1. Chapter 5
Shaping a New Nation

2. Continental Congress Debates
States were unequal in size, wealth and population
Question: should the new gov’t represent people or states?
Question: should states be represented by population?
Articles of Confederation: new type of gov’t and laws in which two levels of gov’t share main powers
State & federal
AOC gave national gov’t power to:
Declare war, make peace, sign treaties, borrow money, set standards for coins and measure, est postal service, deal with Native Americans
AOC did not create an executive dept to carry out and enforce laws or a court system to interpret the meaning of laws

3. Debate Over Western Lands
By states agreed to accept the new gov’t BUT the conflict over western lands delayed final approval
Some states had claims to land west of the Appalachians and states that did not, were concerned that they would be overpowered by the bigger states
AOC went into effect in March 1781 after all states gave up their western claims
Land Ordinance of 1785: established a plan for surveying the new land

4. Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Established procedure for dividing the land into territories
Set requirements for the admission of new states
3 basic steps for becoming a state:
Congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges
When a territory had 5,000 voting residents, the settlers could write a temporary constitution and elect their own gov’t
When the total population of the territory reached 60,000, the settlers could write a state constitution to be approved by Congress before statehood
Land and Northwest Ordinance became the Confederation’s greatest achievements – est blueprint for future growth of the nation

5. Shay’s Rebellion Farmer’s protest
Cause panic throughout the nation since every state had debt- ridden farmers
New nation’s reputation was in danger
Shay’s Rebellion showed it was time to talk about a stronger national government
In order to prevent abuse of power, the states placed such severe limits on government that the government became too weak

6. Call for Convention
One of the nation’s biggest problems: trade between the states
Sept 1786: James Madison & Alexander Hamilton called a meeting of state delegates to discuss trade
Only 5 states showed up
Delegates decided to meet again a year later in Philly
Shay’s Rebellion convinced 12 states to send delegates
May 1787 delegates from all states except RI met in Philly
G. Washington chosen to preside over the meeting
Most of the 55 delegates were layers, merchants or planters

7. Key Conflicts in Constitutional Convention

8. Conflict Leads to Compromise
Within the first 5 days of meeting, the delegates of the constitutional convention gave up the idea of revising the Articles of Confederation and decided to form a new government
The big issue: representation in big states v. small states
Virginia Plan v. New Jersey Plan
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Proposed bi-cameral (2 house) legislator with membership based on a state’s pop.
Voters would elect members of the lower house, who would then elect members of the upper house.
Proposed a single-house congress in which each state had an equal vote.

9. Conflict Leads to Compromise
Debate over the plans became deadlocked (tied)
Roger Sherman (Conn) suggested the Great Compromise
2-house Congress to satisfy big and small states
Each state had equal representation in Senate (upper-house)
House of Representatives (lower-house) would be based on a state’s population
Voters of the state would choose members of the House and the state legislature would choose members of the Senate
Sherman’s plan pleased those who favored gov’t by the people because it allowed voters to choose representatives AND pleased people who defended state’s rights because it preserved the power of state legislatures

10. Slavery-Related Issues
Representation based on population raised the question of whether slaves should be counted as people
Southern states wanted the slaves to count as part of the population so they had more representation in the House
North disagreed
Delegates eventually agreed to the Three-Fifths Compromise: three- fifths of a state’s slaves would be counted as population
The Compromise settled the political issue but not the economic issue of slavery
South was worried that if Congress were given the power to regulate foreign trade they might try to do away with the slave trade
To resolve this issue the convention gave Congress the power to regulate trade bur prevented is from making a decision on slavery for 20 years

11. Checks and Balances

12. Federalists v. Antifederalists
Supporters of the Constitution
Favored new balance of power btwn state and federal gov’t
Believed that division of powers and system of checks and balances would protect Americans from tyranny of centralized authority
Members: Washington, James Madison, & Alexander Hamilton
Support: small states and urban areas
Opponents of the Constitution
Opposed having such a strong central gov’t
Feared that gov’t would only care about privileged minority and not rights of the majority
Doubted that single gov’t could manage the affairs of a large country
Members: Patrick Henry, Sam Adams
Support: large states and rural areas

13. Letters from the Federal Farmer
Publications
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
The Federalist
Series of 85 essays defending the constitution
Appeared in NY newspapers btwn
Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under name ‘Publius’
Provided an analysis and explanation of Constitutional provisions- such as the separation of powers
Letters from the Federal Farmer
Most likely written by Richard Henry Lee
Most widely read Antifederalist publication
List of the rights they felt should be protected

14. People Demand a Bill of Rights
The proposed U.S Constitution contained no guarantee that the government would protect the rights of the people or the states
Many saw this as a reason NOT TO ratify the constitution
In the end….Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights if the states agreed to ratify the constitution
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Constitution only granted limited powers to the nat’l government so it could not violate the rights of the states or the people
Also pointed out that people had the power to protect their rights by electing trustworthy leaders
Since the Constitution weakened the states, people needed a written guarantee that their rights would be protected

15. Ratification of the Constitution
In September 1789, Congress submitted 12 amendments to the state legislatures for ratification
By December 1791, the required ¾ of the states had ratified ten of the amendments
First 8 amendments spell out personal liberties
9th and 10th amendments impose general limits on the power of the federal government
The protection of rights and freedoms did not apply to Native Americans, slaves and women
The new government became a reality in 1790 when all states ratified