Download Setting up a Democracy

Setting up a Democracy:
“Is it better to exchange rule by
one tyrant living 3,000 miles away
for rule by 3,000 tyrants living one
mile away?”
Americans Debate How to Govern
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The people in the New States had loyal to
the state in which they live.
Americans believe in Democracy; however
framers of the New government did not
want to put to much power in the hands
of the uneducated.
State already had state constitutions.
American did not want to be governed by
a king.
Debates Continued…
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State we unequal in size, wealth, and
population.
How do you take state constitutions and
apply it at a national level.
Who get the lands west of the
Appalachian Mountains.
Our First Attempt: The
Articles of Confederation
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The leaders were
fearful of a all
powerful
government
The first
government was
designed to be
weak.
Most power would
be shared with
states.
The signing of the
Declaration of Independence
proved that Americans were
opposed to a Powerful
government
Articles of Confederation
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Articles were
written in 1779
But, didn’t go into
effect until 1781
because of a
debate over lands
west of the
Appalachian
Mountains.
Land Ordinance of 1785 &
Northwest Ordinance of 1785.
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Land Ordinance of 1785,
which established a plan for
surveying the land west of
the Appalachian
Mountains.
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The county system that we
have to day in states west of
the App. Mts.
Northwest Ordinance of
1787, which divided the land
into territories.
Weakness of the Articles of
Confederation
Congress could not enact and collect
taxes.
 Congress could not regulate interstate or
foreign trade.
 Regardless of population, each state had
only one vote in congress.
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Weakness Continued…
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2/3 majority – 9 out of 13 states needed
to agree to pass important laws.
Articles could be amended only if all states
approved.
No executive branch enforce the laws of
Congress.
No National court system to settle legal
disputes.
The 13 separate states that lacked
national unity.
Confederation Encounters Problems
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The biggest problem was trade between
states.
The Nation was in huge debt as a result of
the Revolutionary War.
They could not get out of debt.
Farmers were losing their property
because they borrowed money and could
not pay it back.
The Nation could not pay its debts to
British merchants, and because of this
Britain refused to evacuate its forts on the
Great Lakes.
Spain closed the Mississippi River to
Americans.
“What a victory for
our enemy to find
we can’t govern
ourselves!”
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The territory was too
vast to govern with a
weak government.
The economy was in
terrible shape.
Small border fights
were occurring
between some states.
There was no
standard currency.
Shays’s Rebellion
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An uprising of debt-ridden Massachusetts
farmers protesting increased state taxes in
1787.
After Shays’s Rebellion there was a Call for a
Convention
Time to try again:
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A convention
was called in
1787 to make
necessary
changes.
All states except
Rhode Island
sent delegates
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What they created in
this room above still
works today!
Key Leaders: George Washington
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Washington
presided at the
Convention and,
although seldom
participating in
the debates, lent
his enormous
prestige to the
proceedings.
Key leaders: James Madison
“The Father of the Constitution”
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Virginian and a
brilliant political
philosopher, often
led the debate and
kept copious notes
of the proceedings
– the best record
historians have of
what transpired at
the Constitutional
Convention
James Madison
“The Father of the Constitution”
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At the convention
Madison, authored the
“Virginia Plan,” which
proposed a federal
government of three
separate branches
(Legislative, Executive,
Judicial) and became the
foundation for the
structure of the new
government.
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He later authored
much of the Bill
of Rights.
The first word of the Preamble to
the Constitution prove our belief
that the power to govern comes
from the people!
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The Constitution of the United States of
America establishes a government that
shared power between the national
government and state governments,
protected the rights of states, and
provided a system for orderly change
through amendments to the Constitution
itself.
Key Issues and Resolutions:
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Made federal law the supreme law of the land,
but otherwise gave the states considerable
leeway to govern themselves
􀁺Balanced power between large and small
states by creating a Senate-where each state
gets two senators, and a House of
Representatives-with membership based on
population (the “Great Compromise”)
Key Issues and Resolutions:
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Placated the
Southern states by
counting the slaves
as three-fifths of
the population
when determining
representation in
the U.S. House of
Representatives
(Three-fifths
Compromise)
Key Issues and Resolutions:
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Avoided a too-powerful central
government by establishing
three co-equal branches
(separation of powers):
Legislative
Branch
Executive
Branch
Judicial
Branch
Makes the
laws
Enforces
the laws
Interprets
the laws
Congress
President
Courts
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Numerous
Checks and
Balances
are the
rules that
prevent
any one
branch
from
becoming
too
powerful!
Key Issues and Resolutions:
 The
Constitution limited the
powers of the federal government
to those identified in the
Constitution.
 An orderly method of changing
the Constitution by adding
amendments has been included.
Struggle for Ratification:
 Final
approval needed 9 states
to approve before the new
constitution would go into
effect!
The Federalist Position:
(pro-ratification)
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The Federalists favored a
strong national
government that shared
some power with the
states. They argued that
the checks and balances
in the Constitution
prevented any one of the
three branches from
acquiring preponderant
power. They believed
that a strong national
government was
necessaryto facilitate
interstate commerce and
to manage foreign trade,
national defense, and
foreign relations.
They argued that a republic
could survive in a territory
as large as the United
States because the
numerous political factions
would check each other,
thereby preventing any one
faction from gaining too
much power. They also
argued that a national Bill
of Rights would be
redundant, because the
Constitution itself protected
basic rights, and because
most states already had
bills of rights that clearly
defined basic rights that the
governments could not
abolish.
Key Federalists Were:
James Madison
Alexander Hamilton
John Jay
The Federalist Papers
were a series of essays
written by Madison, Jay
and Hamilton to explain
the Constitution and urge
ratification.
Anti-Federalists:
(opposed ratification)
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They believed that
notwithstanding the
national government Federalists’ arguments, a
would tend to usurp national Bill of Rights
was necessary and,
the powers of the
during the ratifying
state governments,
conventions in several
thereby
states, forced the
concentrating too
Federalists to pledge that
much power at the
a Bill of Rights would be
national level and
too little at the state the first order of business
of the new government
and local levels.
established by the
Constitution.
The Anti-Federalists
believed a strong
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The Key Anti-Federalists:
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Patrick Henry
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Richard Henry Lee
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George Mason
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Thomas Jefferson
A New Government
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Elections were held
and the government
was inaugurated in
1789 in the Capital,
New York.
The Constitution
was ratified in
1788.
The Federalists
promised to add
a bill of rights as
their first order
of business.
Virginia’s Influence:
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The major
principles of the
Constitution and
the Bill of Rights
Came from the
Virginia Declaration
of Rights
􀁺This outlined
basic human rights
which the
government should
not violate.
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Virginia Declaration of
Rights was written by
George Mason in
1776
Virginia’s Influence:
The Virginia statute
for Religious
Freedom ended the
practice of a
government
supported church
 Written by Thomas
Jefferson
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Separation of Church
and State was very
important to Jefferson
The Bill of Rights
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􀁺James Madison, a
Virginian, consulted
the Virginia
Declaration of Rights
and the Virginia
Statute for Religious
Freedom when
drafting the
amendments that
eventually became the
United States Bill of
Rights.
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The first 10 amendments
to the Constitution define
rights that can not be
taken away!
Legacies:
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Ratification of the Constitution did not
end debate on governmental power or
how to create “a more perfect union.”
Economic, regional, social, ideological,
religious, and political tensions spawned
continuing debates over the meaning of
the Constitution for generations—a
debate that continues today.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
gave Americans a blueprint for successful
self-government that has become a
model for the rest of the world!