1. Chapter 5
Shaping a New Nation

2. Experimenting with Confederation
Section 1
Experimenting with Confederation

3. What style of government did Americans favor?
Most Americans believed that a democracy, government directly by the people, gave too much power to the uneducated masses.
Instead, they favored a republic, a government in which the people elect capable leaders to govern. This idea behind this style of rule is republicanism, the notion that government should be based on the consent of the people.
In the years following the Revolutionary War, the American states created their own constitution-a written system of laws and principles that spells out the functions and limits of a government.

4. Continued
The states constitutions were based largely on the ideals of republicanism.
They limited the power of the government and guaranteed specific rights for its citizens.
Freedom of speech
Freedom of religion
Freedom of the press
The states’ constitutions also differed from one another

5. What issues did the Continental Congress face?
The first was how much representation each of the different sized states would receive in Congress.
Congress decided that each state would have one vote.
The second issue dealt with how the states and federal government would share power.
In addressing this issue, the Continental Congress proposed the Articles of Confederation, this set of laws established a two-tier government.
The delegates called this new form of government a confederation, or alliance.
The Articles of Confederation went into effect in 1781.

6. Continued
By this time, Congress also had to address a third issue: how to govern the land west of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 established a plan by which the federal government surveyed the land and sold it to settlers at affordable prices.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 organized the land into territories.

7. What were some of the Articles’ weaknesses?
(1) The new government did little to unify the country.
(2) The one-vote per state policy created an imbalance of political power.
With a population of 23,375, Georgia had the same power as Massachusetts with 235,000 people.
(3) All states had to agree to amend the Articles. As a result, changes in government were difficult to achieve.
(4) The Continental Congress had no power to tax.
(5) The federal government’s weakness hindered its efforts to deal with foreign-relations.

8. Drafting the Constitution
Section 2
Drafting the Constitution

10. What was Shay’s Rebellion?
1787 a group of Massachusetts farmers revolted against the state.
The protestors were led by Daniel Shays. They accused the state government of taxing them too much.
Four farmers were killed. This incident was known as Shay’s Rebellion.
Before Shay’s Rebellion, leaders such as James Madison of Virginia had called for a meeting of delegates to discuss conflicts over interstate trade.
After the news spread of Shay’s Rebellion, delegates from all states except Rhode Island came to the Philadelphia convention.

11. What compromises did the delegates make?
An immediate issue facing the delegates was how to give fair representation to both large and small states.
Political leader James Madison offered the Virginia Plan. It proposed that a state’s representation be based on population.
The smaller states objected this plan. The supported the New Jersey plan, it called for giving each state equal representation, no matter what the size.
The delegates finally settled on a compromise developed by delegate Roger Sherman.
The plan became known as the Great Compromise.

12. Continued
It called for a legislature with two houses-a House of Representatives and a Senate.
Each state would have two members in the Senate, and in the House, the number of representatives from each state would be based on the size of the state’s population.
The delegates then debated whether slaves should be included in a state’s population count. The Northern states did not want slaves counted, but the Southern states favored them.
The delegates came to the Three-Fifths Compromise. It allowed states to count three-fifths of their slaves as part of the population.

13. Who held the power under the Constitution?
The new system of government was a form of federalism in which power was divided between the national and state governments.
Powers to the national government included:
Control of foreign affairs
Providing national defense
Regulation trade between the states
Powers to the state governments included:
Providing and supervising education
Marriage laws
And trade within a state

14. Continued Both levels of government shared such power as:
The right to tax
Borrow money
Pay debts
Establish courts
The delegates, however, made sure to limit the authority of the federal government.
The gave the legislative branch, the Senate and the House, the power to make laws.
The executive branch would carry out the laws.
The judicial branch would interpret the laws.

15. Continued
The delegates also made sure that each branch had certain powers over the others. The was called a system of checks and balances. It ensured that on one branch could become too powerful.
Instead of choosing a president directly, each state would choose a group of electors equal to the number of senators and representatives each state had in Congress. Together, these electors were known as the electoral college.
The delegates at the Constitutional Convention also created a way to amend, or change, the Constitution.

16. Ratifying the Constitution
Section 3
Ratifying the Constitution

17. What was the controversy over the Constitution?
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention decided on a plan for ratification, or official approval.
Each state would hold a special convention.
Voters in the state would elect delegates to the convention. The delegates would then vote to accept or reject the Constitution. If at least 9 states approved the Constitution, it would become the law of the land.
Supporters of the Constitution were known as Federalists. They were led by George Washington and James Madison.
Opponents of the Constitution were known as Antifederalists. They included Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams.

18. Continued
Federalists argued that the division of powers and the system of checks & balances would protect Americans from the abuses of a strong central government.
Antifederalists offered a long list of abuses of power by a strong central government.
This list included a fear that the government would serve the interests of the privileged minority and ignore the rights of the majority.
They also doubted the ability of a single government to manage the affairs of a large country.

19. Continued
The leading argument made by the Antifederalists centered on the Constitution’s lack of protection for individual rights.
Madison & other Federalists published The Federalist, a series of essays defending the Constitution.
The essays analyzed & explained parts of the Constitution that still remain important today. These include the separation of powers.
Letters from the Federal Farmer was written by Richard Henry Lee. It was the most widely read Anti-Federalist publication.

20. Continued
In Lee’s publication, he listed the rights the Antifederalists felt should be protected. They include:
Freedom of the press
Freedom of religion
Guarantees against unreasonable searches of people and their homes
The right to a trial by jury

21. The Bill of Rights
Many Federalists finally admitted that the Constitution needed a Bill of Rights to protect the nation’s citizens.
They promised to add a Bill of Rights only if the states ratified the Constitution.
In December 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution.
In the following June, New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it. After this ratification, it had become officially approve and it became the law of the land.
New York & Virginia had not voted yet. In order for the Constitution to work, the government needed the support of the two large states.

22. Continued Both states ratified the Constitution by July 1788.
The Constitution became the basis for the new government in
In September 1789, Congress approved 12 amendments.
By December 1791, the states ratified ten of the amendments.
The Bill of Rights guaranteed Americans the following rights:
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of the Press
Protected citizens against having their homes searched & property seized without a proper reason
Protected the rights of people accused of crimes.

24. Continued Not all Americans enjoyed these rights.
Women were not mentioned in the Constitution.
Native Americans & slaves were excluded.
The flexibility of the U.S. Constitution made it a model for governments around the world.