1. The New Nation

2. Articles of Confederation
The Second Continental Congress directed the colonies during the war, but had no real authority or mandate to do so.
States had real powers:
coin money
raise and maintain armies and navies
collect and levy taxes
erect tariffs
To legitimize authority, the Second Continental Congress drafted a written constitution that had to be ratified by all 13 states – called the Articles of Confederation

3. The Articles had two major
problems:
no power to control commerce
no power to levy taxes
These powers were left to
the individual states

4. A major issue was what to do with the land in the Ohio River Valley
A major issue was what to do with the land in the Ohio River Valley. Many states had claims and others didn’t – so who would control it? The state or national government?
A compromise was reached through the Northwest Ordinance and Land Ordinance
The states were now content and the Articles were unanimously ratified

5. Northwest Ordinance Forbade slavery in new territories
Set a procedure how a territory could become a state

6. Land Ordinance
All lands claimed by individual states had to be turned over to national government
All lands sold to the public would be revenue to pay for the national debt from the Revolution
All land would be surveyed and mapped before any public auction would take place
Set aside specific areas in the new territories for public education

7. Small farmers in Massachusetts began losing their farms to banks because they couldn’t pay their taxes or meet mortgage payments. One reason was that many of them had not been paid back pay for their military service during the War. A delegation of farmers approached the state legislature for relief but were unsuccessful. Led by Daniel Shays, these farmers took over many courts and a federal arsenal. The national government struggled to raise an army to put the rebellion down but eventually did. Importance – renewed interest in need for a strong central government
Shay’s Rebellion

8. The Constitutional Convention
Delegates were called to Philadelphia in
1787 to REVISE the Articles of
Confederation.
all states but Rhode Island attended.
delegates from American “aristocracy” – NO middle or lower class representation
Primary motives:
preserve the United States
stop anarchy
They secretly wrote a new constitution
against the orders of the Second
Continental Congress because they
couldn’t effectively amend the
Articles of Confederation.

9. Ratification of the New Constitution
Rather than unanimous
acceptance, the Convention
adopted a two-thirds ratification
rule.
Ratification would be done through
specially elected constitutional
conventions in each state.
Federalist Papers:
Written by Jay, Hamilton, and Madison
Collection of essays in favor of the new Constitution in New York newspapers to muster support for ratification

10. Problems with ratification:
Rhode Island and North Carolina refused to ratify – Congress had to threaten them with a high tariff to get them to ratify.
US was on its second constitution in a dozen years with little domestic and foreign confidence in the American government.
Some compromises were built in the Constitution to promote ratification.

11. Two New Plans VIRGINIA PLAN Give power to federal government
Bicameral (2 groups)
Legislatures chosen based on state’s population.
NEW JERSEY PLAN
Give power to federal government
Unicameral (1 group)
Legislatures chosen equally for each state.

12. Great Compromise
Great Compromise – compromise reached was a bi-cameral legislature with representation in House by population and in the Senate equally
large state plan – representation by population
small state plan – representation should be equal

13. 3/5s Compromise
Three-Fifths Compromise – compromise reached was slaves would be counted as 3/5s of a person
South said slaves should be counted into their population, but North said no
It was agreed that slavery would be abolished 20 years after ratification of the Constitution.

14. Interpretation of the Constitution
Thomas Jefferson – strict interpretist (constructionist)
national government should exercise no powers that are not specifically granted in the Constitution
all unspoken powers are reserved for the state governments
Alexander Hamilton – loose interpretist (constructionist)
cited elastic clause of the Constitution – Congress may pass any laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its granted powers

15. Political Parties Constitution doesn’t provide for political parties.
Political parties resulted from ideological clash between Jefferson and Hamilton:
interpretation of Constitution
financial policy
foreign policy
Federalists – led by Hamilton:
strong central government
positive relations with England
favored upper class
Democrat-Republicans – led by Jefferson:
strong state government
positive relations with France
favored common man

16. Early Problems Difficulties for the new government:
constitutional interpretation
economic stability
foreign relations
how to avoid war
political precedents

17. Compare And Contrast Create a Venn Diagram to Compare
Aricles of Confederation
Constitution
Create a Venn Diagram to Compare
and Contrast the two!!!!