Download CREATING THE CONSTITUTION Unit Two

CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
Unit Two
FROM THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION TO THE
WORLD’S GREATEST
DOCUMENT
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 The Articles of Confederation (1781)
 The Colonists’ first crack at forming a
functioning government - Named the new
country the United States of America!!
 An agreement outlining the powers of a national
government
That may be true pal,
Forget George, I am
the 1st President of the
United States!!!!
But here is some more truth,
no one knows who you are!!
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 Articles of Confederation (cont’)
 Two problems made it difficult to accept the A
of C
 Problem #1: Government TOO strong.
 Solution: Create a weak national government
 Government created by the A of C was just a
central legislature
 There were no executive or judicial branches
 Legal disputes left up to the states to decide
 Most of the power with the states leaving the
national government with little power over the states
and citizens.
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 Articles of Confederation (cont’)
 Problem #2: Some states have more power than
others.
 Solution: Give each state one vote
 One state = one vote regardless of population
 In certain instances, like declaring war, required at
least 9 votes of the states.
 Despite best intentions - The Articles of
Confederation were VERY weak!
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 MAJOR WEAKNESSES WOULD BE THE
DOWNFALL OF THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION!!
 Weakness #1: No money and power to get it.
 Congress had no POWER to tax
 All it could do is request money from a state
 We had borrowed much money to fund the
Revolutionary War and needed to start paying it
back - without the power to tax, Congress was left
without a way to pay off the debts
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 MAJOR WEAKNESSES
 Weakness #2: No power over state governments
and their citizens.
 Congress had no power to make laws that the
people of the states HAD to follow.
 No way to make them obey - laws, treaties, etc..
 Weakness #3: Unenforceable trade agreements
 Weakness #4: Unfair competition among the
states
 Ex. Taxing on both ends
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 MAJOR WEAKNESSES
 Weakness #5: All 13 states must agree to
change the Articles
 Most damaging
 States rarely agreed on anything
 Articles could NEVER be fixed
 By 1786, government leaders realized that
the Articles of Confederation simply did not
work!!
 In 1787, those leaders would meet in
Philadelphia to draft a NEW document
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 FINAL STRAW!!
 Shay’s Rebellion (Aug. 1786 - Jan. 1787):
 Daniel Shay was a Capt. in the Continental Army
 Shay goes to bank to get loan and tries to use Fed.
Note as collateral
 Only money good in Massachusetts was GOLD.
 Federal Gov’t won’t exchange note for gold
 Rock and a hard place!!
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 FINAL STRAW!!
 Shay’s Rebellion (cont’):
 Shay gets together small army and closes
down the courthouse
 Called a “rebellion - formal uprising”
 Shay and his army ultimately chased out
of Mass into Vermont
 Vermont won’t return him and he
ultimately gets pardoned.
 Shay’s Rebellion was the event that
highlighted that the Articles were not
working.
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 DESPITE ALL THE PROBLEMS - WERE ALL THE
STATES READY AND WILLING TO RATIFY THE
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION?
 WHAT WAS THE 1ST STEP?
 Annapolis Convention - Sept. 11 - 16, 1786
 Very Unique - normally the drafting of a constitution was
reserved for legislature not individual leaders.
 What came of this?
 Invitations issued to 55 delegates to attend
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the
Spring of 1787.
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
 Starts May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia, PA
 Agree on rules - one state = one vote
 They decide to operate in secrecy - why?
 No decision is permanent until the whole plan is
finalized.
 Who is elected President of the Convention?
 George Washington - the most respected and
honored man in the country at the time.
 Although not active in the debates - his
presence was a positive statement for the
new constitution.
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (cont’)
 Who else was there?
 Thomas Jefferson writes to John Adams and
calls the convention an “assembly of
demigods.” Why do you think he says this?
Ben Franklin
James Madison
Of all framers, JM has
the biggest influence
Internationally respected for
his wisdom
Edmund Randolph
**Roger Sherman
Representative from
Connecticut who will
make a big name for
himself at the Convention
Governor of Virginia
Alexander Hamilton
Strong supporter of a
National Government
CREATING THE CONSTITUTION
 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (cont’)
 Who was NOT there?
Patrick Henry
Thomas Jefferson
Against a strong
National government
U.S. Ambassador to France
John Adams
U.S. Ambassador to
Great Britain