Articles of Confederation

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Articles of Confederation the Constitutional
Convention

• 1776-1787

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When we last left our Founding Fathers.

• Declaration just signed (July 1776)
• American Revolution kicks into full swing
• Only American government was the First
  and Second Continental Congress
• Not really a government by the people
• More of a committee to solve a problem
• NO REAL POWER

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Articles of Confederation

• Needed something more
• Permanent
• Centralized
• Supported by the power of the people

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What happened next?

• Worked on it for _at_ 17 months
• November 1777 Articles of Confederation
• Not ratified until March 1, 1781
• Required all 13 states for ratification
• 11 agreed right away
• Delaware 1779
• Maryland 1781

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Please note

• Confederacy a union of persons, parties, or
  states a league
• How is this different from our current
  government?

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So what did it say?

• Page 227 of your We the People
• Article II
• Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and
  independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and
  right, which is not by this confederation
  expressly delegated to the United States, in
  Congress assembled.

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So what did it say?

• Article III
• a firm league of friendship with each other

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So what did it say?

• Article IV
• The better to secure and perpetuate mutual
  friendship and intercourse among the people of
  the different states in this union,

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So what did it look like?

• Unicameral (one house)
• Each state had one vote (regardless of size)
• No executive or judicial branch
• New president chosen each year
• President of Congress, not the United States

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Troubles with the Articles

• Congress powerless to set and collect taxes
• Congress powerless to regulate trade
• Congress had no power to act/enforce
• No national court system
• Amended with consent of all 13 states
• Laws only passed by 9/13 majority

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Shays Rebellion

• Shays Rebellion no power to collect taxes
• 1500 Farmers stormed the courthouse in MA
• Courts foreclosing on farms
• Importance? Government power was so limited that
  the threat of rebellion became a clear reality

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Review

• After the Declaration, the Articles of
  Confederation were created
• At the end of the Revolutionary War, the people
  and Congress started to realize there were
  problems with the Articles of Conf.
• What were the specific problems?

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Weaknesses of the Art. Of Conf.

• One vote per state
• Congress had no power to set or collect taxes
• Congress could not regulate trade
• No power to enforce acts of Congress
• No national court system
• Amendments only possible through unanimous
  consent (laws with 9/13th vote)

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Most importantly

• We were not a nation state
• We were a confederacy or a loose league of
  independent states
• Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and
  independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and
  right, which is not by this confederation
  expressly delegated to the United States, in
  Congress assembled.

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What happened next?

• Shays Rebellion Mass, 1786
• Joint meeting Annapolis, MD 1786
• Call for another meeting to discuss revising the
  Articles of Confederation
• Set to meet in Philadelphia, 1787
• Friday May 25, 1787
• The Constitutional Convention begins

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Set the scene

• No one called it the Constitutional Convention
• Supposed to revise Articles of Confederation
• Many argued that they had no right to even
  consider creating a new government
• Hot sweltering summer in Philadelphia
• 55 men from the states show
• New Hampshire shows up late
• Rhode Island doesnt send anyone ()

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Who were some of the names?

• George Washington
• James Madison
• Benjamin Franklin
• Alexander Hamilton
• John Dickinson
• John Rutledge
• 8 of them had signed the Declaration

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SSHHHHHH

• Why did the Framers decide to keep the meeting
  secretive?
• 2 reasons
• Free exchange of ideas
• More support from the people if they didnt know
  about the arguments while it was being written

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Do not Disturb

• Were the members of the convention right to
  ignore their original instructions? Why?
• Should the debates at the Constitutional
  Convention have been open to the public? Why?

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What did they do?

• Big leaders were Madison Hamilton
• Believed we needed a strong, central govt.
• Came to become the Federalists
• George Washington elected president of the
  Convention (didnt want to go in the 1st place)
• Edmund Randolph (VA) calls for a new, national
  government.
• Plan to revise the Art. of Confed. scrapped

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The 2 Big Plans

• Group Activity
• In your group, research what the plan called for
• Youll brainstorm reasons that argue for and
  against the details of the plan
• Well share as a class

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Virginia Plan

• Edmund Randolph again (VA)
• Added Executive Judicial branches
• Bi-cameral legislature (Congress)
• Population and/or money contributed
• Power to act, veto, or use force against states
• States required to support national govt.

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Virginia Plan

• Pros

• Cons

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New Jersey Plan

• William Paterson
• Also Executive Judiciary
• Executive of more than one person
• Unicameral legislature
• Each state represented equally

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New Jersey Plan

• Pros

• Cons

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Warm Up 1/22

• Imagine you are a member of the Constitutional
  Convention. Which of the following issues would
  you personally fight for the most and what would
  be your desired outcome in the Constitution? WHY?
• Representation
• Taxation
• Slavery

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The Great Compromise

• Virginia Plan
• Added Executive Judicial branches
• Bi-cameral legislature (Congress)
• Population and/or money contributed

• New Jersey Plan
• Also Executive Judiciary
• Executive of more than one person
• Unicameral legislature
• Each state represented equally

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3/5 Compromise

• Slave Population in 1790

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Key Questions

• What compromises were made around the slavery
  issue during the Convention? (Hint There were 4
  of them.)
• Should the government have left the issue of
  whether to allow slavery or not to the states?
• Is it fair for us to decide the fairness of
  what occurred in 1776?