Chapter 7

 

I.                   Thirteen Independent States

 

A.    Americans needed to establish their own government and gain Britain’s respect. This brought new challenges. The British believed the new government was weak and ineffective.

B.    States organized their governments and adopted their own state constitutions. The writers wanted to prevent abuses of power and also wanted to keep power in the hands of the people.

C.    State constitutions limited the power of the governor to avoid giving one ruler too much power. Pennsylvania replaced the office of governor with an elected council of twelve members.

D.    States divided functions between the Governor (Pennsylvania’s council) and the legislature.

 

1.      The legislature was the more powerful branch because of the limited powers of the governor. Most states had a bicameral, or two-house, legislature. This further divided the power.

2.      Legislatures were popularly elected and elections were frequent. State legislatures had many disagreements about how to make taxes fair.

 

E.     In most states only white males who were 21 years of age could vote. They also had to either be property owners or pay a certain amount of taxes. In some states free African American males could vote.

 

 

 

II.                Forming a Republic

 

A.    Americans agreed that the country should be a republic, which is a government with elected representatives. What they could not agree on was the origin and powers of the new republic.

B.    At first most Americans favored a weak central government with the powers being given to the states to function independently except for the power to wage war and handle relations with other countries.

C.    In 1777 the Articles of Confederation were adopted to provide for a central government. At the time the country needed a central government to fight the war against Britain The Articles were America’s first constitution. The states, thought, gave up little of their power. Each state kept “it’s sovereignty, freedom, and independence.”

D.    Under the Articles of Confederation, the government, which was the Confederation Congress, had the authority to

 

1.      Conduct foreign affairs

2.      Maintain armed forces

3.      Borrow money

4.      Issue currency

 

E.     The government did not have the authority to

 

1.      Regulate trade

2.      Force citizens to join the army

3.      Impose taxes

                        Congress needed to ask state legislatures to raise money and provide troops.

 

F.     The government did not have a chief executive.

G.    Each state had one vote in Congress. State population did not matter, although larger, more populated states believed that they should have more votes.

H.    States also argued about whether or not they claimed land in the west. Maryland refused to ratify the Articles of Confederation until states abandoned their land claims. Finally all 13 states approved the articles on March 1, 1781. The confederacy formally became the government of the U.S.

I.       The confederation government had its weaknesses, but it won Americans their independence, expanded foreign trade, and provided for new states in the west.

 

1.      It had limited authority.

2.      It could not pass a law unless nine states voted for it.

3.      To change the Articles, all 13 states had to give consent. It was difficult, therefore, for Congress to pass laws when there was any opposition.

 

III.             New Land Policies

 

A.    The Articles had no provision for adding new states. Congress realized it had to extend its authority over the frontier and bring order and stability to the territory where western settlers reached almost 120,000 by 1790. The Western ordinances had a large impact on Western expansion and development of the United States.

B.    In 1784 Congress divided the Western Territory into self-governing districts. When the number of people in a district reached the population of the smallest existing state, that district could apply for statehood.

C.    In 1785 the Confederation congress established a new law that divided the Western territories into larger townships and smaller sections. Each smaller section would be sold at auction for at least $1 an acre. This was called the Ordinance of 1785. Land speculators bought large pieces of land cheaply.

D.    Another ordinance passed in 1787 was the Northwest Ordinance.

 

1.      It created a Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River.

2.      It divided the lands into three to five smaller territories.

3.      It stated that when the population of a territory reached 60,000 citizens, that territory could apply for statehood. Each new state would enter as an equal to the original 13 states.

4.      It included a bill of rights to protect the settlers that guaranteed freedom of religion and trial by jury. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude was permitted in the new territories.

 

IV.              Trouble on Two Fronts

 

A.    The confederate government had trouble with finances, and with Britain and Spain over holdings and trade. Many Americans felt the country needed a stronger government to better deal with the problems.

B.    The government had a large debt from fighting the war. Congress had borrowed money from American citizens and foreign governments. It owed soldiers their wages. But because congress had no power to tax, it did not have a way to raise revenue and pay off their debts.

C.    Money was almost worthless. The paper money printed during the Revolutionary War had fallen in value, while the prices of food and other goods soared. In Boston, for example, high prices led to food riots. Because Congress had no power to tax, it and the states issued paper money. Because there were so many bills in circulation, the value of the money fell. No gold or silver backed these bills.

D.    To help solve the financial problems, the confederacy created a department of finance. Robert Morris, a Philadelphia merchant, headed the department.

E.     Morris proposed a plan that called for collecting a 5 percent tax on imported goods to help pay off the national debt. Because of Rhode Island’s opposition, the measure did not pass. A second effort also failed five years later. The country’s financial situation worsened.

F.     The problems with Britain concerned landholdings and trade.

 

1.      British troops remained in several strategic forts in the Great Lakes Region even though Britain had promised to withdraw all troops under the Treaty of Paris.

2.      British merchants closed Americans out of the West Indies and other profitable British markets.

3.      John Adams went to London in 1785 to discuss these issues. The British claimed that because Americans had not paid Loyalists for the property taken from them during the war, as agreed under the Treaty of Paris, they were not willing to talk. Congress recommended payment, but the states refused.

 

G.    The problems with Spain were worse than those with England.

        

1.      Spain closed the lower Mississippi River to American shipping in 1784 in hopes of halting American expansion into their territory of Spanish Florida and lands west of the Mississippi River.

2.      A compromise was reached with an agreement in 1786 that limited American shipping on the Mississippi. In return for this, Spain promised to accept the border between Georgia and Spanish Florida proposed by the Americans Representatives from the South rejected the agreement because it did not include the right to use the Mississippi River.

 

V.                 Economic Depression

 

A.    The United States went through a depression, or a time when economic activity slowed and unemployment increased, after the Revolutionary War.

 

1.      Because Southern plantations were damaged during the war, they could not produce as much rice as prior to the war. As a result, rice exports dropped.

2.      Farmers could not sell their goods they grew and therefore did not have money to pay state taxes. As a result, farmers lost their lands when state officials took their farms to pay the debt they owed. Some farmers were even jailed.

3.      American trade fell off when Britain closed the West Indies to American merchants. As a result, currency was in short supply, and whatever was around was used to pay the war debt.

 

B.    The Shays’ Rebellion occurred as a result of the problems farmers suffered. In 1787 Daniel Shays led a group of more than 1,000 angry farmers in forcing courts in western Massachusetts to close so judges could not seize farmers’ land.

C.    Shays led the farmers toward the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, for arms and ammunition. The farmers did not stop, even when the state militia fired over their heads and then directly at them, killing four. The uprising was over when Shays and his followers scattered.

D.    Americans felt the impact of the Shays uprising. Many were scared that future uprisings could occur.

E.     Slavery was a difficult issue that many people and groups began to work toward ending.

 

1.      Quakers organized the first American Antislavery Society in 1774.

2.      In 1780 Pennsylvania passed a law that provided for freeing enslaved people gradually.

3.      In 1783 a Massachusetts court ruled slavery illegal.

4.      Between 1784 and 1804, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey passed laws that gradually ended slavery.

5.      In 1787 the Free African Society in Philadelphia was formed,

 

F.     Some states clung to slavery; especially those south of Pennsylvania. The plantation system relied on slavery to survive. Yet a number of slaveholders did begin to free slaves after the war.

G.    Virginia passed a law encouraging manumission, or freeing individual enslaved persons.

H.    The abolition of slavery divided the country. In 1787, when state representatives met to plan a new government because they realized the Articles of Confederation were weak, they compromised on the issue of slavery. It would take another war to resolve this issue.

 

IV.                       A Call for Change

 

A.    Political leaders were divided on the issue of the type of government the country should have.

 

1.      One group wanted to remain with the system of independent state governments.

2.      The other group wanted to create a strong national government. This group called for reform of the Articles of Confederation. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton were proponents of a strong central government. 

 

B.    In September 1787, Hamilton proposed calling a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss trade issues and possible changes to the Articles of Confederation so that the union would become a nation.

C.    George Washington finally agreed to attend the convention although at first he was not enthusiastic about revising the Articles. His presence lent greater significance to the meeting.

 

V.                          The Continental Convention

 

A.    The Continental Convention met in Philadelphia beginning in May 1787 and consisted of 55 delegates, none of whom were Native American, African American, or women. None of these groups were included in the political process.

B.    Several leaders stood out-George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Wilson, Governor Morris, who wrote the final draft of the Constitution, Edmund Randolph, and James Madison, who became known as the “Father of the Constitution” because he authored the basic plan of government that was adopted.

C.    George Washington presided. The basic rules were:

 

1.      Each state had one vote on all issues.

2.      A majority vote was needed to finalize decisions.

3.      Delegates from at least 7 of the 13 states were required for meetings to be held.

4.      Delegates met behind closed doors so they could talk freely.

 

D.    Two plans of government were proposed –the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.

E.     The Virginia Plan, proposed by Edmund Randolph from Virginia, called for a two-house legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, and a court system.

 

1.      The people would elect members of the lower house.

2.      The lower house would choose members of the upper house.

3.      In both houses, the number of representatives would be proportional to the population of each state. A state with a smaller population would have fewer representatives than a state with a large population.

 

F.     The New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Paterson, modified the Articles of Confederation.

 

1.      It kept the one-house legislature with one vote for each state.

2.      Congress would now have the powers to set taxes and regular trade.

3.      Congress would elect a weak executive branch with more than one person.

 

VI.                       Compromise Wins Out

 

A.    The delegates decided that simply revising the Articles would not solve problems. They voted to plan a national government based on the Virginia Plan, but they had to work out several issues:

 

1.      How the members of Congress were to be elected

2.       How state representation would be determined in both houses

3.      Whether or not enslaved people were to be counted as part of the population, which would affect the number of representatives for some states

4.      Whether or not to ban slavery

 

B.    The Great Compromise was the agreement used to resolve the representation issues. Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed the plan, It said that:

 

1.      There would be a two-hose legislature. In the lower house, or House of Representatives, the number of seats for each state would vary according to the state’s population. In the upper house, or Senate, each state would have two members.

2.      The way to count enslaved people would be determined by the three-fifths compromise. Each enslaved person was to count as three-fifths of a free person for taxation and representation. So every five slaves counted as three free people. This broke the great debate that divided large and small states.

 

C.    Another compromise plan to resolve the issue of slavery said that congress would not interfere with the slave trade until 1808. Beginning that year, Congress could limit the slave trade if it chose to. The Northerners, who wanted to abolish slavery throughout the nation and had already banned the slave trade in their states, compromised with the southern states that considered slavery and the slave trade essential to their economies.

D.    The Bill of Rights was proposed to protect the new government from abusing its power. George Mason of Virginia proposed a Bill of Rights, but it was defeated. Most of the delegates felt that the constitution already provided adequate protection of the people’s rights.

E.     On September 17, 1787, after four months of discussion and planning, the delegates met to sign the document. All but three delegates signed. The Confederation Congress sent the approval draft for state consideration. Nine of the thirteen states were needed for the Constitution to be approved.

 

VII.                    Roots of the Constitution

 

A.    The framers of the constitution had studied government, history, and politics. Many ideas in the Constitution came from the study of European political institutions and political writers. The Enlightenment also influenced the delegates.

B.    The British system of government and British ideas and institutions influenced the framers of the Constitution. The English found ways to limit the power of the monarch beginning in the 1200’s. The English parliament controlled funds. The English bill of rights guaranteed individual rights, and the judicial system oversaw that these rights were protected. These ideas were included in the original Constitution except for the Bill of Rights, which was added a few years later.

C.    The framers took ideas about people and government from European writers of the Enlightenment. The enlightenment promoted knowledge, reason, and science as the way to improve society.

1.      Ideas of John Locke, an English philosopher, included the belief that all people have natural rights, including life, liberty, and property and that government is an agreement, or contract, between the people and the ruler.

2.      The Constitution was a contract between American people and their government, and it protected the people’s natural rights by limiting the power of the government.

3.      The French writer Baron de Montesquieu believed that a separation of powers should exist. Also, the powers of government should be clearly defined and limited.

4.      The framers provided for a specification and a division of powers. They also provided for a system of checks and balances to make sure that no one part would gain too much power.

 

VIII.                 The Federal System

 

A.    The Federal System divided into powers between the national (federal) government and the states. It created shared powers, a distinctive feature of the United States government.

 

1.      The federal government had the power to tax, regulate trade, control the currency, raise an army, and declare war.

2.      The state governments had the power to pass and enforce laws, and regulate trade within their borders. They could also establish local governments, schools, and other institutions affecting the welfare of its citizens.

3.      Shared powers by the federal and states included the power to tax and to build roads.

 

B.    The Constitution became the supreme law of the land, the final authority. No state could make laws or take actions that went against the constitution. Federal courts based on the Constitution would settle disputes between the federal government and states.

 

IX.                       The Organization of Government

 

A.    The federal government is divided into three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial.

B.    The legislative, or lawmaking, branch is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Powers include collecting taxes, coining money and regulating trade, declaring war, raising and supporting armies, and making all laws needed to fulfill its function given to it by the constitution.

C.    Headed by the president the executive branch carries out the nation’s laws and policies. The duties of the president include being commander in chief of the armed forces and conducting foreign policy.

 

1.      In the Electoral College, each state chooses to cast their votes for the president and vice-president.

2.      The president and the vice president serve a four-year term.

 

D.    The judicial branch, or court system, consists of the Supreme Court and lower courts. The courts hear cases involving the constitution, laws passed by congress, and disputes between states.

E.     The system of checks and balances, a distinctive feature of the United States government, maintains a balance of power. It is a system that keeps one branch from becoming more powerful than another. Each branch has roles that limit the others.

 

1.      Both houses of the legislature must pass a bill for it to become a law.

2.      The president can check Congress by vetoing a bill. The judicial branch checks the congress by making sure the laws they pass do not conflict with the constitution.

3.      Congress can check the president by overriding the veto, but two-thirds of both houses must vote for the bill. The judicial branch checks the president by making sure his decisions and actions are legal.

4.      The judicial branch decides whether or not decisions or actions by the legislative branch and administrative branches are legal.

5.      The president appoints Supreme Court justices but the senate checks by approving the appointments.

 

F.     The Constitution created a nation in which the people could choose their officials and the officials answered to the people, not the states.

 

X.                          The Constitutional Debate

 

A.    Before the constitution could go into effect, 9 of the 13 states had to ratify it. A great debate took place, with Americans discussing arguments for and against the constitution. State legislatures set up special ratifying conventions. Rhode Island was the only state that did not call a convention because its leaders opposed the Constitution from the beginning.

B.    Federalists supported the constitution. George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay supported the Constitution. Madison, Hamilton and Jay wrote the “Federalist Papers”, a collection of essays explaining and defending the constitution.

C.    The antifederalists opposed ratification. They wrote a series of essays known as the Antifederalist Papers. They believed that the new constitution would take away the liberties Americans had fought to win, create a strong central government, and ignore the will of the states and the people. They wanted a bill of rights.

D.    The debate exposed each group’s fears. The federalists feared disorder without a strong federal government and looked to the court to create a national government capable of maintaining order. The antifederalists feared oppression more than disorder. They worried that the government would be run by a small educated group of people that would hold the power.

 

XI.                       Adopting the Constitution

 

A.    The Constitution was ratified by all states, despite opposition. Delaware was the first to ratify on December 7, 1787. New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify on June 21, 1788. New York and Virginia, the two largest states, had not yet ratified. Both states had strong antifederalists groups, and their support was necessary to promote the future of the new government.

B.    Virginia ratified at the end of June 1788 after being told the Constitution would have a bill of rights added to it.

C.    New York narrowly ratified in July 1788, North Carolina in November 1789, and Rhode Island in May 1790.

D.    Celebrations took place in hundreds of American towns and cities. The Constitution was finally ratified, and the new nation had a new government. A bill of rights was added in 1791.