants, or planters  most were rich, well-educated, 30s and 40s Washington was elected presiding officer by unanimous vote Within 5 days of convening, they had scrapped the idea of revising the A of C; decided to form a new govt

ISSUES AT DEBATE -representation large states small states -slavery -economics

Problems of Representation? BIG STATES VERSUS SMALL STATES ｨ Fair representation to both types of states ｨ THE VIRIGINIA PLAN – authored by James Madison o Bicameral legislature (two houses) ｧ Population will determine representation ｧ Voters would elect the lower house ｧ Members of the lower house would then elect the upper house ｨ Delegates from small states objected! This gives more power to states w/ more people!!

VIRGINIA PLAN -James Madison -3 branches -bicameral Congress -population based

Problems of Representation? BIG STATES VERSUS SMALL STATES THE NEW JERSEY PLAN- authored by William Paterson o Unicameral (one house) All states have an equal vote DEADLOCK RESULTS

NEW JERSEY PLAN -small state plan -equal voting -group executive -Promoted state’s rights

Problems of Representation? BIG STATES VERSUS SMALL STATES William Sherman of CT suggests a compromise: THE GREAT COMPROMISE ｧ BI-CAMERAL LEGISLATURE ｷ Upper House (Senate) each state would have equal representation ｷ Lower House – (House of Representatives) representation would be determined by the population of the state ｷ IN ADDITION: voters of each state would choose the representative, but the state legislature would choose the Senate. (A real plus to states’ righters!) ｨ Why was Sherman’s compromise such a success?

COMPROMISES -Great Compromise House Senate -3/5 Compromise -Slave Trade Compromise

Three-Fifths Compromise SLAVERY RELATED ISSUE Should slaves be counted as people for the purpose of determine the number of reps each state gets?

Three-Fifths Compromise ｨ The convention gave Congress the power to regulate trade, but they were prohibited from doing anything about the slave trade for 20 years. ｨ Not all delegates agreed with this, feeling that protecting slave trade in the constitution was not a good thing: “dishonorable to the national character”

DIVISION OF POWERS: Federalism: A NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN WHICH POWER IS DIVIDED BETWEEN THE NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. ｧ Powers granted to National govt by constituted are called DELEGATED, or ENUMERATED POWERS. ｧ Powers kept by the states are called RESERVED (or saved) powers Which powers were granted to the national govt and which to the state govts?

DIVISION OF POWERS: NATIONAL GOVERNMENTSTATE GOVERNMENTS Control foreign affairsprovide & supervise education Provide national defenseestablish marriage laws Regulate trade bet. Statesregulate trade within a state Coin money BOTH LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT HAVE: THE RIGHT TO TAX THE RIGHT TO BORROW MONEY THE RIGHT TO PAY DEBTS THE POWER TO ESTABLISH COURTS Why do they both have these powers?? Why must they have them?

SEPARATION OF POWERS: The delegates protected the rights of the states by reserving some powers exclusively for them.  They also granted some powers exclusively to the national government.  IN ADDITION, THEY LIMITED THE AUTHORITY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. How did they do this? o They created 3 branches of government, each with separate responsibilities: ｧ Legislative branch – make laws ｧ Executive branch – carry out the laws ｧ Judicial branch – interpret the laws Next, a system of checks and balances: to prevent one branch from becoming stronger than the others

CHECKS AND BALANCES - SEE P. 143 OF YOUR TEXT

Procedure for Electing the President Concern: no national parties, limited travel and communication The popular vote may be strictly for regional candidates (if your region has more people, you would be able to elect the president). o Upper class feared who the uneducated masses would vote for! THEY DID NOT TRUST THE COMMON MAN TO VOTE WISELY! SO instead of directly electing the president, they chose an indirect method. ｨ Voters in each state chose electors = number of senators and representative they had in Congress ｨ The group of electors, called the Electoral College, would then choose the president.

NEW GOV’T -much stronger -power to tax -regulate trade -strong executive -needed 9 of 13 to ratify

RATIFICATION -Federalists -Anti-Federalist -Federalist Papers support the new government -Bill of Rights promised ｧ They also provided an amendment process – if and when change is needed ｧ Four months of debate finally resulted in our constitution that has been amended only 27 times ｧ The constitution was then sent to the states for approval.

RATIFICATION -Federalists -Anti-Federalist -Federalist Papers support the new government -Bill of Rights promised