CREATING THE NEW CONSTITUTION

Ch. 3, Les. 1 & 2

THE COUNTRY’S FIRST GOVERNMENTSState ConstitutionsOnce the colonists declared independence, they had to have a new government to replace colonial charters.

In January of 1776, New Hampshire was the first state to write a state constitution- a detailed, written plan for government

Massachusetts now has the longest standing state constitution

They all had a similar structure: Bicameral (two parts or houses) legislaturesGovernor- elected by legislature or the citizensCourts- Judges decided how laws applied to new situations

BILL OF RIGHTS State governments were based on ideals in the Declaration of Independence. Most included ideas of individual rights, to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Most contained a Bill of RightsGuaranteed basic freedoms and legal protections such as:Trial by juryProtection of personal property

These ideas can be traced back to the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONSome tasks were too big for states to handle on their own….

So what were the states to do?The Second Continental Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation- the first constitution of the United StatesCreated the Confederation Congress, a one-house legislature in which each house had one vote.

CONFEDERATION CONGRESSPassed two laws, or ordinances, that had a major effect on the US because they helped people settle the Northwest territory in an orderly way. During the 1770s, only a few thousand people lived there. By 1790, there were 120,000.Northwest Ordinance1787 law that set up a government for the Northwest Territory and a plan for admitting new states to the union.

Also said, “there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory.”

Ordinance of 1785Set up a plan for surveying (measuring) western lands

Which president

was a surveyor

?

WEAKNESSES OF THE ARTICLES

There was little central power under the ArticlesCongress could not enforce laws it passedDid not allow for a single leaderIf a state ignored a law, the Confederation Congress could do nothing

The Congress did have several successesWon the Revolutionary

WarForced Britain to

accept US independence

Shays’s Rebellion The Confederation Congress could not

collect taxes, but they had borrowed a lot of money for the American Revolution

States were in a lot of debt and people were out of jobs partly because the states were taxing them so heavily

A farmer, Daniel Shays, owed money to state taxes. The state threatened to take his farm. Shays led 1,200 protestors in an attack on a federal arsenal. The attack was quickly stopped, but it was a warning.

Many felt that a stronger national government was needed

The Constitutional Convention• Ten years after the Articles were written,

Americans realized that they needed a stronger national government.

• Every state except for Rhode Island sent delegates to a convention in Philadelphia to fix the Articles.

• There were 55 men overall. Most were educated. All had political experience.

• Native Americans, African Americans, and women were not allowed to take part.

• Benjamin Franklin was the oldest at 81. Most, however, had their careers ahead of them.

• Of the delegates, two would become President, 19 would become Senators, 13 would become Representatives, and four would be Supreme Court Justices.

Delegates

Gouverneur Morris wrote the

preamble

James Madison kept detailed

notes

Roger Sherman proposed the

Great Compromise

George Washington guided the convention

The First Decisions• The delegates soon

realized that fixing the Articles would not fix the nation’s problems. They needed a completely new government

• The delegates chose George Washington to run the meetings

• Each state had one vote on decisions, and a simple majority would decide any issue.

• The public was not allowed, and delegates agreed not to discuss the meeting with outsiders

Independence Hall

Philadelphia

Representation? • One of the main issues discussed was how the

states would be represented in the new government

Virginia Plan- State population would

decide how many representatives each state has

- Larger states would have more votes than smaller states

- MA, PA, VA, and NY favored this

- Small states felt that their interests would be ignored

New Jersey Plan- Based on the Articles =

one-house congress- Each state would have

one vote- DE, MD, and NJ favored

this- Large states felt that

they should have more power because of their larger population

Compromise

• A committee headed by Roger Sherman created The Great Compromise- an agreement providing a dual system of congressional representation. • House is based on population. Each state has two

members in the Senate• Each group gave up something, but gained something

else

• Three-fifths Compromise- agreement stating that enslaved people would count as three-fifths of a person in determining representation

• The delegates also compromised on issues such as trade and taxes.

• Southern states worried that the Congress might stop the slave trade, which supported the south’s economy. The delegates compromised that the issue wouldn’t be discussed until 1808.

• Some thought that Congress should choose the President. Others wanted him to be elected by the people. The compromise was the Electoral College.

Federalists and Anti-Federalists

• Once the Constitution was written, it still had to be ratified, or approved, by nine of the thirteen states.

• Federalists- those who supported the ratification of the Constitution• The name represented the principle of federalism

in the government• How did they win the support of the public?• They reminded Americans of the weaknesses of

the Articles• They said a strong national government would

protect property• A strong national government could defend

America at home and abroad

Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers

Anti-federalists• Opposed the ratification of the Constitution• Why?• They thought that they powerful new

government would destroy the liberties that Americans had just won in the Revolutionary War

• They didn’t want the federal government to be stronger than the states

• They feared the government would favor the wealthy

• They didn’t want the national government to extend beyond basic government purposes

• THEIR MAIN OBJECTION- There was no Bill of Rights to protect individual freedoms.

• Once the Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights, many Anti-federalists gave their support to the new Constitution

PREGUNTAS• Why would the colonists have thought that listing rights was so important?• Which weakness of the Articles do you think was the most significant? Why?•What was the purpose of the Federalist Papers?• What issue did the Three-Fifths Compromise solve?• Who opposed ratifying the Constitution and what were their main arguments against it?