EQ: How does a country decide how much power is too much power?

What was the after effect of the independence from Britain?

Even though we beat the British, we could not get their respect. We have 13 states and by 1776, 8 had drafted constitutions. By 1780, all had a state constitution.

Britain thought our form of government was weak and they were right. The aftermath of revolution made states leery of giving even a governor absolute rule over the population.

Most states went as far as dividing power into bicameral (two house) legislatures to keep power in the hands of the people.

Why would we choose to form a republic?

A republic is a government where citizens rule through elected representatives but the states could not agree on how to organize and how much to empower their new republic.

At first most Americans favored a weak central government because they assumed states would be like small independent countries, acting independently on most issues but only working together through a central government in times of war or handling relations with other countries.

What was the 1st attempt at a central government in America?

The articles of confederation was created out of necessity during the Revolutionary War in 1777 to conduct foreign affairs, maintain armed forces, borrow money and issue currency (money).

Each state was allowed one representative but of course states with larger populations felt like they should have a bigger voice.

The in-fighting between the states began with Maryland refusing to approve the AoC until Virginia and New York gave up their claims to western lands.

What was life like under the Confederation Government?

Maryland finally worked out the differences and from 1781-1789 (C.G.) the US government was shackled because of opposition from the states.

The US govt. could not do anything because of having to have 100% approval from all states before acting.

It was not all bad as the Confederation govt. did win independence, expand foreign trade, and provided for the settlement and governing of the nation’s western territories.

How did the Confederation govt. govern in the west?

All the colonies except Ga., gave up their claims to lands west of the Appalachian Mts. So Thomas Jefferson divided up the lands into districts until the population grew significantly enough to petition to Congress for statehood.

The Govt. also passed the Ordinance of 1785 which was a law for surveying and selling the western lands north of the Ohio river for a dollar an acre.

Richard Henry Lee, the president of Congress, had them to draft another ordinance to protect the interests of hard-working settlers.

What was the purpose of the Northwest Ordinance?

It created a single territory out of the lands north of the Ohio R., into 3 to 5 smaller territories which once they reached a population of 60,000 they could apply for statehood.

It also created a “bill of rights” for each territory that guaranteed freedom of religion, trial by jury, and no slavery or involuntary service in the territory.

This marked the 1st time that our govt., made a conscious effort to stop the spread of slavery.

It also made a very stable settlement of the region.

How bad were the problems with the Confederation Govt.?

Pretty bad, it could not deal with financial problems nor could it deal with problems from Spain or Britain.

The money the govt. printed had become almost worthless because no gold or silver backed the money.

Prices soared for food and other goods which led to riots in Boston; Congress had borrowed money from American citizens & foreign govts and owed money to Revolutionary War soldiers.

Since the govt. had no power to tax it could not raise the money to pay its debts.

How did the structure of govt. drive the new country to ruin?

Congress created a financial department under Robert Morris who proposed a 5% tax on imported goods which sounded like a good plan but Rhode Island’s opposition killed the measure not once but twice so things got worse financially.

Even though Britain had promised to remove their troops from the Great Lakes region they did not and kept Americans out of profitable markets in the West Indies. Despite an appeal by John Adams, the British were not willing to talk until the US made good on their promise to pay back the Loyalists for property taken during the war. The govt. had tried but again the states failed to approve it.

What problems did Spain present to the Confed. Govt.?

Spain closed the lower Mississippi River to trade and American shipping.

They also held Florida still and John Jay tried to reach an agreement with Spain but again states failed to approve it because it did not give them the right to use the Mississippi River.

The financial depression continued while Americans began to feel the govt. was too weak to handle these problems and the states undermined every attempt to fix them.

Why did Southern states support slavery?

Money, greed, and the plantation system was built on it and they feared their economic system would collapse without it.

By 1786, all the original 13 states had outlawed the importation or taxing the importation of slaves except SC and Ga., but it was legal even in the northern states to own slaves until as late as 1804. It did not matter in the north because many African-Americans could not vote, attend schools, and had to create their own schools.

Why did Madison and Hamilton call for a convention in 1787?

A compromise on slavery was agreed on in 1787 so a stronger govt. could be created because 13 states operating on their own interests is not a nation.

2 Americans active in the movement were James Madison & Alexander Hamilton & they proposed to make changes to fix the country’s problems.

George Washington did not agree at first but after the horrors of Shays Rebellion he changed his mind too & agreed to go to the Philadelphia meeting & it had a greater significance especially for George Washington.

What happened at the Constitutional Convention?

Well….for one it was HOT! The meeting place in Philadelphia was a sauna during one of hottest summers on record as 55 delegates of all walks of life and ranged in age from an 80-year-old Benjamin Franklin to 5 under the age of 30, all men of course were there to create a Constitution.

With Ben and George there, many people would trust the convention’s work, Governour Morris wrote the final draft of the Constitution but Madison was the author or Father of the Constitution that the delegates adopted.

How did things become complicated?

The states, of course, could not agree on how much power to give the new government through the Constitution.

The Virginia Plan, called for a 2 house legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, & a court system, the lower house of the legislature would be elected by the people & they would chose the representatives for the upper house & would be set by the populations of each state which would give Virginia the most reps & Delaware the least reps & the smaller states objected & wanted equal reps like the old Articles of Confederation did.

Why did some delegates prefer the New Jersey plan?

The New Jersey Plan called for one vote for each state & Congress could still tax & regulate trade but would elect a weak executive branch consisting of more than one person.

The main point was that the smaller states should not be deprived of the equality they enjoyed under the AoC & they wanted to make sure the larger states could not call all of the shots.

The Virginia Plan would be the one used but there had to be a compromise on population & representation.

What compromise was reached?Actually 2 compromises were reached; the first

was Roger Sherman of Connecticut came up with the Great Compromise which created a House of Representatives whose seats would be determined through its population and a Senate which only had 2 seats per state.

The 2nd was the 3/5 Compromise which counted 3/5 of every slave as part of the population even though Northern states wanted to end the slave trade in the US but agreed to not do anything about it until 1808.

Who refused to sign the Constitution?

Elbridge Gerry of Mass., Edmund Randolph & George Mason of Va., would not sign the Constitution without a Bill of Rights to ensure that the new national government would not abuse its power.

When 9 of the 13 agreed to sign the new government of the United States came into existence.

It was the Supreme Law of the land and no state could make laws or take actions against it.

How did the English Bill of Rights influence Americans?

The Magna Carta in 1215 created Parliament in England to temper the power of the Monarchy & to give the common man a voice in government.

The English Bill of Rights of 1689 convinced American to create their own Bill of Rights.

John Locke & Baron de Montesquieu 2 important philosophers had an influence as Locke believed all people should have natural rights (life, liberty, & property) & de Montesquieu believed that government’s power should be separated & balanced against each other.

What is federalism?It is sharing power between state & federal

governments & under the Constitution the federal government could tax, regulate trade, control currency, raise an army, & declare war. States could pass their laws, regulate trade within their borders, create governments, schools, & other institutions that affect the welfare of their citizens.

What are the 1st 3 articles of the Constitution?

Article 1, legislative branch or lawmaking branch of the government, and collects taxes, prints money, & regulates trade.

Article 2 executive branch headed by the president & vice-president & elected by the Electoral College & chosen by the electors to serve a 4-year term.

Article 3 judicial branch or court system of the US with the Supreme Court & other lower federal courts.

A system of checks & balances exists to ensure that no branch of govt. can dominate the govt.

So all’s well that ends well, right?NO!! Of course everyone cannot agree on the

Constitution because 9 states are needed to ratify (approve) the Constitution & Rhode Is. did not even bother to send any representatives to the convention.

Supporters were called Federalists Ben and George & those against were anti-federalists Patrick Henry that feared the new govt. would take away the rights of the citizens.

Even though 9 states adopted the Cons, Virginia & New York did not & they had the largest populations.

How did Virginia come on board?Patrick Henry finally got the federal govt to

agree that a Bill of Rights amendment (something added to a document) would be adopted before Virginia would ratify the Const.

New York, North Carolina, & Rhode Island finally finished ratifying the Const. by 1790 & the Bill of Rights was added in 1791.

North Carolina had its own issues before the American revolution which we will cover in detail in the next presentation.