Download Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)

Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Section 1: Governing a New Nation
California Content Standards:
8.2.2 Analyze the Articles of Confederation and the
Constitution and the success of each in implementing
the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
8.3.1 Analyze the principles and concepts codified in
state constitutions between 1777 and 1781 that
created the context out of which American political
institutions and ideas developed.
8.3.2 Explain how the ordinances of 1785 and 1787
privatized national resources and transferred federally
owned lands into private holdings, townships, and
states.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Section 1: Governing a New Nation
California Content Standards:
8.3.5 Know the significance of domestic resistance
movements and ways in which the central government
responded to such movements (e.g., Shays’ Rebellion,
the Whiskey Rebellion).
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Government by the States
The first state constitutions were
designed to support the
principles fought for in the
American Revolution.
Constitution
• Eleven of the 13 states wrote
new constitutions to support
their governments.
• The new constitutions limited
the power of the governors and
gave it to the state legislature.
• All but a few states limited the
right to vote to white males over
21.
A document stating the rules
under which a government will
operate.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Government by the States
The first state constitutions were
designed to support the
principles fought for in the
American Revolution.
• Virginia was the first state to
include a bill of rights in its
constitution.
• In their list, they included:
• Freedom of religion
• Freedom of the press
• Right to trial by jury
• A ban against cruel and
unusual punishment
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation
were designed to preserve liberty
by restricting the powers of the
federal government.
• In 1777, the Continental
Congress adopted the Articles
of Confederation as a plan for
the nation.
• The government consisted of
one branch, a one-house
legislature.
• Within Congress, each state
had a single vote and nine
states had to agree before a
law could go into effect.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation
were designed to preserve liberty
by restricting the powers of the
federal government.
• The Articles provided for a
limited central government.
• Most power remained in the
hands of the states.
• Congress could not regulate
trade or collect taxes. It had to
ask the states for money.
• Congress could:
•Make laws
•Declare war
•Coin or borrow money
•Run a postal service
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Settling the Western Lands
The ordinances of 1785 and
1787 created a way for national
lands to be sold to the public.
• Prior to 1781, most states had
land claims to land west of the
Appalachian Mountains.
• Virginia was the last state to
give up their land claims to the
new government.
• Under the Land Ordinance of
1785, surveyors divided public
lands into townships, six miles
on each side.
• Each township was divided into
36 parcels of one-mile squares.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Settling the Western Lands
The ordinances of 1785 and
1787 created a way for national
lands to be sold to the public.
• The Northwest Ordinance of
1787 guaranteed basic rights
for settlers north of the Ohio
River and banned slavery there.
• It set a three-step process for
admitting new states.
• Initially, Congress would
appoint a governor, a secretary,
and three judges.
• Once a territory had 5,000 free
adult male settlers, it could
elect a legislature.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Settling the Western Lands
The ordinances of 1785 and
1787 created a way for national
lands to be sold to the public.
• When the free population
reached 60,000, the territory
could ask to become a state.
• Over time, five states were
carved out of the Northwest
Territory:
•Ohio
•Indiana
•Illinois
•Michigan
•Wisconsin
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Growing Problems
The Articles of Confederation
denied the central government
the power to deal effectively with
several key issues facing the
nation.
• Each state set its own trade
policy.
• Each state tried to help its own
farmers and manufacturers by
taxing goods from other states.
• Trade was discouraged
between states.
• Each state printed their own
money, making trade harder.
• The central government could
not tax, so there was little
money to run the government.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Growing Problems
The Articles of Confederation
denied the central government
the power to deal effectively with
several key issues facing the
nation.
• The United States seemed to
be weak, so powerful nations
took advantage of the situation.
• British troops continued to hold
forts in the Northwest Territory.
• The Spanish refused to let
Americans ship products down
the Mississippi River.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Growing Problems
The Articles of Confederation
denied the central government
the power to deal effectively with
several key issues facing the
nation.
• A severe economic depression
hit the U.S. in the mid-1780s.
• Farmers in Massachusetts were
unable to pay their taxes as
corn prices declined.
• The state began seizing some
farms and selling them to get
the back taxes.
• Angry farmers demanded the
state to stop this practice.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Growing Problems
The Articles of Confederation
denied the central government
the power to deal effectively with
several key issues facing the
nation.
•In August 1786, a former
Revolutionary War captain, Daniel
Shays led an uprising of about
1,000 Massachusetts farmers.
•When the farmers attempted to
seize arms from a state
warehouse, they were arrested by
the state militia.
•Shays’ Rebellion frightened some
leading Americans into calling for
a stronger central government.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Section 2: The Constitutional Convention
California Content Standards:
8.2.3 Evaluate the major debates that occurred during
the development of the Constitution and their ultimate
resolutions in such areas as shared power among
institutions, divided state-federal power, slavery, the
rights of individuals and states (later addressed by the
addition of the Bill of Rights), and the status of American
Indian nations under the commerce clause.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Section 2: The Constitutional Convention
California Content Standards:
8.2.4 Describe the political philosophy underpinning
the Constitution as specified in the Federalist Papers
(authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and
John Jay) and the role of such leaders as George
Washington, Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, and
James Wilson in the writing and ratification of the
Constitution.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Constitutional Convention Begins
Aims of the Convention
The Delegates
•Congress intended to revise the
Articles of Confederation.
•The delegates realized this would
not be enough.
•55 delegates from 12 states
participated in the convention.
•Rhode Island did not send any
representatives.
•Washington was quickly voted
president of the convention.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Virginia Plan
Three Branches of
Government
A Two-House
Legislature
•Congress would continue to be the
legislative branch.
•The executive branch would carry out the
laws.
•The judicial branch would consist of a
system of courts to interpret the law.
•The Virginia Plan called for a lower house
and an upper house.
•After much debate, the delegates agreed
both houses should be elected by the
people.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Great Compromise
After fierce debate,
delegates agreed on
a plan that satisfied
both large and small
states.
• One part of the Virginia Plan called
for representation based on
population.
• The more people a state had, the
more seats it would have in each
house.
• The big states like Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts
supported this idea.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Great Compromise
After fierce debate,
delegates agreed on
a plan that satisfied
both large and small
states.
• The smaller states opposed this plan.
• They wanted each state to have the
same number of votes in Congress.
• William Paterson introduced the New
Jersey Plan, which called for one
house with equal representation for
each state.
• The new plan also expanded the
powers of Congress to raise money
and regulate commerce.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Great Compromise
After fierce debate,
delegates agreed on
a plan that satisfied
both large and small
states.
•Finally Roger Sherman of Connecticut
worked out a “Great Compromise” that he
hoped would satisfy both the large and
small states.
•There would be a two-house Congress.
•It would consist of a lower house called
the House of Representatives, to please
the large states. Representatives would
be selected by a vote of the people to
serve two-year terms.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Great Compromise
After fierce debate,
delegates agreed on
a plan that satisfied
both large and small
states.
• The upper house, or Senate, would
consist of two representatives from
each state, to please small states.
• Senators would serve six-year terms.
• State legislatures would choose
senators.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Debates Over Slavery
Debates among the
delegates over
slavery indicated just
how deeply divided
the North and South
were.
•Southern delegates wanted slaves to be
counted in calculating how many
representatives a state should have in
Congress.
•Northern delegates said that because
enslaved people could not vote, they
should not be counted toward a state’s
representation.
•The “Three-Fifths Compromise” was
finally agreed on to end the debate. Each
slave would count as three-fifths of a free
person.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Debates Over Slavery
Debates among the
delegates over
slavery indicated just
how deeply divided
the North and South
were.
•Some northern delegates wanted to ban
the buying and selling of people
anywhere in the country.
•Southern delegates protested that a ban
would ruin the South’s economy.
•A compromise was reached that would
allow slave traders to bring enslaved
people into the country for a period of 20
years.
•The slave trade within the U.S. was not
affected.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
A New Constitution
The Constitution of
the United States
derives its authority
from “We the People
of the United States.”
• The delegates agreed on all the terms
after many more weeks of debate.
• A Committee of Style was appointed to
draw up the final wording of the
Constitution.
• Gouverneur Morris, a gifted writer, was
largely responsible for writing the
Preamble, or introduction.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Preamble
We the people of the United States, in order to form
a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Section 3: Debating the Constitution
California Content Standards:
8.2.4 Describe the political philosophy underpinning
the Constitution as specified in the Federalist Papers
(authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and
John Jay) and the role of such leaders as George
Washington, Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, and
James Wilson in the writing and ratification of the
Constitution.
8.2.6 Enumerate the powers of government set forth in
the Constitution and the fundamental liberties ensured by
the Bill of Rights.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Federalists Versus Antifederalists
Supporters and
opponents of the new
Constitution argued over
the need for a strong
central government.
•The convention had set a rule that 9
states had to ratify, or approve, the
Constitution.
•Each state was to hold a convention.
•Supporters of the new Constitution
were called Federalists because they
favored a strong federal government.
•James Madison, Alexander
Hamilton, and John Jay published,
the Federalist Papers a series of 85
newspaper essays in support of the
Constitution.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
Federalists Versus Antifederalists
Supporters and
opponents of the new
Constitution argued over
the need for a strong
central government.
•Opponents of ratification were called
Antifederalists.
•They argued the Constitution
weakened the states by giving the
central government too much power.
•Antifederalists pointed out the
Constitution had no bill of rights.
•Another objection was that the
Constitution provided for a President
who could be reelected again and
again.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Ratification Debate
•Delaware became the first state to
approve the Constitution on
After intense debate, each December 7, 1787.
of the 13 states ratified
•Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia,
the Constitution.
and Connecticut quickly followed.
•Opposition was strong in rural areas
of Massachusetts after Shay’s
Rebellion.
•In June 1788, after Maryland and
South Carolina had approved the
Constitution, New Hampshire
approved it, and the necessary 9
states were secured.
Chapter 3 Creating the Constitution (1776 – 1790)
The Bill of Rights
•After the ninth state approved the
Constitution, George Washington
The Bill of Rights aims to was elected the first President, with
protect Americans against John Adams as Vice-President.
unfair use of government
•One of the first tasks of the new
powers.
Congress was to add a bill of rights.
•In 1789, the first Congress passed a
series of 10 amendments known as
the Bill of Rights.
•By December 1791, three-fourths of
the states had ratified the 10
amendments.