New Nation Study Guide SOL USI.7 Articles of Confederation:

• The first constitution (list of laws for a country) written during the American Revolution to establish powers of the government

Weaknesses to the Articles of Confederation:

• 1) Provided for a weak national government o State government had more power than the national

• 2) Gave Congress no power to tax or regulate commerce (trade) among the states

o Congress could not tax; therefore preventing them from raising revenue (money) for the country

• 3) Provided for no common currency o Money was different in each state preventing national economies

• 4) Gave each state one vote regardless of size o States like Rhode Island (small population) have the same number of

votes in Congress as Virginia (large population) • 5) Provided for no executive or judicial branch

o There was no one to enforce the laws or make judiciary decisions • These weaknesses combined to lead the Articles of Confederation to failure • They also led to the effort to draft a new constitution

Constitutional Convention

• State delegates met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Decided to not revise (change) the Articles of Confederation but to get rid of

them and write a new constitution • George Washington was elected preside of the Constitutional Convention

• Discussion at Constitutional Convention

• Areas of discussion for the new law of the land: o How much power the national government would get o Representation for small and large states

• Decisions on National Government: o State and National Governments would share power o National Government’s structure would be split into three branches

New Nation Study Guide SOL USI.7

The Three Branches of Government: • Legislative: Congress; Senate and House of Representatives (2 house)

o Makes laws • Executive: President and Vice President

o Enforces the laws; has the right to veto laws from Legislative branch • Judicial: Supreme Court

o Makes sure laws meet the Constitution; settling legal disputes State Representation

• One of the biggest areas of dismay during the convention was how to deal with state representation

• Such a big issue, due to it being one of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

• Large states wanted voting based off of population • Small states wanted each state to have the same • The Great Compromise came about

o Decided there would be a 2 house legislative branch o Senate: each state had the same number of votes o House of Representatives: each state had a number of votes based off it’s

population

New Nation Study Guide SOL USI.7 Signing and Ratification

• At the end of the convention, the Constitution of the United States was signed • However, in order for it to become law it has to be ratified • Ratification could happen if:

o 9 out of 13 states voted in favor of the Constitution • Some states would not vote for the Constitution because they wanted to make

sure the rights and freedoms fought for in the American Revolution were protected

• This led to the Bill of Rights being added to the Constitution Bill of Rights

• The first ten amendments to the Constitution provide a written guarantee (promise) of individual rights

o Examples: freedom of speech, religion, press, etc. • Based off of the Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason and the Virginia

Statute of Religious Freedom by Thomas Jefferson • After the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, the Constitution was

ratified and made the new law of the United States of America (Constitution)

New Nation Study Guide SOL USI.7 First Five Presidents and Their Accomplishments

• George Washington: o Federal Court System was established (Supreme Court) o The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution of the United States of

America o Plans were created for development of the national capital in

Washington DC ! Benjamin Banneker: An African American astronomer and surveyor

helped complete the design of the city • John Adams:

o A two- party system emerged during his administration • Thomas Jefferson:

o Bought the Louisiana Purchase from France o Lewis and Clark explored the new land west of the Mississippi River

• James Madison: o The War of 1812 caused European nations to gain respect for the United

States • James Monroe:

o He introduced the Monroe Doctrine ! A document warning European nations not to interfere with the

Western Hemisphere

• All of the first five presidents were from Virginia except for John Adams.