The Constitution VUS.5 Mr. Poley

Problems with Articles of Confederation Gave Congress no power to tax Gave Congress no power to regulate commerce among the states Provided for no common currency Gave each state one vote regardless of size Provided for no executive or judicial branch

Shays Rebellion Daniel Shays, a Mass farmer lead a rebellion to protest the rising taxes on poor farmers by Mass state governments Other states feared rebellions and wanted a national government to oversee state governments

Constitutional Convention 12 states met in Philadelphia in 1787 to change the Articles of Confederation Rhode Island did not attend because they believed smaller states would be overlooked in a stronger national government

Constitutional Convention Original plan was to change the Articles of Confederation but decided to throw it out and start a new government

George Washington Chosen as Chairman of the Convention Washington brought prestige and legitimacy to convention He stayed out of political arguments

James Madison “Father of the Constitution” Main author He was a federalist – a person who favored a strong national government

Problems with Articles of Confederation and Constitutional Solutions

Problem 1 States had too much power

Solution 1 Supremacy Clause – national law was supreme over state law; national law limited to those stated in Constitution

Problem 2 People feared a strong national government would have too much power and take away their rights

Solution 2 Separation of Powers – government divided into 3 equal branches (legislative, judicial, and executive)

Problem 3 People feared a strong national government would have too much power and take away their rights

Solution 3 Checks and Balances – each branch of government can check the powers of the other

Key Compromises at Constitutional Convention

Issue 1 Set up of legislature

Side 1 NJ Plan – wanted a unicameral (one house) legislature with equal votes per state; favored smaller states

Side 2 VA Plan – wanted a bicameral (two house) legislature with representation based on a states population; favored larger states

Compromise Great Compromise – a bicameral legislature (Congress) with an upper house (Senate) with two votes per state and a lower house (House of Representatives) with representation based on a states’ population

Issue 2 Determining representation in House of Representatives

Side 1 Southern view – slaves should be counted when determining number of representatives in Congress

Side 2 Northern view – slaves are property and should not be counted as citizens

Compromise 3/5 Compromise – only 3 out of 5 slaves would be counted in census

Issue 4 Presidential Election

Side 1 People were not educated enough to choose a President

Side 2 People should have the right to choose their own leader

Compromise Electoral College – group of electors who choose the President based on popular vote in their state

Constitution Preamble – introduction to the Constitution; mission statement for America 7 Articles – outlines set up for government and the jobs of each branch and the duties and procedures in the government Amendments – laws that govern the country

Ratification of Constitution

Nine States had to ratify or approve the Constitution before it could become law

Federalists Supported a strong national government and wanted Constitution ratified Felt people were protected because of checks and balances in the government and the separation of powers

Federalists Did not believe a national Bill of Rights was necessary Wrote Federalists Papers to encourage country to ratify Constitution

Anti - federalists Believed national government was too strong and limited states too much Wanted a national Bill of Rights added to protect their natural rights

Compromise Federalists agreed to have a national Bill of Rights added to Constitution if Anti- Federalists would ratify the Constitution James Madison wrote the bill of rights It was based on the VA Declaration of Rights (George Mason) and the VA Statute for Religious Freedom (Thomas Jefferson)

Articles Essay You are to write an essay detailing the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Explain why they are a weakness and then show how the constitution would fix those problems. This is to be a minimum of 5 paragraphs and to be more than one page in length. Read and follow these instructions. Failure to do so will result in deductions from your grade. You might use chapter 2 section 2 from the new book, as well as the Constitution page 65Also chapter 5 section 1 of the old textbook