5.1 Governing the Western Lands.

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5.1 Governing the Western Lands.
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• March 1781 The Articles of Confederation went
  into effect.
• Questions came up on how to govern all of the
  land WEST of the Appalachians
• Land Ordinance of 1785
• Passed by congress
• Government leaders searched for a way to get
  money
• Fastest and easiest way would be to raise money
• To avoid just letting the rich buy the land in
  bulk, Government sold the land in small and
  affordable portions.
• Government would survey the land divide into
  townships of 36 square miles or 640 acres.
  Government sold the land for 1 per acre.

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• Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• Divided land into territories.
• Set requirements for the admission of new states.
  
• This ordinance overlooked Native Americans.
• 3 Stages of becoming a State
• Congress appoints a territorial governor and
  judges.
• When a territory reached 5,000 voting residents,
  the settlers could write a temporary constitution
  and elect their own government.
• When total population reached 60,000, the
  settlers could write a state constitution, which
  needed to be approved by congress before granted
  statehood.

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• 3 Stages to becoming a state
• New governors appointed

Population 5,000 then a constitution is drawn up
Population 60,000 then a state constitution is
drawn up and statehood is applied for!!!
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The Confederation Encounters Problems

• Problems
• Economic Issues
• Taxation
• National debt
• Political issues
• Foreign relations
• The country lacked national unity
• Each stated functioned on their own and pursued
  their own interest.
• Each state only had one vote each, which meant
  that the smaller states had just as much power as
  the larger states.
• The Revolutionary war put the government in debt
  190 million.

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• Idea to get money back
• Congress requested state approval to impose
  tariffs to use the money made to pay off all
  loans.
• Tariff is a tax on imported goods.
• Rhode Island refused to accept tariff, which
  meant that the request was denied. (had to have a
  unanimous approval)
• Conflicts
• Creditors v. Debtors
• Creditors lenders of money
• Debtors borrowers of money
• The Higher taxes sent farmers into debt.

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• Paper money
• Increase v. Decrease
• Debtors wanted to increase the supply of
  moneythis would make the value of money go down.
  This would allow the debtors to pay off the
  creditors.
• Creditors wanted to decrease the supply of money
  to keep its full value.

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• Foreign Relation Problems.
• United States could not afford to repay the debts
  owed to British Merchants and loyalists.
• British refused to remove troops from the forts
  on the Great Lakes.
• Spain closed down the Mississippi River to the
  Americans.
• This hurt American trade because the inner states
  could not navigate up and down the river.
• Weakness of the Articles of Confederation
• Congress could not enact taxes (some states would
  not vote on it)
• Could regulate interstate or foreign trade
• Each state had only 1 vote
• 2/3 voted needed to pass any law
• Articles could only be amended if all states
  approved it
• No Executive Branch
• No national court system
• They had 13 Separate States

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5.2 Drafting the Constitution (p. 140)
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• Shays Rebellion
• was a protest by farmers
• caused panic throughout the United States and
  urged the government to rethink the articles of
  confederation
• Daniel Shay
• he was a farmer from Massachusetts
• Returning from the Revolutionary War
• He came back from the war to find that he was in
  debt.
• Victim of too much taxation
• September 1786
• Shay leads an army of angry farmers. They marched
  to the close the court systems down (was an
  attempt to stop the tax collectors.)
• 1,200 farmers
• 4 of the rebels were killed

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• Shays rebellion really scared Congress because it
  involved so many farmers.
• They were nervous that everyone would have the
  same feelings.
• So congress decided that congress needed to meet
  and rethink their governments.
• Call for Convention
• a meeting was called to discuss interstate trade
  and taxation.
• only 5 states send representatives.
• Another meeting was called after the incident
  with Shays rebellion.
• This meeting dealt with trade issues as well as
  the many problems the nation is facing.
• 12 states attended this meeting in Philadelphia
  (Rhode Island did not attend)
• 55 delegates were there including Ben Franklin,
  George Washington and Alexander Hamilton
• They decided to form a new government instead of
  revising the Articles of Confederation
• They needed to have fair representation to both
  small and large states.

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• The Great Compromise
• Roger Sherman, a Political leader from
  Connecticut suggested this idea
• 2 House Congress (one to satisfy both the small
  and large states)
• Each state will have equal representation in the
  Senate (senate is the UPPER house) The State
  Legislature votes on the members of the Senate
• Population determines the representation in the
  House of Representatives (Lower House) Voters of
  each state choose the members of the House

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5.3 Ratifying the Constitution
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• Many people had no idea what to expect from the
  convention.
• After the convention was over and the new
  constitution was written, a copy was printed in
  the newspapers.
• This new constitution caused a lot of controversy
  amongst the people.

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• Controversies
• Ratification- The official approval of the change
  of Constitution
• Each state had to hold a special convention where
  its the people voted on who would represent them
  in a convention that would either accept or
  reject this new proposal.
• needed 9 states to vote for the change of the
  constitution to get the ratification

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• Federalists- people who supported the New
  Constitution
• favored a balance of power between national
  government and the state government
• favored by small states, ones with weak
  economies
• Key Federalist George Washington
• James Madison
• Alexander Hamilton
• Antifederalists- people who opposed the new
  Constitution
• opposed a strong central government
• Feared government would serve interest of the
  privileged minorities.
• said constitution had a lack of protection for
  the individual rights.
• Supporters from rural areas, large states, and
  strong economies
• Key Antifederlalist Patrick Henry
• Samuel
  Adams
• Richard
  Henry Lee

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• The Federalists
• 85 essays defending the Constitution
• These essays appeared in NY newspapers from 1787
  1788
• Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and
  John Jay
• These essays explained in detail the different
  parts of the new Constitution to the people
  and explained why they are good for them.
• Letters from the Federal Farmer
• believed to be written by Richard Henry Lee
• was an Antifederalist paper.
• Listed the rights they felt, should be protected
  but are not.
• Ex. Freedom of press or religion, unreasonable
  search and seizure, trial by jury.

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• The Bill of Rights Leads to Ratification
• This new Constitution did not contain rights for
  the people or the states.
• Antifederalist demanded that their rights be met.
  They needed freedom of speech, press, and
  religion. They needed trial by jury.
• Federalist claimed that the powers given to
  government were only limited and that the checks
  and balances would not allow them to interfere
  with the rights of the people.
• Result the federalist gave way to the
  antifederalist and bill of rights was promised if
  the states ratify the Constitution.

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• Ratification
• Delaware was the first state to ratify the
  constitution
• New Hampshire was the 9th. 1788
• At this time New York and Virginia had not
  voted. This was huge because they are two major
  cities and the government needed their approval.
• Adoption of a Bill Of Rights
• September 1789, Congress submits 12 amendments to
  the legislature to be decided on and ratified.
• Ten amendments were ratified
• Bill of Rights
• 1st through 8th amendments are for the people
• 9th and 10th are limits on the government