Chapter 7

What Now?•American Revolution is

over.•Who won?•What should we do?•Plan our government?

Chapter 7.1

13 Independent States

1. Britain ignored the Treaty of Paris and kept troops at frontier posts in American territory

Why? They felt the new American government was weak and ineffective.

2. Constitution: plan of government• Congress asked the states to organize their

governments and each moved quickly to adopt a State Constitution

• Connecticut and Rhode Island kept their colonial charters

• Their experience with British rule made Americans cautious about placing too much power in the hands of one ruler

• The states Adopted constitutions that limited power of the governor

3. Limiting Power• Most states established a

two-house or Bicameral legislature

• Wanted to keep the power in the hands of the people

Voting• State legislators were popularly elected

(Popular vote wins) and• Elections were held frequently (Vote

often)• Who can vote?

–21 yr old white males who owned land–Some states allowed free African Americans to vote

The Legislature was the most powerful branch of government

4. •They agreed the country should be a Republic: a government in which citizens rule through elected representatives

•Weak central government•States act independently•Work together to wage war and handle relations with other nations

5. New Government

•During the RevolutionThe 2nd Continental Congress met to write a plan for a central government

•Articles of Confederation was adopted in November 1777

Articles of Confederation

•1st Constitution•new central government Was WEAK - states gave up little of their power

6. What could the Congress do?

Could:–Conduct foreign affairs–Maintain armed forces–Borrow money–Issue currency Could NOT:

– Regulate trade– Force citizens to

join the army– Impose taxes

7. Under the new plan

• Each state had one vote in Congressregardless of population

All states had to approve the Articles as well as any amendments

On March 1, 1781, the Confederation formally became the government of the United States

– Add: No chief executive

8. The Articles of Confederation did not provide a government strong enough to handle the

problems facing the US. Some things it did accomplish:

•Won independence•Expanded foreign trade•Helped settle and govern western areas

•Congress realized it had to Extend its national authority over the frontier and bring order to the territory

•Thomas Jefferson’s plan divided the western territories into self-governing districts

•They could Petition, or apply to, Congress for statehood

9. New Land Polices

Ordinance - law• Established a procedure for

Surveying and selling the western lands north of the Ohio River

• The new law divided this territory into townships six miles long and six miles wide.Townships were further divided into 36 sections – section 16 reserved

for schools

10. Ordinance of 1785

•Passed in 1787•Created a single Northwest Territory

out of lands north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River

•Once the population reached 60,000 could petition for statehood

•Once entered they would have the same rights as the original 13 states

•Stopped the spread of Slavery in the west

11.Northwest Ordinance

• Money printed during the Revolution depreciated

-Depreciate: fall in value• No gold or silver to back the

money• Value of the money plummeted• Caused Riots

12. Financial Problems

• British troops still in America• Never withdrew after Treaty

of Paris• British kept America out of

the West Indies and other profitable British markets

13. Problems with Britain

• John Adams went to London to discuss the problems

• England angry because we never repaid the Loyalists

Problems with Britain

• Closed the lower Mississippi River to American shipping

• Western settlers depended on this for commerce

14. Problems with Spain

15. Many Americans began to agree the country needed a

stronger government

Chapter 7.2

• Depression-period when economic activity slowed and unemployment increased

• Plantations damaged• Trade slowed• Currency shortage

Economic Depression

• Could not sell goods• Couldn't pay back debts• Lands seized or jailed• Protests & Revolts

Farmer’s problems

• Daniel Shays lead 1,000 farmers to the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts

• Militia warned them to stop• 4 men were shot and killed

Shays’s Rebellion

• Frightened many Americans• Government could not control• Washington “mankind, when

left to themselves, are unfit for their own government”

• Jefferson “a little rebellion now and then, is a good thing”

Shays’s Rebellion

• Legal in all states• Some states had a high tax on

the importation of slaves• Quakers 1st antislavery

society• Started to gradually end

slavery in some states

Slavery

• Even if freed, still discriminated

• Separate facilities• Plantation system in south was

built on slavery• many feared that the economy

could not survive without it

Slavery

• Virginia passed a law that encouraged manumission

• Manumission-freeing of slaves

• This began to divide the country• North vs. South• Decided to now change the

Articles of Confederation

Slavery

• Some were satisfied with the Articles of Confederation

• Yet, many more felt that a STRONG government is what we needed

• Demanded reform

Time for Change

• James Madison- Virginian and “Father of Constitution”

• Alexander Hamilton-New York

• Called for a convention, a need for change

• In Philadelphia

Time for Change

• In Philadelphia• Began May 1787, hot!!• 55 delegates• Very educated• President of convention

George Washington

Constitutional Convention

• Ben Franklin• James Wilson• Gouverneur Morris• Edmund Randolph

• James Madison “Father of the Constitution”

Constitutional Convention

• Edmund Randolph proposed that the delegates create a STRONG national government instead of revising the Articles

• Plan for a two-house (bi-cameral) legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature and a court system

• James Madison idea

Virginia Plan

• Legislature-people vote for• Upper house chosen by lower

house• Proportional or corresponding

in size to population• Largest population states would

have more representation• Large states support

Virginia Plan

• Kept the Confederations one-house legislature

• One vote for each state• Congress set taxes and

regulate trade• Weak executive branch with

more than one person• Small states support

New Jersey Plan

• Revise Articles of confederation?

• Write a new Constitution?• Equal Representation?• How elected?• Vote on June 19-voted to

work with the Virginia plan, but still needed more

Questions & Compromise

• Compromise- an agreement between two or more ideas in which each side gives up some of what it wants

• Roger Sherman Suggested

Great Compromise

Two-house legislature– House of

Representations: based on population

– Senate: 2 per state

Great Compromise

• How to count Slaves?• Property or people?• Count each enslaved

person 3/5 of a free person for both taxation and representation

• 5 Slaves = 3 Free People

Three-Fifths Compromise

• Needed to resolve issue• This divided the North and

South• Agreed that Congress could

not get involved in the Slave trade until 1808

• Then congress could limit

Slave Trade

Chapter 7.3

New Plan of Government

EnlightenmentEnlightenment•Knowledge, Reason & Science can improve society

•John Locke•Natural Rights:

–Life Liberty Property

1215 1215 Magna CartaMagna Carta

•Placed the limits on the power of the King

•Defined the rights of the British monarchs & citizens

• State & Federal working Together

• Division of powers between the national & state governments

Federal System

• To check Congress the President can Veto

• President• Enforce the law

Executive Branch

• Law Making• Congress• House of Representatives

– Based on population

• Senate– 2 per state

Legislative Branch

• Supreme Court• Judge the Law• Interpret the Law• Compare to the

Constitution

Judicial Branch

• Votes for the President• Almost always vote

majority vote

Electoral College

• Checks the other branches

• Keeps any one branch from gaining too much power

Checks & Balances

• Member of a former political party in the United States that favored a STRONG centralized federal government

• “Federalist Papers”– Support Constitution

Federalists

• Opposed the adoption of the Constitution of the United States

• STRICT Interpretation• Must SPELL it out• Afraid Constitution would

take the rights away from the people

AntiFederalists

• President of Constitutional Convention

• 1st President of USA• General in American

Revolution

George Washington

• George Washington• Alexander Hamilton• Benjamin Franklin• James Madison

Constitutional Convention

• United States Government

• FINAL authority• Constitution is our law

Constitution

• George Mason proposed• Needed so the new

government would not abuse our powers

Bill of Rights

AmendmentsAmendments•1st 10 amendments are the Bill of Rights

•1st Amendment Freedoms•Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition

• Hard to get unanimous vote

• 9 of 13 states needed to approve

• September 17, 1787 meet in Philadelphia to vote

Approval