1. The Northwest Ordinance and The Constitutional Convention

2. Land Ordinance of 1785

4. I. Northwest Ordinance
A. Passed in 1787 in response to the need for order in the land west of the Appalachian Mountains.

6. B. Set up a government for the Northwest Territories.
C. Outlawed Slavery. First US law to do so.
D. Divided into 3 to 5 separate territories in the future.
E. Guaranteed rights for citizens including freedom of religion and the right to a trial by jury
F. When a territory had a population of 60,000 free citizens, it could ask Congress to be admitted as a new state.

7. 1. The newly admitted state would be “on equal footing with the original states in all respects whatsoever.
G. Important for 2 Reasons:
Provided a new way for states to be admitted into the U.S.
2. Guaranteed new states the same treatment as the original 13 states.

9. H. Five States were eventually made out of the Northwest Territory:
1. Ohio 5. Wisconsin
2. Indiana
3. Illinois
4. Michigan

10. II. Shays Rebellion
A Massachusetts – in order to pay off its debt, the state government placed a large tax on residents who owned land.

11. B. Unable to pay the tax, many farmers faced foreclosures.
Everything would be taken and sold to pay off debt
They pressure the state government for help, but get none.

12. 3. Protest­ Daniel Shay led protest of 1500 farmers to surround county courthouse. 4. Governor called in militia­ 3 protestors killed, others sent to jail.

13. 5. Big results: many in the country feared nation was on brink of disaster ·Because of limits in Arts of Confed. – the central govn’t couldn’t do anything to help
People began to ask for a more workable gov’t­ make changes to the Articles of Confederation

14. II. Constitutional Convention
A. Soon after the meeting began, the framers decided to do more than revise the Articles of Confederation, they choose to write a new Constitution entirely.

15. B. 55 delegates from every state but Rhode Island showed up
B. 55 delegates from every state but Rhode Island showed up. Many were in their 20’s and 30’s. Ben Franklin, the oldest was 81, and George Washington was named President of the convention.

16. C. The best prepared delegate was 36 year old James Madison from Virginia.
1. Served in Congress and the Virginia Legislature.

17. 2. Collected the latest books on government and politics, and arrived a week early to prepare for the convention.

18. D. Divided We Stand
c. Called for a strong national government with 3 branches:
1. Legislative Branch – passes the laws
2. Executive Branch – carries out the laws
3. Judicial Branch – interprets the laws.
The Virginia Plan
a. Put forth by James Madison and Edmund Randolph.
b. Much was included in the new constitution.

19. d. Called for a bicameral, two house legislature, and both houses would be based on population.
1. This differed from the Articles of Confederation, and favored the larger states.

20. 2. The New Jersey Plan
Smaller states strongly objected to the Virginia Plan.
b. William Patterson, from New Jersey, offered another plan.
c. Called for 3 branches of government.
d. Called for unicameral, one house legislature, and each state would get one vote, regardless of size.

21. 3. The Great Compromise Put forth by Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
b. Sherman’s plan called for a 2 House, bicameral legislature.
1. House of Representatives – elected by the men who could vote, and would be based on population. Appealed to larger states.

22. 2. Senate – chosen by the state legislature, and each state would get two votes. Appealed to smaller states.
C. If states would not have compromised, the Convention might have broken up.

23. E. Three-Fifths Compromise
1. Should slaves be counted as part of a state’s population? It was an important question because it would affect the number of votes in the House of Representatives.
2. The South said they should count, but the North said since they couldn’t vote, they shouldn’t be counted.

24. 3. They agreed that three-fifths of the slaves in any state would be counted.
a. If a state had 5,000 slaves, then 3,000 of them would be counted.