The Confederation and the Constitution

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Chapter 9

• The Confederation and the Constitution

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The Pursuit of Equality

• The exodus of 80,000 Loyalists lead to a
  weakening of the aristocratic class which allowed
  Patriot elites to emerge

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Fight for Separation of Church and State

• The Congregational church continued to be legally
  established (tax supported) by some New England
  states, but the Anglican Church was humbled and
  reformed as the Protestant Episcopal Church

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Issues Slavery

• Slavery was an issue because the Continental
  Congress of 1774 had called for the abolition of
  slavery
• In 1775 the Quakers founded the worlds first
  antislavery society

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• Several northern states went further and either
  abolished slavery altogether or provided the
  gradual emancipation of slaves.  No states south
  of Pennsylvania abolished slavery.

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Issues Women

• Women were still unequal to men, even though some
  had served in the Revolutionary War
• Mothers devoted to their families were developed
  as an idea of republican motherhood and
  elevated women to higher statuses as keepers of
  the nations conscience

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Constitution Making in the States

• The Continental Congress in 1776 called upon the
  colonies to draft new constitutions.
• As written documents, the state constitutions
  were intended to represent a fundamental law,
  superior to the short-lived impulses of ordinary
  legislation.

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Characteristics of State Constitutions

• Many states had a bill of rights and required
  annual election of legislators
• All of them deliberately created weak executive
  and judicial branches since they distrusted power
  due to Britains abuse of it
• The legislative branch was given sweeping powers

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Shaky Start Toward Union

• The people were far from united
• After the war, Britain flooded America with cheap
  goods, greatly hurting American industries
• Luckily, America was blessed with great political
  leaders like Washington, Madison, Jefferson,
  Hamilton, and John Adams

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George Washington
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James Madison
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Thomas Jefferson
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Hamilton
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John Adams
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U.S. as a Confederation

• The states chose to be a confederation a loose
  union of states where a federal and state level
  exist, but the state level retains the most
  sovereignty to do as they wished

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Boundaries of the New States
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Articles Of Confederation

• Written by a congress-appointed committee as a
  constitution for the nation.
• Adopted by Congress in 1777
• Unanimous approval for the Articles was required.
• Maryland was the last to approve on March 1, 1781

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The Articles of Confederation

• Set up a very weak government on purpose
• No executive branch
• Federal government had very limited power
• The weak government provided for inevitable
  problems in the future
• No power to regulate trade or collect taxes from
  the states
• Did handle the admission of new territory
  efficiently though

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Issues with the Articles

• Congress had too little power
• Congress was denied the power to regulate
  interstate commerce
• Congress had no power to enforce a tax-collection
  program. States were expected to pay their fair
  share.
• Amendments had to be unanimous and therefore
  proved to be nearly impossible to obtain.

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Commemorative Stamp
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Landmarks in Land Laws

• Land Ordinance of 1785- stated that the acreage
  of the Old Northwest (land in Ohio Valley) should
  be sold and the proceeds should be used to help
  pay off the national debt.
• The area would be surveyed before settlement and
  then divided into townships of six square miles,
  then divided into 36 square sections with one set
  aside for public schools

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Old Northwest Territory
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Land Ordinance of 1785
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Landmarks in Land Laws

• Northwest Ordinance of 1787- a uniform national
  land policy created method of states entering
  the Union
• When a territory had 60,000 inhabitants, states
  would write a state constitution, and upon
  approval from Congress, the state would be
  admitted to the Union

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The Worlds Ugly Duckling

• America was received with general dislike among
  all the major world powers.
• Britain refused to repeal the Navigation Laws and
  closed down its trading to the U.S.
• Spain closed the Mississippi River to American
  commerce
• Both Spain and England encouraged Indian tribes
  to aggravate U.S. attempts at organization

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Foreign Relations

• France, Americas comrade-in-arms, demanded the
  repayment of money loaned during the war.

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The Horrid Specter of Anarchy

• States were refusing to pay taxes, and national
  debt was mounting as foreign credibility was
  slipping
• Boundary disputes erupted into small battles
  while states taxed goods from other states

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Shays Rebellion

• Western Massachusetts 1786
• Rebellion led by Captain Daniel Shays
• An uprising of impoverished backcountry farmers
  who were losing their farms through mortgage
  foreclosures and tax delinquencies
• Demanded cheap paper money, lighter taxes, and a
  suspension of mortgage foreclosures

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Importance of Shays Rebellion

• The movement was smashed quickly but did strike
  fear into the hearts of the upper class
• It exposed the need for a stronger central
  government and helped launch the Constitutional
  Convention

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Shays Rebellion
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Annapolis Convention

• An attempt to get state representatives together
  to fix the issues with the Articles. Failed
  because only 5 states representatives showed up.

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Constitutional Congress

• May 25, 1787, 55 representatives from all of the
  states except for Rhode Island were sent to
  Philadelphia to talk of the government in the
  future of the country.
• George Washington was elect as the leader.

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Compromises

• After some discussion, the delegates decided to
  completely scrap the Articles of Confederation
  and rewrite them.
• They were then faced with the enormous task of
  finding a system of government that ALL the
  states agreed on.

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The Large-State Plan

• Proposed by Virginia
• Two house legislature proportioned by population
• Separate executive and judiciary chosen by
  legislature

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The Small-State Plan

• Proposed by New Jersey
• Called for equal representation regardless of
  size and population.
• Separately elected executive and judiciary
• Power to tax and regulate commerce

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The Great Compromise

• After much debate, the delegates came to a
  compromise.
• Congress would have two houses, the House of
  Representatives chosen by population and the
  Senate with two votes per state
• Also a strong independent executive branch with a
  president as military commander-in-chief who
  could veto legislation

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House of Representatives.

• Representation by population based on census
  every ten years
• Tax bills and revenue measures had to originate
  in the House because population counted more
  heavily.

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Senate

• Each state, no matter how poor or small, gets two
  senators

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The Constitution
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The Constitution cont.
The constitution set up the three branches of
government the executive, the legislative, and
the judicial branch. It also constituted the each
branches powers and created a system of checks
and balances.
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The Articles of the Constitution

• I Sets up the Legislative Branch
• II Sets up the Executive Branch
• III Sets up the Judiciary Branch
• IV Guarantees to the States
• V Amendment Process
• VI Supreme Law of the Land
• VII Ratification
• Amendments 1-10 Bill of Rights
• 27 Total Amendments

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Balance of Power
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Slavery and the Constitution

• States wanted to know if slaves were to count as
  people when calculating population for the House.
• Because of the great disagreement this caused,
  the 3/5th compromise was formed and slaves
  counted as 3/5th of a person.

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Clash of Federalists and Anti-Federalists
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Federalists

• Federalists were in favor of a strong central
  government.
• They supported the constitution.
• Generally former Loyalists and aristocrats
• The federalist papers were written in order to
  convince the states to ratify the constitution.

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Anti-Federalists

• Opposed a strong central government
• Generally poor farmers, the illiterate, and
  states rights supporters
• Leaders included Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry,
  and Richard Henry Lee

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Struggle to Ratify

• June 21, 1788, the Constitution was officially
  adopted after nine states (all but Virginia, New
  York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island) had
  ratified it
• These states eventually ratified it after intense
  pressure from the government

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Key Terms in the Constitution

• Delegated Powers powers given to the federal
  government by the state
• Retained Powers powers kept by the states
• Concurrent Powers those shared by state and
  federal governments
• Implied Powers those that are necessary and
  proper in order for the government to function

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Constitutional Guarantees

• No Ex Post Facto laws
• No Bills of Attainder
• Guaranteed Writs of Habeus Corpus
• Amendments two-thirds of Congress to propose
• Three-fourths of the states to ratify