Today’s Topics

• The United States Constitution

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–Treaty of Paris 1783 ends the war:

• British promise to remove troops from colonies

• U.S. boundary Mississippi River East & West Florida go to Spain

• U.S. promises to compensate loyalists for property losses (states refused)

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Loyalist migration to Canada

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Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition

Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company Map 5.3 The North America, 1783 4

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– State Constitutions

• Many state constitutions include a bill of rights

– Articles of Confederation 1781 (1st Constitution)

• Each state is independent

• 1 branch of government legislative

• No executive branch, no judicial branch

• Weaknesses – Weak central government

– Congress can not tax without the approval of the states

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– Shays‘ Rebellion 1786-1787 • Need for a stronger national

government

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– Philadelphia Convention Summer of 1787

• Fear of pure democracy

• in favor of representative democracy

• Electoral college directly vote for the president

• Legislative branch – Big states versus small states

– Virginia Plan & New Jersey Plan

• Slave population? – 3/5 compromise

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– Struggle over Ratification

• Federalist • Anti-Federalist

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Participation Assignment #4 pgs 125-129 Get into groups, discuss, and answer

1. Who is Patrick Henry? Who were the Anti-Federalists?

2. What is the central issue?

3. What was Patrick Henry against? What are his objections to the new Constitution?

4. What is his bias? Is he for state rights or the rights of the federal government.

5. Write a thesis statement. (Remember it needs to have an argument)

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• U.S. Constitution 1787

• Argentina Constitution 1853, 1860, 1866, 1898, 1949, 1957

• Australia 1900

• Brazil, seven constitutions, 1988

• Canada 1982

• China, 1954, 1975, 1978, 1982

• France 1791, 1958

• Germany 1949

• Japan ,1947

• Mexico 1824, 1835, 1917

• Spain 1978

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– Slavery & Constitution

– The federal government could not interfere with slavery in the states.

• Slave states had more power due to the three-fifths clause.

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“We the People”

• National Identity http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

– Indians

– “Other persons,”

– “People,” who were the only ones entitled to American freedom

– http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/interactives/multiracial-timeline/

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• Indians in the New Nation

– The treaty system was used with Indians .

– Some prominent Americans believed that Indians could assimilate into society.

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The signing of the Treaty of Greenville of 1795

• Blacks and the Republic

– The status of citizenship for free blacks was left to individual states.

– Letters from an American Farmer described America as a melting pot of Europeans.

– The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited naturalization (the process by which immigrants become citizens) to “free white persons.”

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• Jefferson, Slavery, and Race Discussion

• Voices of Freedom p.132-136

• When was this document written?

• What is the author’s background?

• What reasons does Jefferson offer for colonizing blacks outside the U.S. in the event of emancipation?

• How does Jefferson describe the effect of slavery on the morals and behavior of whites in Virginia?

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• Participation Assignment #5

• Voices of Freedom p.136-139

1. When was this document written? What is the historical era?

2. What is the author’s background?

3. What characteristics of American life does Crevecoeur emphasize as being different from European society?

4. What aspects of society, and which parts of the people living in the U.S., are left out of his description?

5. Write a thesis statement.

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