Forging A New

Constitution

Basic Government Structure Under Articles of Confederation

- Only had a Congress (chose a leader they called the President, but not like ours)

- No Judicial Branch

- No Executive Branch

The Need for Change- People felt government was too weak under Articles of

Confederation

- U.S. went into economic depression- Southern plantations were severely damaged during the war

- Trade fell

- Had lots of war debt

Shay’s Rebellion- Farmers were hit hardest by the depression

- Could not pay taxes and debts

- So they were thrown in prison

- Farmers were angered- They started to see the new government as a tyrant

- In Massachusetts, Daniel Shays led a rebellion to stop judges from taking land from farmers who could not pay debts

- The rebellion was stopped a year later by the Massachusetts militia

- People were concerned that the rebellion meant the government was too weak to prevent chaos and violence

Slavery in the New Republic- During the Revolution it was brought to attention that every state

allowed slavery

- 1774 - Quakers in Pennsylvania made the first American antislavery group

- From 1783-1804 several Northern states freed slaves

- African Americans were still discriminated in the North

- Slavery was still vibrant in the South.

- Debate over slavery made it hard to debate changes to the Articles of Confederation.

The Constitutional Convention- American Revolution made a union of 13 states, but it did not create

a country.

- Multiple people wanted reform to the Articles of Confederation.- Two significant Americans supporting reform were:

- James Madison - Virginia

- Alexander Hamilton - New York

The Convention Begins- Sept. 1786 - Hamilton called for a convention in Philadelphia

- Washington was not supportive of this meeting at first, but Shays’ Rebellion changed his mind.

- Convention started May 1787 during one of the hottest summers in recorded history

- 55 delegates including lawyers, doctors, planters, ministers, and others were in attendance

- Oldest delegate: Ben Franklin

- No women, Native Americans, or African Americans were represented in this group

- People felt comfortable about the convention because Franklin and Washington were there.

The Convention Organizes- Washington is put in charge of the convention

- Each state had one vote

- The meeting was not open to the public- It was very secretive

Virginia Plan- Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed the Virginia Plan

- Called for a strong national government

- Plan was designed by James Madison

- Had three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, Judicial

- Legislature would have 2 houses. - States number of representatives would be based on population.

- Bigger states had more representatives

- This Legislature had the power to tax, regulate trade, and veto state laws

- Small states objected to this plan.

New Jersey Plan- Proposed by William Paterson - New Jersey

- Only wanted to amend the Articles of Confederation not make a new form of government

- Wanted to give Congress power to tax, regulate trade, and elect an executive branch

- Wanted a legislature with one house- Each state would only have one vote.

The Great Compromise- Proposed by Roger Sherman - Connecticut

- Created a two house legislature each with different representation- Upper House - Senate - Each state has two members

- Good for small states

- Lower House - House of Representatives - Number of seats depended on population

- Good for large states

Three-Fifths Compromise- North and South disagreed on how to count enslaved population

- Counting each slave would increase the size of the Southern States’ sizes

- Would mean Southern States would have more seats in Congress

- South liked this plan, North did not

- However, South would also have to pay more taxes to national government, because their population would be significantly increased

- Three-Fifths Compromise was formed- Counted three out of every five slaves counted toward the state’s population

- Solved the representation and tax issues

Question of Slave Trade- Slave trade was already banned in the North

- North wanted to ban slave trade nationwide

- South opposed the North on this

- North agreed to not let Congress deal with this issue until 1808

Debating a Bill of Rights- Many state constitutions had lists of key rights and freedoms known

as a bill of rights

- Some delegates at the Convention were concerned that if this new national government did not have one, then it would misuse its power

- George Mason of Virginia proposed a bill of rights for the Constitution but it was defeated

- Was defeated because most delegates thought the Constitution was very specific in defining government powers to limit it from taking the rights of individuals.

Approving the Constitution- Sept. 17, 1787 delegates were getting ready to sign it.

- 3 delegates refused to sign it:

- Elbridge Gerry (MA), George Mason (VA), Edmund Randolph (VA)

- Refused to sign because there was no Bill of Rights

- Constitution was approved by the convention and sent to the states for approval

- Only needed 9 out of 13 states to approve it before it would go into effect.