The Constitutional Convention

The Critical Period

• 1783-1789

Do Now

• Make a list of issues faced by the new nation during this period.– Use Chapter 9 Study Guide (pp.160-169), Section II– Place on Constitution Analysis Sheet

Do Now

• In what ways were the Articles of Confederation ineffective?– Think-Write-Share

What issues were faced by the new nation in the 1780s?

Map 9-3 p167

Foreign Policy Problems

• Britain – refused to send a minister to the U.S.– Refused to negotiate a commercial treaty or

repeal the Navigation Laws– Officially banned trade with the British West

Indies– Sought to annex Vermont– Maintained posts on U.S. soil

• Spain– 1784 Spain closed the Mississippi to American

commerce– Claimed a large area north of the Gulf of Mexico

that Britain had ceded to the U.S. – Both Spain and Britain encouraged Native

American tribes in U.S. territory

• France– Demanded repayment of money loaned during

the war– Restricted trade with West Indies

• North Africa– The Dey of Algiers and other pirates were

harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean and enslaving American sailors

– The British purchased “protection,” but the Americans, now independent, no longer received the benefit of this

– The Americans did not have the money to pay nor the power to fight

Domestic Problems

• The system for raising money was breaking down• The central government was almost bankrupt. When

an import tax was proposed to raise revenue, Rhode Island and NY rejected it.

• States quarreled over boundaries• States were levying duties on goods from their

neighbors• British manufacturers were flooding the American

market. British Navigation Acts barred Americans from trading with the British West Indies

• 1783 Pennsylvania soldiers demanded back pay and forced the Congress to flee to Princeton

• 1787 Shays’ Rebellion

• Shays's followers were crushed, but memory remained:– Massachusetts passed debtor-relief laws– Shays's outburst caused fear among propertied

class– Civic virtue insufficient to rein in self-interest– Needed stronger central government to block

“mobocracy”

Note

• Things were not all bad• By the time of the Constitutional Convention,

the economy was improving• By 1789 American overseas shipping had

generally regained its place in the commercial world

• More conservative elements of society, protecting their wealth, exaggerated seriousness of nation's plight

• They sought to amend Articles to create more muscular central government

• Both friends and critics of the Confederation agreed it needed strengthening, but disagreed over how much its powers should be increased

The Constitutional Convention

• Control of commerce became the issue that led to a constitutional convention being called

• 1786- A convention was called, but only five states actually sent delegates

• Alexander Hamilton saved the convention by issuing a report that called upon Congress to summon another convention the next year.

• Congress called for a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation

• May 25, 1787- a quorum of delegates arrived in Philadelphia

• Delegates were chosen by their state legislatures. Every state but Rhode Island sent delegates.

Table 9-1 p170

p171

The Delegates

• 55 delegates• generally conservative and well-to-do• lawyers, merchants, shoppers, land

speculators, and moneylenders• nineteen owned slaves • young, but experienced statesmen

A Convention of “Demigods”

• James Madison's contributions were so notable he was dubbed “the Father of the Constitution”• Alexander Hamilton advocated a super-powerful

central government• Most Revolutionary leaders of 1776 were absent• Jefferson, J. Adams, and Thomas Paine in Europe• Samuel Adams & John Hancock were not elected• Patrick Henry was elected from Virginia, but declined,

declaring he “smelled a rat.”

– Time had come to fashion a solid political system

Patriots in Philadelphia

• The 55 delegates:• A conservative, well-to-do body of lawyers, merchants,

shippers, land speculators, moneylenders• Not a single person from the debtor groups• Young (average age 42) but experienced statesmen• Nationalists, more interested in preserving young

Republic then stirring popular democracy• Hoped to crystallize evaporating pools of Revolutionary

idealism into stable political structure that would endure

Wanted a firm, dignified, & respected government:•Believed in republicanism, but sought to protect American experiment from weakness abroad and excesses at home•Wanted central government to control tariffs in order to secure commercial treaties from foreign nations•Determined to preserve union, forestall anarchy, and ensure security of life & property against uprisings by “mobocracy”•Curb unrestrained democracy rampant in several states•Motivated by fear

Table 9-1 p171

“in revising the foederal system we ought to inquire 1. into the properties, which such a government ought to

possess, 2. the defects of the confederation, 3. the danger of our situation & 4. the remedy.”-Edmund

Randolph, VA

• http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/debates_529.asp