The Confederation & the Constitution 1776 – 1790 Mr. Love AP US HIS
Dec 30, 2015
Social Changes After the WarExodus of Loyalists – 80,000
Social democracy – States reduced property-holding requirements for voting
Trade organizations for artisans & laborers
Ended inheritance laws
Separation of church & state
Social Democracy Abolish of slave trade
1775 – 1st anti-slavery society/ Philadelphia Quakers
“Republican motherhood ” – increased the role of women
Cult of Domesticity
Constitution Making in the States 1776 - Continental Congress called on colonies to make their own state constitutions
Massachusetts – called a special convention to draft its constitution & then submitted the final draft to the people for ratification
Once adopted, only changed by special constitutional convention
State Constitutions
Represented fundamental law
Bill of rights
Annual election of legislators
Deliberately weak executive & judicial branches
Legislatures were given large powers
Economic Crosscurrents States seized control of former crown lands
Forced to find new customers.
Why?Much of English commerce was reserved for loyal colonies.
Americans could now trade freely with foreign nations
Runaway inflation
Hope for a New Union13 Sovereign States
Alike in governmental structure & function
Similar constitutions
Rich political inheritancePartly from England/ partly American
Blessed with great political leaders:G. Washington, J. Madison, J. Adams, T. Jefferson, & A. Hamilton
Western Land Disputes Map p. 172
7 states were favored 6 states had NO land holdings beyond Allegheny Mountains
Argued that all fought for land
States with land could sell land & pay off debtsStates without land would have to tax their own constituents.
Articles of Confederation Adopted by Congress in 1777
Unanimous approval requiredMaryland held out until 3-1-1781(debated on western lands)
Congress promised to dispose of vast areas of land for the “common benefit”
Articles of ConfederationThe Articles of Confederation were debated for almost as many years as they were in effect. Proposed in 1775, they were not ratified until 1781. Eight years later, the Constitution replaced them. Eighteenth-century citizens hotly debated the virtues and shortcomings of the Articles, and historians have continued to disagree over the merits of this blueprint for a first American government. (The National Archives of the United States published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Photograph by Jonathan Wallen.)
Articles of Confederation
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Articles of Confederation“Articles of Confusion”
Loose confederation of states/ “firm league of friendship”Congress –chief agency of gov’tNo executive branchJudicial branch left almost exclusively to the states
States were sovereign
Each state had one vote
Unanimous vote required to add an amendment
Weaknesses of Articles One vote for each state regardless of sizeCongress powerless to levy & collect taxesCongress powerless to regulate foreign & interstate commerceNo executive to enforce acts of Congress
No national court system
Amendment only with consent of all of the states
A 9/13 majority required to pass laws
Articles only a “firm league of friendship”
New Government Could: advise, advocate, & appeal
Could not: command, coerce, & control
Example of weakness:1783 – Pennsylvania soldiers
demanded back pay
Congress appealed to states for protection & eventually had to
move to Princeton College, NJ
The Old Northwest
Area of land northwest of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River, & south of the Great Lakes.
Map Page – 172, 174
Land Ordinance of 1785Provided that the acreage should be sold & proceeds used to pay off the national debt
Land divided into townships6 miles square – 36 sections, 1 mile square
16th section set aside to be sold for the benefit of public schools
Northwest Ordinance of 1787Related to governing of the Old Northwest
Territorial stages – area subordinate to the federal government
60,000 inhabitants – could be admitted as a state
Slavery forbade in the Old Northwest
Problems with BritainDeclined to make a commercial treaty or to repeal the Navigation Law
Shut off their profitable West Indian trade
British agents active in northern frontierStill held trading post
Problems with SpainControlled mouth of Mississippi
1784 – closed river to American commerce
Spain & England together prevented America from exercising effective control over about ½ of its territory
Problems with France & Pirates France demanded repayments of money loaned during the war
Restricted trade with their bustling West Indies
Pirates of North African states US – too weak to fight & too poor to bribe
Anarchy- Shay’s Rebellion 1786 – Massachusetts
Daniel Shay & other war veterans were losing their farms through mortgage foreclosures & tax delinquencies
Demanded cheap paper money, lighter taxes, & a suspension of property takeovers
General Daniel Shays, Colonel Job Shattuck, artist unknownAn anti-Shays cartoonist depicts Shays and a key supporter as bogus military officers who sought power and threatened the people's liberty. (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, New York)
General Daniel Shays, Colonel Job Shattuck, artist unknown
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Convention of “Demigods”
Convention called at Annapolis, Maryland9 states appointed delegates, only 5 showed up
Alexander Hamilton called for another convention to meet in Philadelphia the next year
Convention
Purpose of convention - revise the Articles
Every state chose representatives except Rhode Island
May 25, 1787 – 55 delegates Meet in complete secrecy
First draft of the Constitution with wide margins for notes, August 6, 1787, folios 1 and 5In August of 1787 a first draft of the Constitution was secretly printed in Philadelphia for the use of convention members. Wide margins left room for additions and amendments, such as those made on this copy by Pierce Butler, the South Carolina delegate. Note that in this early version the preamble does not yet read "We the people of the United States," but instead begins by listing the individual states. (The Gilder Lehman Collection, on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource, New York)
First draft of the Constitution with wide margins for notes, August 6, 1787, folios 1 and 5
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CompromisesDelegates decided to scrap Articles
Virginia Plan – “the large-state plan”Representation should be based on population in both houses
New Jersey Plan – “the small-state plan”Equal representation in an unicameral Congress by states, regardless of size or population
More Compromises
The Great Compromise – bicameralHouse of Rep. – based on population
Senate – equal representation (2 per state)
Every tax bill must originate in the House
Goals of Constitution Establish a strong, independent executive in the presidency
PresidentMilitary commander in chief
Wide appointments to domestic office, including judgeships
Veto power over legislation
Compromises WithinElectoral College
indirect election of president
Three-Fifths Compromise slaves would count 3/5 of a person for representation
Slave trade would be abolished in 1807
Common GoalsEconomically
sound money & protection of private property
Politically Stronger gov’t with 3 branches & checks and balances
Voting - Man-hood suffrage
Safeguards
Federal judges were appointed for life
President elected indirectly
Senators – chosen indirectly by state legislatures
House of Representatives – direct vote
Basic PrinciplesRepublicanism
1. Gov’t based on consent of governed
2. Limited gov’t
– Constitution Convention May 25 to Sept. 17, 1787
9 states needed to ratify Constitution
Federalists v. Antifederalists
Favored strong federal gov’t
Cultured & propertied groups/ seaboard
Many used to be Loyalists
Opposed strong federal gov’t
Poorer classes
Wanted a bill of rights
Antifederalists Arguments
No annual election for congress
Erecting of a federal stronghold 10 miles squared
Standing army
Omission of any reference to God
2/3 states for ratification
The Great Debate in the States
Special elections for members of the ratifying conventions
included Federalists & Antifederalists
Federalists assured Antifederalists that a bill of rights would be added with the 1st CongressJune 21, 1788 – 9 states had ratified
Leaving VA, NY, NC, & RI