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The New Nation
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Articles of
Confederation
The Second Continental
Congress directed the colonies
during the war, but had no real
authority or mandate to do so.

States had real powers:

coin money

raise and maintain
armies and navies

collect and levy taxes

erect tariffs
To legitimize authority, the
Second Continental Congress
drafted a written constitution that
had to be ratified by all 13 states
– called the Articles of
Confederation
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The Articles had two major
problems:
•
•
no power to control
commerce
no power to levy taxes
These powers were left to
the individual states
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A major issue was what to do
with the land in the Ohio River
Valley. Many states had claims
and others didn’t – so who
would control it? The state or
national government?
•
A compromise was reached
through the Northwest
Ordinance and Land
Ordinance
•
The states were now content
and the Articles were
unanimously ratified
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Northwest Ordinance
Forbade slavery in
new territories
Set a procedure
how a territory
could become a
state
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Land Ordinance
All lands claimed by individual
states had to be turned over to
national government
All lands sold to the public
would be revenue to pay for the
national debt from the
Revolution
All land would be surveyed and
mapped before any public
auction would take place
Set aside specific areas in the
new territories for public
education
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Small farmers in Massachusetts began
losing their farms to banks because
they couldn’t pay their taxes or meet
mortgage payments.
Shay’s Rebellion
One reason was that many of them had
not been paid back pay for their military
service during the War.
A delegation of farmers approached the
state legislature for relief but were
unsuccessful.
Led by Daniel Shays, these farmers
took over many courts and a federal
arsenal. The national government struggled
to raise an army to put the rebellion down
but eventually did.
Importance – renewed interest in need
for a strong central government
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Delegates were called to Philadelphia in
1787 to REVISE the Articles of
Confederation.
all states but Rhode Island
attended.
delegates from American
“aristocracy” – NO middle or
lower class representation
Primary motives:
preserve the United States
stop anarchy
The
Constitutional Convention
They secretly wrote a new constitution
against the orders of the Second
Continental Congress because they
couldn’t effectively amend the
Articles of Confederation.
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Ratification of the New
Constitution
Rather than unanimous
acceptance, the Convention
adopted a two-thirds ratification
rule.
Ratification would be done through
specially elected constitutional
conventions in each state.
Federalist Papers:
Written by Jay, Hamilton, and
Madison
Collection of essays in favor of the
new Constitution in New York
newspapers to muster support for
ratification
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Problems with ratification:
• Rhode Island and North Carolina refused to ratify – Congress had to threaten
them with a high tariff to get them to ratify.
• US was on its second constitution in a dozen years with little domestic and
foreign confidence in the American government.
Some compromises were built in the Constitution to promote ratification.
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Two New Plans
VIRGINIA PLAN
Give power to
federal government
Bicameral (2
groups)
Legislatures chosen
based on state’s
population.
NEW JERSEY
PLAN
Give power to
federal government
Unicameral (1
group)
Legislatures chosen
equally for each
state.
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Great Compromise
•
Great Compromise –
compromise reached was a
bi-cameral legislature with
representation in House by
population and in the Senate
equally
•
large state plan –
representation by
population
•
small state plan –
representation should be
equal
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3/5s Compromise
•
Three-Fifths Compromise –
compromise reached was
slaves would be counted as
3/5s of a person
•
South said slaves should be
counted into their population,
but North said no
•
It was agreed that slavery
would be abolished 20 years
after ratification of the
Constitution.
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Compare and Contrast
Articles of Confederation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Loose confederation of states
1 vote in Congress for each state
(unicameral legislature)
2/3 vote necessary in Congress
for all important measures
Laws were carried out by
congressional committees
No congressional power over any
commerce
No congressional power to levy or
collect taxes
No federal court system
Unanimous vote needed by states
to amend the Articles
No authority to make individuals
and states to comply with federal
laws
Constitution
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Firm union of people and states
2 votes in Senate for each state
plus a House with representation
by population (bicameral
legislature)
Simple majority needed in
Congress on most manners but
subject to presidential veto
Laws were executed by a
powerful president
Congress regulates foreign and
domestic commerce
Extensive congressional power to
levy and collect taxes
Intricate system of federal courts
headed by a US Supreme Court
Amendment was available
through a variety of mechanisms
Ample power to enforce laws
concerning states and individuals
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Interpretation of the
Constitution
Thomas Jefferson – strict interpretist (constructionist)
national government should exercise no powers
that are not specifically granted in the Constitution
all unspoken powers are reserved for the state
governments
Alexander Hamilton – loose interpretist (constructionist)
cited elastic clause of the Constitution – Congress
may pass any laws “necessary and proper” to carry
out its granted powers
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Political Parties
Constitution doesn’t provide for political parties.
Political parties resulted from ideological clash between Jefferson
and Hamilton:
interpretation of Constitution
financial policy
foreign policy
Federalists – led by Hamilton:
strong central government
positive relations with England
favored upper class
Democrat-Republicans – led by Jefferson:
strong state government
positive relations with France
favored common man
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Early Problems
Difficulties for the new government:
constitutional interpretation
 economic stability
 foreign relations
 how to avoid war
 political precedents

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George Washington – Father
of the United States
Unanimously named
president by the
Electoral College.
Sworn into New York
City – the temporary
capitol of the United
States
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First Cabinet
Not provided for in the
Constitution
Vice President – John Adams
Secretary of State – Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of Treasury – Alexander Hamilton
Secretary of War – Henry Knox
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Funding the National Debt
Hamilton’s goal – bolster national
credit status
Fund at par – government pays off
national debt at face value
Debt due to private individuals,
foreign countries and banks that
bought war bonds during the
Revolution
Hamilton got the government to
issue new bonds at face value –
important because the old
Continental Bonds dropped in value
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Hamilton wanted Congress to assume
– take over – the debts of all the
states.
He felt it was a national obligation
because of the national war for of
independence.
Assuming
the State’s debts
States with large debts liked the plan.
States with small debts or paid them
off didn’t.
Hamilton got the support of Jefferson
by promising to support building the
nation’s capitol next to Jefferson’s
home state if he would support the
assumption.
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High protective tariff:
bring in money from imports
protect US manufacturers from
outside competition
Revenues
Excise Tax (on domestic goods):
tax on whiskey led to Whiskey
Rebellion
 first militant challenge to the
new Constitution
 mountain men from
Appalachians refused to pay
the tax
 Washington with the help of
the military forces from the
states put down the rebellion
Importance – federal government
commanded a new respect from the
states.
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Bank of the United
States (BUS)
Federal government’s
bank
National mint was to
be an extension of this
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Neutrality Proclamation
US attitude toward France –
at first pleased with French
Revolution in 1789 but lost hope
after the Reign of Terror
Democrat-Republicans stayed true
to principles of Liberty, Equality, and
Fraternity
continued to export food without
sending larges sums of money or
military support
The Proclamation – US sided with no
one but continued trade with both
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US attitude toward England –
90% of tariff revenue came from
Great Britain
continued to export food
Federalists were primarily exLoyalists (relations very
positive)
US merchant marines prospered
because of trade with England and
France.
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The Neutrality
Proclamation was
issued – US sided
with no one but
continued trade with
both
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Jay’s Treaty
Complaints against England –
they still maintained forts in Old
Northwest Territory
they were supplying and inciting
Indian attacks on American
settlers
they impressed sailors
Chief Justice John Jay was sent to
talk to British on these three areas.
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Result – Jay’s Treaty:
England would withdraw all
troops from the Ohio River
Valley
England would pay Americans
for losses at sea
US would pay Loyalists for
property taken during the War
Democrat-Republicans mad
because it said nothing of the
Indian and impressment problems.
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Results and importance –
US independence was
reserved
temporarily settled
differences with England
continued to prosper from
European wars
caused France to be more
upset with US
kept us out of war
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Washington’s Second Term
He wanted to retire after
his first term but the public
wanted him for a second
term.
Washington relented
because of the political
turmoil.
He was again unanimously
elected
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Washington’s Farewell
Physical fatigue mixed with the verbal
abuse from the Democrat-Republicans
caused Washington to be determined
to retire after his second term.
Farwell address was a written
message published in newspapers.
Help for writing this came from
Hamilton.
It said the US should avoid
permanent and entangling alliances
that did not benefit the US
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The strongest of the two parties was the
Federalists headed by Hamilton but he
was too outspoken and therefore
alienated a lot of people.
John Adams
Second President
So the Federalists went with John
Adams as their candidate.
Democrat-Republicans chose Jefferson
who would lose to Adams and become
Vice President – the Electoral College
was initially set up to name the secondmost vote getter to become the VP
Adam’s inherited foreign situation:
French upset at the US Neutrality
Proclamation and the signing of
Jay’s Treaty
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The French felt the US was allying with
Britain because they were still
impressing American seamen.
XYZ Affair
Adams sent ambassadors to France to
open up a line of communication.
Those ambassadors were confronted by
French governmental agents identified
as X, Y, and Z. The agents said the
delegates had to pay a sum of money
before negotiations could be reached.
The American public saw this as an act
of disrespect. They wanted war with
France.
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Alien and Sedition Acts
The American public saw every French
foreigner and dissenter as a traitor
and/or spy.
Alien Acts lengthened residence requirement
from five to fourteen years
authorized the president to deport or
imprison any alien he felt dangerous
Sedition Acts –
people who spoke out against the
national government could be fined
or imprisoned.
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Jefferson and Madison saw the Alien
and Sedition Acts as violations of the
Constitution.
Kentucky
and
Virginia Resolutions
Jefferson composed a draft for the
Kentucky legislature while Madison
composed one for Virginia – known as
the compact theory of government.
Essence of resolutions – states had the
right to declare national laws null and
void if those laws were in violation of
states’ rights.
No other states followed this theory. If it
was accepted, the Supreme Court
would have been useless since the
states would determine which national
laws were constitutional or not.
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