1. The Constitution

2. An unsure future
While the colonies now had their independence, they had little experience working together.
Many people in the new nation wondered if they would be able to form a new central government.
There was a wide variety of opinions on how the new nation should be run.
Some soldiers were resentful of the people who did not fight in the war and share that sacrifice.
Loyalists, Native Americans, and slaves were practically ignored.

3. Articles of Confederation
While states formed their own governments and constitutions, the continental congress struggled to create a constitution for the whole nation.
Many were reluctant to give up any power to the central government
The Continental Congress originally created the Articles of Confederation in 1777 and ratified(passed) it in 1781.
This document created a very loose alliance between the states.

4. Articles of Confederation
Under this document, the central government was treated like a subordinate (not equal, weaker power)
State governments received most of the power
Central government was given little power because the people did not trust it or respect it thanks to England’s tyranny style rule.
It was very difficult for the Central government to accomplish anything because it had very little jurisdiction over its states or people.

5. Power of the Central Government
Congress was the central government
Group of selected state delegates who was in charge of foreign affair issues including:
Making treaties
Declaring war
Maintaining army and navy
Coin money
Establish the Post Office

6. Problems for Congress The powers of congress, however, were limited.
Any action passed by congress was required to be approved by at least 9 of the 13 states and any amendment for the Articles needed to be approved by all 13 states.
Congress could not:
Raise money with taxes
Have any control over foreign commerce (exchange goods)
Pass laws to force states to comply
Congress was dependent on the will of the states

7. Problems
Because the states were essentially left to themselves and the federal government had very limited power, many conflicts stated to arise.
Land claims out west
Paying back debts
Continental money worthless
Foreign countries taking advantage of the unstable new nation

8. Solutions
To help the states settle land disputes, congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785, which created a system for settling the Northwest Territory.
In 1787, Congress then passed the Northwest Ordinance setting up a government for the Northwest Territory
This provided a way for new states to be admitted
A sample of how the land ordinance worked

9. Depression
While the Northwest Ordinance helped to settle land issues, the new nation’s economy was still weak and ended up falling into depression
Farmers were really hit hard and were losing their farms
Things were rough—especially in Massachusetts
Unlike in the other states, Massachusetts did not pass “pro-debtor laws” that forgave (eliminated) a person’s debt and printed more money.
Farmers who were unable to pay were thrown in jail.

10. Shay’s Rebellion
Because of the tough conditions in Massachusetts, Daniel Shay, a former captain for the Continental Army, led a group of 2,000 men and attacked several court houses and federal arsenals until they were stopped by the Massachusetts Militia.
This was the final straw for many in the nation who now agreed the Articles of confederation didn’t work and they needed to be revised

11. Time for a change—forming our current Constitution

12. The Constitutional Convention
Philadelphia 1787
Main goal was to revise (edit) the Articles of Confederation
Representatives from every state except Rhode Island (total of 55 delegates)

13. The Delegates
Included a variety of well educated men ranging from merchants to lawyers and officers during the war
Roger Sherman
George Washington
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison

14. Virginia Plan
Written and proposed by Edmund Randolph and James Madison
National Government made up of three branches designed in a checks and balances type system.
Bicameral (two groups) legislature to pass laws
Judicial to decide if laws were fair
Executive to carry out the laws
Supported the idea of “population-weighted representation”—states would be represented in the legislature proportionally to their population.
Powers of Judicial and Executive weren’t as clear when it was first proposed.
Went through several revisions before it was finalized.

16. New Jersey Plan
Also known as the “Small State Plan” because the smaller states felt the Virginia Plan was unfair.
Written and proposed by William Paterson
Unicameral (one group) legislature—one vote per state regardless of population.
Keep the Articles of Confederation and amend them
Amendment such as Congress has authority to tax and collect taxes and elect a federal executive
Articles of Confederation and treaties supreme law of the land

18. The Great Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise—created by Roger Sherman of Connecticut to try and satisfy both large and small states
Bicameral legislature—one house with proportional representation and one house with equal representation.
The success of the compromise then led to the Three- Fifths Compromise

19. The Great Compromise
The Three-Fifths Compromise proposed by James Wilson and Roger Sherman to address the issue of slavery. Should slavery be a part of the Constitution?
South wanted to include slaves in population in order to gain more representation but slaves didn’t get to vote, North didn’t agree.
Came up with idea that slaves represented 3/5 of a person, slave trade could not be prohibited prior to and states would be required to return any fugitive (runaway) slaves to their owners.

20. With the delegates able to reach a compromise on the hot button issues and come to an agreement on the questions raised during the convention, on September 17, 1787 the delegates came one by one and signed the Constitution.
Three delegates, Edmund Randolph, George Mason (both from Virginia), and Elbridge Gerry (Massachusetts) refused to sign believing the document gave too much power to the national government.
George Mason
Edmund Randolph
Elbridge Gerry

21. Finishing the Race
Now that the constitution was signed it needed to be ratified (voted and approved) by at least 9 of the states in order to go into effect.

22. A Power Struggle
There were two issues that needed to be addressed while the Constitution was being ratified:
1) Should the constitution include a bill of rights?
2) Should the states of federal government have more power?

23. Federalists (Supported the Constitution as is)
Supported a strong federal government
Limited power for state — giving too much power to the states was why the Articles of Confederation failed.
Bill of rights was not necessary to put in the Constitution.
Anti-Federalists (Opposed the Constitution as is)
Supported leaving most of the power in the hands of the states
Feared giving a lot of power to national government— worried the states would lose their influence.
Constitution needed a bill of rights to protect the nation’s people.

24. Ratification
The Constitution was ratified before the Bill or Rights issue was settled when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify in June 1788.
With a new Constitution in place, the nation held its first presidential election in January 1789.
With that, George Washington was elected our first president under the Constitution and congress met to address the issue of adding a Bill of Rights.

25. The Bill of Rights
The Anti-Federalists argued the United States just fought a war to protect their freedoms and a bill of rights would be a way to protect those freedoms.
In 1789, James Madison introduced a list of 19 amendments to be added to the Constitution. The purpose of these amendments was to guarantee certain basic rights and freedoms that everyone is born with.

26. Bill of Rights
Congress approved 12 of the 19 and then, as required by law, sent them to the states to be ratified.
10 of the 12 amendments were ratified and put into the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights in December

27. Throughout the years, amendments in regards to new rules and rights have been added but the Constitution is still in use today over 200 years later
It is the oldest constitution written that is still in effect today!