1. Shaping A New Nation

2. Albany Plan of Union
1754- British government summoned an intercolonial congress and 7 of the 13 colonies sent delegates.
Purpose was to keep the Native Americans loyal to the British and not the French.
Would have unified the colonies under a central government for the purpose of defense and other important purposes.
Became a template for the Articles of Confederation
Benjamin Franklin was a member of the Albany plan of union which gave the colonies a union but a disjointed one at that because they did not really want it just in the heads.

3. Balancing Power
System of distinct, self governing colonies encouraged people to think of the colony as the primary political unit not a central government.
Democracy- To much power in hands of the uneducated masses.
Republic- A government in which citizens rule through their elected representatives.
Republicanism- Idea that government should be based on the consent of the people.
Because the British found each colony and gave them each there own independence. So the colonies each had there own governor, council, and assembly and with that there own sense of independence so they would naturally be reluctant to give that power up to a federal government.
Different ideas of republicanism- john dickerson believed a republic required a virtuous people, who placed the good of the people before self interest and people like adam smith an economist who believed a republic would benefit from a self interested people because people would seek wealth which would allow the country to grow and prosper.
ASK students what would you prefer or what do you think would work best?
Some states had very similar constitutions that had limited rights for the government, guaranteed freedom of speech, religion and press, and reflected liberty rather then equality and reflected a fear of centralized authority.
They also differed, some states differed not allowing african americans to vote and new jersey gave women the right to vote until other states required citizens to own property to vote.

4. Political Precedents Few models to draw from
The Continental Congress tried to make a constitution for all of the states but had to answer three
major questions
Are fore fathers searched history to find a government in which the could base a republic off of and better it. Drew from places like the short lived republic in England after King Charles 1 died and the republic of Italian cities such as Florence, Pisa, Genoa, and Venice who were self governing during the middle ages or Athens and Rome.
The poor planned republic of the English led by Oliver Cromwell wealth which lasted from 1649 to 1660 fell because of poor leadership and after Cromwell died so did it. This haunted the continental congress.

5. Representation by population or by State?
Unequal in size, wealth, and population.
Same number of representatives regardless of population or not?
Continental Congress makes the decision that each state would have one representative regardless.
The Congress saw themselves as representing independent states and as a result made the decision for one representative per state to make it equal.

6. Supreme Power: Can it be Divided
Congress proposes a set of laws called the Articles of Confederation- two levels of government shared fundamental powers. State governments were supreme in some matters, while national government was supreme in other matters, called an alliance or confederation.
States and Federal government share powers
Most people believed a central government could not share power with a state.
Articles gave national gov power to declare war and sign treaties. It could borrow money, set standards for coins and for weights and measures, establish a postal service, and deal with the native american people but there was no EXECUTIVE power to carry out and enforce the acts of congress and no national court system to interpret the meaning of laws.

7. Who Gets the Western Lands?
1779, 12 of the 13 states signed the Articles of Confederation.
Some states had land claims
and some did not, feared
powerful states with to
much land.
Maryland signs the Articles
of Confederation
Conflicts arise over the western land claims
Maryland who had none, refused to sign until those states turned over the land to the government because of fear of those states becoming to powerful
When the government got the land they became land rich but money poor. The government now had to search for a way to use the land to generate revenue to fund things such as public education and other services.

8. Governing the Western Lands
Land Ordinance of established a plan for surveying and selling the federally owned lands west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Northwest Ordinance of established procedures for the
admission of new states
to the union.
How does the state govern the land west of the Appalachians and north of the Ohio river that offered land for settlers.
They establish the land ordinance of 1785 to survey the land and establish worth.
Fastest way would have been to sell the land in large parcels but the rich would have been able to buy it all up so instead they made the parcels small and affordable. The miniumum price per acre was 1 dollar. They split the land off in sections like squares of land and hoped it would be used for farming. To further this even more the congress passed the……. Northwest ordinance of 1787.
The Northwest Ordinance overlooked Native Americans land claims .
Three basic stages to become a state:
1) congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges.
2) When a territory had 5000 voting residents the settlers could write a temporary constitution and elect their own government.
3) When the total population reached 60,000 free inhabitants, the settlers could write a state constitution which had to be approved by congress before it granted statehood.
These ordinances established a blueprint for future growth.
Native americans get more and more angry with the approaching Americans who are relentless….
Does any one know what americans use to justify moving west…Manifest Destiny
These two ordinances became the confederations greatest achievements

9. Problems Arise Confederation lacked national unity
Unequal representation
Articles could not be amended without full approval of states.
Huge debt- over $190 million
Borrowers vs. Lenders
Foreign Relations – British refused to remove troops, Spain’s troops on borders.
Trade between states
Because each state functioned independently there was no unity and therefore the states pursued there own interests and not the nations.
States like Georgia with just over citizens has the same amount of votes (1) as Massachusetts with (1).
The articles could not be amended without full consent from every state. Changes were therefore difficult to come by.
Huge debt congress had over 190 million debt from the revolutionary war. Continental money became fire starter. Literally
People who borrowed money wanted to increase the amount of printed money to make it more affordable for them to pay back there debts but the lenders wanted to retain the value of money so they didn’t want any more money printed. Lenders also favored high taxes.
The British army refused to remove troops because America did not repay there debts to British Merchants and would not compensate loyalists for property losses. British respond by leaving troops in their forts. Spain’s presence on the borders hurt westward expansion and farmers along the Mississippi river.

10. Shays Rebellion Daniel Shay, Revolutionary war vet
Heavy in debt, to much taxation
Turned farmers into a 1200 strong mob and marched towards the Springfield arsenal.
Militia stopped the rebellion after 4 rioters die.
Showed the nation that something was obviously wrong.
George washington said that what a triumph for our enemies… to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves.
Time for a stronger national government as the states put to much restricitons on national gov that it could not do what it was suppose to do.

11. Constitutional Convention
Trade over states creates quarrels over taxes and disagreements of navigation rights.
The first convention only involved five states representatives including James Madison from Virginia and Alexander Hamilton.
After Shays Rebellion
the Constitutional
Convention included 12
states, Rhode Island did
not participate.
May 1787, The delegates meet in the same room of the Philadelphia State House as they did when they signed the Declaration of Independence
They kept the windows closed in the room to prevent eaves dropping and it was hot hot month.

12. May 1787, Tossed out the Articles of Confederation
Virginia Plan- Two house legislature with membership based on state population. Favored larger states
New Jersey Plan- Single house legislature where states get equal vote.
The Great Compromise- Two house Congress to satisfy both large/small states.
Equal representation in the Senate, upper house
House of Representatives decided by population, lower house
Most of the delegates were rich wealthy men and educated
Included men such as george washington, alexander hamilton, benjamin franklin, james madison, samuel adams, john hancock.
Tossed out the Articles of confederation to create a new gov.
The Virginia Plan favored the larger states and would have had states elect members to the lower house who would then elect members to the upper house.
The New Jersey Plan favored small states, gave equal votes to states and was single house congress.
Roger Sherman a Connecticut leader devised the Great Compromise and would allow voters to choose their representatives in the house of representatives and then the representatives would vote for senate members. His plan appeased both sides and still gave states power and voters the right to choose there representatives.

13. Three-Fifths Compromise- Slaves worth 3/5th of a white male.
Federalism- Divided power between the national government and state governments.
The national government had powers over:
National defense
Foreign affairs
Regulating trade
Coining money
States had powers over:
Education
Marriage laws
Regulating trade within state
The three fifths compromise settles the population of states with large amounts of slaves which would have gave them more influence in the house of representatives. The north also wanted to count slaves for taxing but the south did not The economic issue of slavery was still not solved and so the south worried if the congress was in control of the foreign trade then it might do away with the slave trade which would not benefit them. To solve this the congress agreed not to interfer with the slave trade for at least20 years. James Madison predicted that twenty years will produce all the mischief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. So long term will be more dishonorable to the national character then to say nothing about it in the constitution.

14. Separation of Powers Legislative Branch- Makes the laws
Executive Branch- Administers and enforces the laws
Judicial Branch- Interprets the laws and the constitution
Check and Balances- Prevents any branch from dominating the other two branches.
Electoral College- Equal to the number of senators and representatives, the electors would cast ballots for the candidates
After securing states rights they gave the national government exclusive rights. The creatio of the three branches and then having them all have checks and balances made them equal. Example: the president has considerable power but the senate has to approve some of the presidents decisions and the president can veto acts of congress but congress can override a veto by a two/thirds vote. Supreme court assumes power to interpret the constitution but the president appoints justices and congress can bring them to trial for abuse of power.
The fear of wealthy and prominent individuals was that uneducated and unrully people would ruin the system so they did not trust them directly with the power to vote for their president. Instead the devised a electoral college where their representatives would vote for them. This came into play when al gore in 2000 won the ppular vote by 540k but lost the electoral college when bush collected 271 votes which is one more then he needed.

15. Ratification Ratification- Required 9 of the 13 states to agree.
Federalists- Supported the constitution, wanted balance between state and central governments
Antifederalists- Disapproved of the constitution, wanted more state rights.
The Federalist- Series of 85 essays defending the Constitution, appeared in New York magazines from 1787 and 1788.
Letters from the Federal Farmer- Antifederalist publication, Sought to protect civilian rights
Delegates spent four months in philly drafting the constitution. But when the press showed the entirty of the constitution to the public there was wide shock. Many thought the articles of confederation would merely be changed.
Federalistss argued that the checks and balnces would make for a strong unbaised government.
Antifederalists argued that the central government might cater to the wealthy and not the majority as well as the lack of protection for individual rights.
Federalists included: George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton: lobbied for delegate support, gained backing from people invovled in trading, small states fearing loss of power and urban centers.
Antifederalists included Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, Gained support from rural areas where they feared more taxes and large states and places with strong economies like new york who saw growth and benefited from the articles of confederation
The federalist was written by james madison, alexander hamilton, and john jay amongst others. Provided an explanation and analysis of the constitution.
Letters from the federal farmer written by Richard Henry Lee believed the rights of the freedom the press, free speech, unlawful search and seizure and the right to trial by jury needed to be pretected.

16. Bill of Rights Constitution provided no guarantee of rights.
People wanted a written bill of rights to protect their rights.
Bill of rights included the following:
1. Religious/political freedom
2. Right to bear arms
3. Freedom from
quartering troops
Did not apply to all americans like native americans, women, most blacks

17. 4. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure 5
4. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure 5. Rights of accused persons 6. Right to a fast and speedy trial 7. Right to a trial by jury 8. Limits on fines and punishments 9. Rights of the people 10. Powers of the states and the people