section 1: governing a new nation california content standards: 8.2.2 analyze the articles of...

Section 1: Governing a New NationCalifornia Content Standards:

8.2.2 Analyze the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution and the success of each in implementing the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

8.3.1 Analyze the principles and concepts codified in state constitutions between 1777 and 1781 that created the context out of which American political institutions and ideas developed.

8.3.2 Explain how the ordinances of 1785 and 1787 privatized national resources and transferred federally owned lands into private holdings, townships, and states.

Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)

Section 1: Governing a New NationCalifornia Content Standards:

8.3.5 Know the significance of domestic resistance movements and ways in which the central government responded to such movements (e.g., Shays’ Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion).


Government by the States

The first state constitutions were designed to support the principles fought for in the American Revolution.

Constitution

•Eleven of the 13 states wrote new constitutions to support their governments.•The new constitutions limited the power of the governors and gave it to the state legislature.•All but a few states limited the right to vote to white males over 21.A document stating the rules under which a government will operate.


Government by the States

The first state constitutions were designed to support the principles fought for in the American Revolution.

•Virginia was the first state to include a bill of rights in its constitution.•In their list, they included:

• Freedom of religion• Freedom of the press• Right to trial by jury• A ban against cruel and unusual punishment


The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were designed to preserve liberty by restricting the powers of the federal government.

•In 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation as a plan for the nation.•The government consisted of one branch, a one-house legislature.•Within Congress, each state had a single vote and nine states had to agree before a law could go into effect.


The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were designed to preserve liberty by restricting the powers of the federal government.

•The Articles provided for a limited central government.•Most power remained in the hands of the states.•Congress could not regulate trade or collect taxes. It had to ask the states for money.•Congress could:

•Make laws•Declare war•Coin or borrow money•Run a postal service


Settling the Western Lands

The ordinances of 1785 and 1787 created a way for national lands to be sold to the public.

•Prior to 1781, most states had land claims to land west of the Appalachian Mountains.•Virginia was the last state to give up their land claims to the new government.•Under the Land Ordinance of 1785, surveyors divided public lands into townships, six miles on each side.•Each township was divided into 36 parcels of one-mile squares.




•The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 guaranteed basic rights for settlers north of the Ohio River and banned slavery there.•It set a three-step process for admitting new states.•Initially, Congress would appoint a governor, a secretary, and three judges.•Once a territory had 5,000 free adult male settlers, it could elect a legislature.




•When the free population reached 60,000, the territory could ask to become a state.•Over time, five states were carved out of the Northwest Territory:

•Ohio•Indiana•Illinois•Michigan•Wisconsin


Growing Problems

The Articles of Confederation denied the central government the power to deal effectively with several key issues facing the nation.

•Each state set its own trade policy.•Each state tried to help its own farmers and manufacturers by taxing goods from other states.•Trade was discouraged between states.•Each state printed their own money, making trade harder.•The central government could not tax, so there was little money to run the government.


Growing Problems


•The United States seemed to be weak, so powerful nations took advantage of the situation.•British troops continued to hold forts in the Northwest Territory.•The Spanish refused to let Americans ship products down the Mississippi River.


Growing Problems


•A severe economic depression hit the U.S. in the mid-1780s.•Farmers in Massachusetts were unable to pay their taxes as corn prices declined.•The state began seizing some farms and selling them to get the back taxes.•Angry farmers demanded the state to stop this practice.


Growing Problems


•In August 1786, a former Revolutionary War captain, Daniel Shays led an uprising of about 1,000 Massachusetts farmers.•When the farmers attempted to seize arms from a state warehouse, they were arrested by the state militia.•Shays’ Rebellion frightened some leading Americans into calling for a stronger central government.


Section 2: The Constitutional ConventionCalifornia Content Standards:

8.2.3 Evaluate the major debates that occurred during the development of the Constitution and their ultimate resolutions in such areas as shared power among institutions, divided state-federal power, slavery, the rights of individuals and states (later addressed by the addition of the Bill of Rights), and the status of American Indian nations under the commerce clause.


Section 2: The Constitutional ConventionCalifornia Content Standards:

8.2.4 Describe the political philosophy underpinning the Constitution as specified in the Federalist Papers (authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay) and the role of such leaders as George Washington, Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, and James Wilson in the writing and ratification of the Constitution.


The Constitutional Convention Begins

Aims of the Convention

The Delegates

•Congress intended to revise the Articles of Confederation.•The delegates realized this would not be enough.

•55 delegates from 12 states participated in the convention.•Rhode Island did not send any representatives.•Washington was quickly voted president of the convention.


The Virginia PlanThree Branches of Government

A Two-House Legislature

•Congress would continue to be the legislative branch.•The executive branch would carry out the laws.•The judicial branch would consist of a system of courts to interpret the law.

•The Virginia Plan called for a lower house and an upper house.•After much debate, the delegates agreed both houses should be elected by the people.


The Great Compromise

After fierce debate, delegates agreed on a plan that satisfied both large and small states.

•One part of the Virginia Plan called for representation based on population.•The more people a state had, the more seats it would have in each house.•The big states like Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts supported this idea.




•The smaller states opposed this plan. •They wanted each state to have the same number of votes in Congress.•William Paterson introduced the New Jersey Plan, which called for one house with equal representation for each state.•The new plan also expanded the powers of Congress to raise money and regulate commerce.




•Finally Roger Sherman of Connecticut worked out a “Great Compromise” that he hoped would satisfy both the large and small states.•There would be a two-house Congress. •It would consist of a lower house called the House of Representatives, to please the large states. Representatives would be selected by a vote of the people to serve two-year terms.




•The upper house, or Senate, would consist of two representatives from each state, to please small states.•Senators would serve six-year terms.•State legislatures would choose senators.


Debates Over Slavery

Debates among the delegates over slavery indicated just how deeply divided the North and South were.

•Southern delegates wanted slaves to be counted in calculating how many representatives a state should have in Congress.•Northern delegates said that because enslaved people could not vote, they should not be counted toward a state’s representation.•The “Three-Fifths Compromise” was finally agreed on to end the debate. Each slave would count as three-fifths of a free person.


Debates Over Slavery

Debates among the delegates over slavery indicated just how deeply divided the North and South were.

•Some northern delegates wanted to ban the buying and selling of people anywhere in the country.•Southern delegates protested that a ban would ruin the South’s economy.•A compromise was reached that would allow slave traders to bring enslaved people into the country for a period of 20 years.•The slave trade within the U.S. was not affected.


A New Constitution

The Constitution of the United States derives its authority from “We the People of the United States.”

•The delegates agreed on all the terms after many more weeks of debate.•A Committee of Style was appointed to draw up the final wording of the Constitution.•Gouverneur Morris, a gifted writer, was largely responsible for writing the Preamble, or introduction.


The Preamble

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.


Section 3: Debating the ConstitutionCalifornia Content Standards:

8.2.4 Describe the political philosophy underpinning the Constitution as specified in the Federalist Papers (authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay) and the role of such leaders as George Washington, Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, and James Wilson in the writing and ratification of the Constitution.

8.2.6 Enumerate the powers of government set forth in the Constitution and the fundamental liberties ensured by the Bill of Rights.


Federalists Versus Antifederalists

Supporters and opponents of the new Constitution argued over the need for a strong central government.

•The convention had set a rule that 9 states had to ratify, or approve, the Constitution.•Each state was to hold a convention.•Supporters of the new Constitution were called Federalists because they favored a strong federal government.•James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay published, the Federalist Papers a series of 85 newspaper essays in support of the Constitution.


Federalists Versus Antifederalists

Supporters and opponents of the new Constitution argued over the need for a strong central government.

•Opponents of ratification were called Antifederalists.•They argued the Constitution weakened the states by giving the central government too much power.•Antifederalists pointed out the Constitution had no bill of rights.•Another objection was that the Constitution provided for a President who could be reelected again and again.


The Ratification Debate

After intense debate, each of the 13 states ratified the Constitution.

•Delaware became the first state to approve the Constitution on December 7, 1787.•Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut quickly followed.•Opposition was strong in rural areas of Massachusetts after Shay’s Rebellion.•In June 1788, after Maryland and South Carolina had approved the Constitution, New Hampshire approved it, and the necessary 9 states were secured.


The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights aims to protect Americans against unfair use of government powers.

•After the ninth state approved the Constitution, George Washington was elected the first President, with John Adams as Vice-President.•One of the first tasks of the new Congress was to add a bill of rights.•In 1789, the first Congress passed a series of 10 amendments known as the Bill of Rights.•By December 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified the 10 amendments.


section 1: governing a new nation california content standards: 8.2.2 analyze the articles of...

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