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The Constitution of the United States of America. 1781 Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation. T he Articles of Confederation. The colonies were already wary of the power of a centralized government(think England) Under the AOC Congress could: Declare war - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1781 Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation
The colonies were already wary of the power of a centralized government(think England)
Under the AOC Congress could:Declare warProvide mail serviceEnter into Treaties with other countriesCoin/Print money
The Articles of Confederation
The AOC could not:Collect taxesRegulate TradeBecause the AOC Was so weak, it wasLikely that anotherCountry would takeOver the country.
Shays Rebellion States began taxing other states goods
and also began to heavily tax the citizens of their state.
Revolutionary War veteran, Daniel Shays, lead a group of farmers and attempted to seize guns at the Springfield Armory.
This act made the weakness of the current government obvious.
Constitutional Convention Continental Congress calls for a
convention to take place in Philadelphia. First meeting takes place on May 25,
1787. Every state but Rhode Island sent a delegate.
Discussions were kept secret so that there would be a free exchange of ideas. George Washington led the debates.
The Ideas Virginia Plan
James Madison proposes a federal govt. where the power is SHARED between the national and state governments
3 BRANCHES / 1 Legislative 2 Executive 3 Judicial Central Idea of the Plan. Checks and Balances which
means no one branch has more power than the other For example: the President can Veto a law passed by
the Congress or the Supreme Court can declare it UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
The Ideas PROBLEM: the Va. Plan proposed
representation based on population. So the smaller states would have less power.
Virginia
Connecticut
The Ideas The New Jersey Plan: an alternative to
Madison’s plan that gave each state the same number of Representatives
The larger states rejected this plan and it looked as if there would be no document.
The Ideas The Great Compromise Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposes
a BICAMERAL system: a Legislature a TWO parts.
There would be a Senate
and a House of Representatives
Compromise accepted and the work contined.
The Ideas The 3/5’s compromise Slaves would be counted as three fifths of
a person as far as representation goes.
The Ideas Federalist vs Anti-Federalist The Federalists believed that the “folks”
could not handle the responsibility of voting directly for the President
Anti-Federalists believed each citizen should vote directly for the President
THE COMPROMISE is “The Electoral College”
Ratification The States had to “Ratify” or vote for the
Constitution by a two-thirds margin or nine states.
North Carolina was number 12.