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Confederation and the Constitution
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In 1776, the Articles of Confederation was formed ► Under the Articles of Confederation: Each state would have one vote The national government could declare war, make peace, sign treaties, and make money
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The problem with the Articles of Confederation was that states acted independently ► The national government had no way of raising money or enforcing the laws ► The new United States was failing under the Articles of Confederation
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The story of Shays’ Rebellion illustrated the need for a stronger central government ► Daniel Shays was a farmer from Massachusetts who led a protest against increased state taxes ► In fact, Shays led a group of 1,200 farmers toward the arsenal at Springfield, MA ► Massachusetts called up their militia to stop the rebellion (four farmers were killed)
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During the Revolutionary War, many Americans did not want to develop a strong central government ► The main reason is that England had a strong central government and the US was fighting to get away from England
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Many Americans favored a republic ► Republic: a government in which citizens rule through elected representatives ► Many Americans feared that a democracy would allow too many uneducated people to become involved in politics
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Shays Rebellion was a big deal because it showed that the national government could not solve major problems ► As news spread about Shays Rebellion, many states agreed to send delegated to a convention in Philadelphia in 1787
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Almost immediately, at the Constitutional Convention, it was agreed to dump the Articles of Confederation ► The delegates had to create a new type of government
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James Madison put forth the Virginia Plan ► Virginia Plan: create a two house legislation where a state’s representation would be based on its population ► The Virginia Plan would favor the larger states
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Smaller states did not like the Virginia Plan ► William Paterson created the New Jersey Plan ► New Jersey Plan: create a single house Congress in which each state had one vote
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As the debate continued, Roger Sherman put together the Great Compromise ► There will be two houses of Congress: Senate: All States would each have one vote House of Representatives: representation would be based on state population
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There was still a huge argument over the issue of slavery ► Should slaves count in a state’s population? ► Southern states wanted slaves to count, while Northern states did not ► Counting the slaves would give the South a huge political advantage
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3/5 Compromise ► 3/5 of the slave population will be counted toward the state population ► Of course, those slaves will have no political representation ► The North compromised because they needed South’s economic resources ► Many Northerners thought the slavery issue would “die out” and eventually go away
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The delegates at the Convention created a federalist government ► Federalism: power is divided between a national government and several state governments ► National government = Federal government Federal government: control foreign affairs and regulate trade between states State governments: control everything else (education) Concurrent powers: powers shared by Federal and State governments (taxing, court systems, etc.)
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The delegates also created a separation of powers within the Federal government ► Three branches of government were created: Executive Branch: President of the United States Legislative Branch: Makes the laws Judicial Branch: Makes sure the laws are “Constitutional”
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The three branches allowed for a checks and balances system: ► Checks and balances: system gives each branch the power to check, or stop the other branches ► Therefore, all of the branches of government are equal
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Because of checks and balances… The President can veto any law passed by Congress The President can veto any law passed by Congress ► Congress can over-ride a bill with 66% of the vote ► The Judicial Branch reviews all laws ► If a law is determined as “Unconstitutional,” it means that a law has violated someone’s Constitutional rights
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How Congress works… ► House of Representatives Based on a state’s population Its members serve two year terms, therefore it is directly responsible to the people because voters can change members quickly
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How Congress works… ► Senate: All states are equal (today each state has two Senators) A Senator serves a six year term The voters do not have as much of an impact on the Senate
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President (Executive branch) ► Serves a 4 year term ► Can be elected to a maximum for 2 consecutive terms
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The President is elected through the electoral college ► Each state has a certain amount of votes, based on population ► Whoever wins the state controls the electors from that state ► Today, a President needs 270 electoral votes to win
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The Constitutional Convention ended on September 17, 1787 ► For the Constitution to be ratified, 9 of 13 states had to agree ► In reality, all 13 states had to agree for the Constitution to really work
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Federalists: supporters of the Constitution ► Federalists were satisfied with the balance of power between the Federal and state governments ► In a sense, Federalists trusted government ► Famous Federalists: George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton
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Anti-federalists: those opposed to the Constitution ► Anti-federalists did not want a strong central government ► Anti-federalists did not trust that government would not abuse its power ► Famous Anti-federalists: Patrick Henry, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee
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Anti-federalists wanted their rights guaranteed ► To make this work, the Bill of Rights were proposed ► The Bill of Rights = first 10 Amendments to the Constitution ► The Bill of Rights spelled out all rights that Americans would have under the law ► Over time, 27 Amendments were added to the Constitution
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