Chapter 2

Chapter 2Origins of American History

I. English Heritage

A. Basic Concepts of Government

1. ordered government

2. limited government - the concept that

government is not all powerful

3. representative government - government

in which people elect delegates to make laws

and conduct government

B. Landmark English Documents

1. The Magna Carta

a. barons forced King John to sign it in 1215

b. first document to establish a limited

government

c. right to a trial by jury, due process of law,

I. Growing Colonial Unity

A. The Albany Plan (1754)

1. Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and

Rhode Island discussed the growing

problems with the French and Native Americans

2. Ben Franklin proposed the formation of

an annual congress made up of

delegates from the 13 colonies

a. have the power to raise

military and naval forces;

make war and peace with the native Americans,

regulate trade with

them...

b. denied by the colonies and

the Crown

B. Stamp Act Congress (1765)

1. formed in response to the Stamp Act

(1765) – first direct tax on colonists

2. argued they had no representation in

Parliament, so the Stamp Act was

illegal

3. first open political act of defiance

C. Boston Tea Party (1773) – colonists dressed as

Mohawk Indians (led by Samuel Adams)

dumped 342 chests of ritish tea into the

Boston Harbor

D. First Continental Congress

1. met in response to the

Intolerable Acts (1774)

2. delegates from all colonies except

Georgia imposed an embargo on

British goods

3. King George III declared “The New

England governments are in a

state of rebellion.”

4. April 19, 1775 first shots of

Revolutionary War are fired in

Lexington and Concord, MA

"the shot heard 'round the world”

E. Second Continental Congress

1. May 10, 1775 – delegates from all

thirteen colonies met in

Philadelphia

2. assumed powers of a central

government

3. John Hancock was named its

president, George Washington

was named the commander of the

Continental Army

4. acted as government throughout

the war

III. Independence

A. June 7, 1776 – Richard Henry Lee

introduced a resolution stating the “that

these United

Colonies are, and of right out to be,

free and independent states.”

B. Declaration of Independence

1. committee of five was supposed

to write it

a. mostly written by Thomas

Jefferson

2. July 4, 1776 – the Congress approved the

Declaration of Independence

a. John Hancock was the first

to sign it

3. 3 Parts:

a. begins with a statement of

the purpose of the

Declaration

b. middle consists of complaints

against King George III

c. ends with statement of how

determined

Americans are to break free

C. First State Constitutions

1. Common Features

a. popular sovereignty

- People Vote

b. limited government

c. civil rights and liberties

d. separation of powers and

checks and balances

The United States under the Articles of Confederation

I. The Articles of Confederation– the first

constitution of the entire US; more

like “a firm

league of friendship”

A. Governmental Structure

1. Congress was the sole body

created

a. it was unicameral and the

States could choose their

delegates in whatever way they wanted

2. established no executive or

judicial branch

3. each state had one vote in

Congress

C. Weaknesses

1. one vote for each State,

regardless of size

2. Congress was powerless to lay and

collect taxes or duties

3. Congress was powerless to regulate

foreign and interstate

commerce

4. no executive branch to enforce the

acts of Congress

5. no national court system

6. Amendments could be made only with

the consent of all States

7. nine of the 13 states were required to

pass laws

D. The Critical Period, the 1780s

1. the new nation was in debt

2. Shay’s Rebellion – Mass.

Farmers, led by Daniel Shays, tried to take

over the Springfield arsenal for weapons;

they failed

Section 4: Creating the Constitution

A. Organization and Procedure

1. George Washington – was the

president of the convention

2. each state delegation would have 1

vote

3. needed a majority of the States to

conduct business

a. a majority of the votes cast

would carry any

proposal

4. adopted a rule of secrecy to protect

themselves from outside pressure

5. threw out the Articles and decided

to create a new

Constitution

II. Compromises

A. The Connecticut Compromise

1. blend of the Virginia Plan (by James

Madison) and the New Jersey Plan (by

William Patteron)

a. Virginia Plan

Ø   called for a government with three branchesØ       bicameral legislature – lower house based off of

population, lower house chooses the upper

house

Ø   Congress would choose the National Executive and

the National Judiciary

Ø       goal was the creation of a truly national

government with greatly

extended powers

b. New Jersey Plan

Ø   unicameral legislature with each of the

States equally

represented

Ø   weak federal executive of two or more

people chosen by

Congress

Ø    the federal judiciary would be composed of

a ”supreme Tribunal” appointed by executive

2. legislative branch to have 2 parts

a. House of Representatives –

membership based on state

population

b. Senate – 2 from each state

Three Fifths Compromise

B. The Three-Fifths Compromise

1. argument between the Northern and

Southern states as to whether or not

slaves should be counted as citizens

2. all “free persons” should be counted,

and so too, should “three-fifths of all

other persons”

3. win for the South because they have

now have a larger population

4. win for the North because there was a

direct tax based on population paid to

Congress

C. Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

1. Congress agreed not ban the slave

trade until 1808 and that it would

regulate interstate and foreign commerce,

but it could not tax exports

D. Sept. 17, 1781 – the Const. was signed by the 39

remaining delegates

Section 5: Ratifying the Constitution

I. Federalists and Anti-Federalists

A. Federalists

1. favored ratification

2. led by the Framers

3. stressed the weakness of the

Articles

B. Anti-Federalists

1. opposed ratification

2. two biggest sources of contention

a. greatly increased the

powers of the central

government

b. the lack of a bill of rights

II. Ratification

A. Delaware was first (Dec. 7, 1787)

B. ratified on June 21, 1788 when New

Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it

1. Virginia was 10th (June 25, 1788)

2. New York City was selected as a

temporary capital

3. George Washington was elected

president and John Adams was the

first vice president