What Is a “Big Idea”?

• A “historical motivator”•Offers a solution to a pressing problem•A completely original concept or a novel and innovative way to use existing concepts•Big ideas are not necessarily “good” or “bad”

Why Study Big Ideas?

People of the past•What were their everyday lives like?•What did they think and believe?•What really mattered to them?•What motivated them to take out-of-the-ordinary actions?

Moving Toward Independence

•Thomas Paine’s Common Sense•Richard Henry Lee: “…free and Independent States.”•Continental Congress creates a “Committee of Five”

Declaration of

Independence•Both a formal statement of

independence and a declaration of war•Jefferson “borrowed” ideas from Enlightenment thinkers•Three purposes

Land Ordinance of 1785

• Intended to provide a fair way to divide land in the Northwest Territory

• “Townships” and “sections”

• Other provisions• High initial land

costs • Speculators

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• Allowed for the creation of new states in the Northwest Territory

• Also called for creation of territorial and state governments

• Forbade slavery• Public education• Fair dealings with

Indians

Weaknesses of the Articles of

Confederation• No national unity, just 13 separate state

governments• No ability to tax• No ability to regulate foreign or interstate commerce• Each state had only one vote in Congress, regardless of

population• Support of nine of 13 states needed in Congress to pass

important laws• Support of all 13 states needed to revise Articles• No executive branch• No national court system

Framing of the

Constitution• Most delegates were

wealthy• Did the Constitution

truly reflect democratic political ideals?

• Madison’s role

Different Views on Representation

Virginia Plan• Proposed by Madison• Protected large states’ interests• Allowed for a bicameral (two-house) legislature• Number of delegates in Congress based on a state’s

population• Lower house would elect the upper house

New Jersey Plan• Proposed by Paterson• Protected small states’

interests• Allowed for a unicameral

(one-house) legislature• Each state would have a

similar number of delegates

The Great Compromise• Bicameral legislature: the

House of Representatives and the Senate

• House representation based on population

• Senate—each state allowed two votes

• Length of terms for each• Senators selected by state

legislaturesRoger Sherman

“Three-fifths” Compromise

• How slaves should be counted for representation and taxation purposes

• The compromise: 3/5ths of the number of slaves would be counted for both representation and taxation

• National government forbidden to interfere with the slave trade until 1808

Governmental Power in the

Constitution

• Division of power • Separation of powers • Checks and balances

Federalists & Anti-

FederalistsFederalists

•Supported the Constitution• Included many framers (Washington, Hamilton, Madison)• Strongest in urban areas• Supported by those in favor of a strong central government• Supported by merchants, skilled workers, laborers

Anti-Federalists•Opposed the Constitution• Included Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee• Strongest in rural areas• Opposed a strong central government• Concerned the Constitution didn’t include a bill of rights

Alexander Hamilton Patrick Henry

The Bill of Rights

• Written by James Madison• Important ratification issue• Madison submitted 17

amendments; Congress reduced number to 12, 10 were ratified

• First Amendment guarantees “freedom of expression”

• Second and Third Amendments protect against military control

• Fourth through Eighth Amendments assure due process of law

• Ninth and Tenth Amendments protect popular control over government

James Madison

Hamilton vs. Jefferson

Hamilton• Strong federal government• Rule by elite• Loose interpretation of

Constitution• Favored national bank• Favored paying state debts• Supported merchants,

landowners, investors, wealthy• Tended to support Britain in

foreign affairs• Followers formed the Federalist

Party, which eventually became the Republican Party

Jefferson• Limited national authority• Believed in ability of farmers and

common people to rule themselves

• Strict interpretation of Constitution

• Favored payment of national debt, not state debts

• Opposed national bank• Tended to support France in

foreign affairs• Followers formed the

Democratic-Republican Party, which eventually became the Democratic Party

Louisiana Purchase

• Purchased from France in 1803

• Purchase price: $15,000,000 (three cents per acre)

• Doubled the size of the U.S. to that point (800,000 more square miles)

• Gave the U.S. complete control of the Mississippi River

Marbury v. Madison

Establishes Judicial Review

• Marbury—a “midnight judge” to whom Jefferson denied a commission

• Marbury sued under the Judiciary Act of 1789

• U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall rules Marbury’s claim was invalid

• Case established the concept of “judicial review”

Chief Justice John Marshall

Monroe Doctrine

• Part of President Monroe’s 1823 Message to Congress

• Warned European powers not to interfere with Western Hemisphere affairs or overthrow independent republics there

• Promised the U.S. wouldn’t interfere with European affairs or colonies

• Roosevelt Corollary

The American System

• Proposed by Senator Henry Clay

• High tariffs on imports• New transportation

systems and internal improvements

• Never completely implemented

Henry Clay

•1820s: changes in voting requirements, selection of presidential electors•1824 presidential election and the “corrupt bargain”

1828 presidential election•Mass campaigning techniques•Jackson as a “man of the people”; Adams as an “aristocrat” and an “elitist”• Jackson wins handily•The idea of “Jacksonian democracy”

Jacksonian

Democracy

First Bank of the U.S.• Created by Hamilton in 1791 to

spur economic growth• Would provide for a “sound

uniform currency”• Would act as a central bank for

smaller state banks• Would provide a depository for

tax money• Would issue paper money• Hamilton used the “elastic

clause” to justify the Bank• Opposed by Jefferson, Madison,

and other “strict constructionists”

Second Bank of the U.S.• Chartered in 1816• Charter to expire in 1836; in

1832, Clay and Webster try to get it re-chartered early

• Jackson vetoes the charter• “Pet banks”• Nicholas Biddle

The Bank of the United States

Nullification

• Idea that states can refuse to enforce or obey federal laws

• 1828 “Tariff of Abominations”

• South Carolina “nullifies” the tariff

• The “Force Bill”South Carolina Senator John Calhoun

• Jackson orders removal of Indians to the west

• 1830: Indian Removal Act

• Jackson uses military force to move certain tribes

• The Trail of Tears

Indian Removal

• Roots: the Quakers• American Revolution• Early 1800s: Slavery ends in the North• Colonization movement

Abolitionism