Creating the Constitution

1
Creating the Constitution
2
The Articles of Confederation

• During the Revolution, the new United States
  needed a functioning government
• Modeled after colonial governments
• States would retain sovereignty
• Founders were fearful of concentrated power due
  to past experience with the British

3
A Limited Government

• Articles established a firm league of
  friendship among the states
• Bills were passed on nine of thirteen votes
• Amending the Articles took unanimous consent of
  the states

4
Structure of Government

• Unicameral (single house) legislative body
• Each state had one vote regardless of population
  size
• Congress given sole authority to govern the
  country
• An executive committee oversaw government when
  Congress was not in session
• Congress would establish temporary courts to hear
  disputes among the states

5
Powers Granted to Government under the Articles
of Confederation

• Declare war and make peace
• Make treaties with foreign countries
• Establish an army and navy
• Appoint high-ranking military officials
• Requisition, print, and borrow money
• Establish weights and measures
• Hear disputes among the states related to trade
  or boundaries

6
Powers Denied to Government

• No power to raise funds for an army or navy
• No power to tax, impose tariffs, or collect
  duties
• No executive branch to enforce laws
• No power to control trade among the states
• No power to force states to honor obligations
• No power to regulate the value of currency

7
Accomplishments of the Articles of Confederation

• Administered the seven-year war effort
• Negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain in
  1783
• Established the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Map of the land settled in the Northwest
Ordinance of 1787
8
Problems Facing the New Nation

• Trade with foreign nations
• Financing the nation
• Foreign relations
• Interstate relations

A 1783 cartoon satirizing relations between
Britain and America
9
Problems Facing the New Nation You Decide

• Trade with foreign nations
• Financing the nation
• Foreign relations
• Interstate relations

10
Problems with Trade

• U.S. no longer the favorite trading partner of
  Great Britain
• U.S. exports to British ports had to be on
  British ships
• Many U.S.-produced goods were barred from British
  ports
• Britain sent vast amounts of cheap goods to U.S.
• Potential Remedy
• Establish a tariff on British goods
• Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing
  this solution

11
Problems Financing the Nation

• Post-war debt owed to U.S. citizens and foreign
  nations
• Printing of Continental Dollars caused inflation
• Economic depression due to loss of trade,
  decreased value of the dollar, and increased
  state taxes
• Potential Remedies
• Pass a tax law to raise revenue to pay debt
• Force states to stop printing paper money
• Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing
  these solutions

12
Problems in Foreign Relations

• British passed Navigation Acts to destroy
  American shipping industry
• Spain restricted access to Mississippi River and
  New Orleans
• British troops occupied portions of the NW
  Territory
• Barbary Pirates freely preyed on U.S. shipping
• Potential Remedies
• Raise an army to force foreign governments to
  comply with treaty
• Raise a navy to protect American merchant ships
• Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing
  these solutions

13
Problems with Interstate Relations

• States placed trade restrictions on neighboring
  states
• State legislatures were not meeting their
  financial obligations to the nation or treaty
  obligations to British citizens
• States didnt honor court decisions regarding
  territory disputes
• Potential Remedies
• Pass laws to control interstate trade
• Force states to comply with financial and treaty
  obligations
• Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing
  these solutions

14
17811789 The Critical Period

• Postwar breakdown in social and economic systems
  made problems worse
• Lack of power made the national government
  ineffective
• The creators of the Articles had emphasized state
  sovereignty, not national unity

1786 American coat of arms
15
Trouble in Massachusetts

• Debt problems hit Massachusetts farmers
• Economic depression and lack of remedy from state
  legislatures increases frustration

Boston in 1787
16
Shayss Rebellion

• Daniel Shays led a band of farmers to stop farm
  foreclosures
• Rebellion quickly broken up but became a wake-up
  call to many leaders

Caricatures of Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck,
leaders of the rebellion
17
A Need for Change

• Many felt the problems were local and required
  local solutions
• Several leaders saw problems were national in
  scope
• They met at Annapolis to discuss problems of
  interstate trade
• Pushed for a convention to address the weaknesses
  of the Articles
• Congress agreed to call a convention with a
  mandate to revise the Articles

18
The Constitutions Origins

• Ancient Greece and Rome
• The theories of the Enlightenment
• Evolution of English government
• The colonial experience

19
Historical Influences on the Constitution

• Classical learning of the Greeks and Romans

• The Greeks
• Value of citizenship
• Role of the people in government
• Divided functions of government

• The Romans
• Laws based on equity and justice

20
The Enlightenment

• Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau
• Political ideas
• The people are sovereign
• Government is a contract between the people and
  the government
• People possess natural rights of life, liberty
  and property
• If government abuses its power, the people can
  take it back

Rousseau
Locke
Montesquieu
21
English Influences
English Bill of Rights (1689)
Petition of Right (1628)
Magna Carta (1215)
22
The Magna Carta1215

• English barons meet with King John at Runnymede
• No taxation without consent
• Respect property rights
• Follow due process in legal matters
• No unjust punishment
• Abide by the rule of law

King John places his seal on Magna Carta
23
Petition of Right1628

• Origins of Parliament
• Similar provisions as found in Magna Carta
• Also includes
• No quartering of troops in peoples homes
• No martial law in peace time

King Charles I
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The English Bill of Rights

• William and Mary became the monarchs of England
  under the English Bill of Rights
• Agreed to respect the rights of citizens and rule
  by the laws of Parliament
• Supremacy of Parliament
• The king could not suspend laws without
  Parliaments consent
• Citizens had the right to petition the government
• Members of Parliament were to be elected by the
  people
• Sessions of Parliament were to be held frequently
• Parliament would regulate the army in times of
  peace

25
Colonial Influences

• 1619 Virginia establishes the first
  representative Government
• 1630 Mayflower Compact sets down the principle
  of majority rule and voluntarily agreeing to be
  governed
• 1639 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
  establishes that political agreements are written
  down
• Colonial charters limited the power of the
  government to preserve peoples rights
• Cases like that of John Peter Zenger established
  precedents for freedom and liberty

The Mayflower Compact
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The Declaration of Independence

1. The people are sovereign

1. Government is a contract between the people and
   the government

1. People possess natural rights of life, liberty
   and property

1. If government abuses its power, the people can
   take it back

27
The Philadelphia Convention
Delegates at the Federal Convention1787
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The Delegates

• Delegates who attended
• Qualifications and experience
• Occupations

George Washington
Benjamin Franklin
James Madison
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The Delegates (continued)

• Collective beliefs and philosophies of the
  delegates
• Importance of those who werent there

Not in attendance
Patrick Henry
Thomas Jefferson
Samuel Adams
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The Convention Begins

• Delayed beginning
• Proceedings conducted in secret
• Delegates decide to discuss all matters of
  government, not just revisions to the Articles

Philadelphia in 1787
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The Virginia Plan

• Proposed a strong national government
• Three active branches of government
• Legislative
• Executive
• Judicial
• Two-house Congress with proportional
  representation

Edmund Randolph
Gouverneur Morris
32
Central Questions

• What powers should the government have?
• How much power should the government be given?
• Equal representation seen as undemocratic
• Proportional representation thought to favor only
  large states

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The New Jersey Plan

• Single-house legislature
• Equal representation
• Plural executive elected by Congress
• Supreme Court chosen by executive
• Acts by Congress and treaties superior to state
  law

William Paterson
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The Debate Rages On

• Battle over representation and apportionment
  continues
• Other matters debated and decided

Illustration of Benjamin Franklin speaking at the
convention
35
The Great Compromise

• The House would have proportional representation
• The Senate would have equal representation

The hall of the House of Representatives
The Senate building
36
Compromises between Northern and Southern States

• Three-fifths of slave populations would be
  included in determining House representation
• The South agreed to allow Congress to have the
  power to pass tariffs
• The North agreed not to interfere with slave
  importation for 20 years
• Compromises avoided makingslavery an issue for
  debate
• Framers ended up merelypostponing a national
  calamity

37
Limits on Democracy

• Delegates wanted to limit democracy
• Plan to indirectly elect the president
• Federal judiciary made an appellate court
• Power to declare any law unconstitutional not
  stated, but implied

The Philadelphia state house around the time of
the Constitutional Convention
38
Major Features and Innovations

• Separation of powers
• Checks and balances
• Limits on direct democracy

39
Major Features and Innovations (continued)

• Supremacy clause
• Federalism

40
Major Features and Innovations (continued)

• Amendments
• Ratification process

41
Signing the Constitution
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Review Questions

• Why was the Constitutional Convention called?
• Why did the delegates decide not to amend the
  Articles of Confederation?
• What was the basic organization for government
  proposed in the Virginia Plan?
• Why was the New Jersey plan rejected by the
  majority of the delegates?
• Why did the delegates spend so much time and
  energy on the apportionment for representation in
  the Congress?
• What were the delegates general views on
  democracy for the people, and how were they
  reflected in some of the provisions of the
  Constitution?

43
The Struggle for Ratification

• Congress agrees to send the Constitution to the
  states
• Ratification procedure called for direct input
  from the people and not the state legislatures or
  Congress
• Two distinct views emerged
• The Federalists
• The Anti-Federalists

44
Federalists

• Who were the Federalists?
• Central government essential
• Believed the Constitution addressed all the
  shortcomings of the Articles
• Provisions in place to check governments power

Alexander Hamilton
John Jay
James Madison
45
Anti-Federalists

• Who were the Anti-Federalists?
• Central government had too much power
• The distant government would neglect their
  needs
• The Constitution favored the wealthy and
  commercial classes
• No protection of individual liberties

Richard Henry Lee
Patrick Henry
Samuel Adams
46
The Federalists Hard Sell

• Argued that the Constitution adequately addressed
  the countrys problems
• The Federalist Papers provided sound, reasoned
  arguments
• Portrayed the Constitution as the bestand
  onlyplan available

47
Early Battles for Ratification

• Delaware, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut
• Battles in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts

Cartoon satirizing events in Connecticut at the
time of the states ratification convention
48
The Ratification Battle in Virginia

• Famous figures on both sides of the debate
• Maryland, South Carolina ratify by the time the
  Virginia convention opens
• New Hampshire ratifieswhile the convention is
  going on
• Virginia ratifies the Constitution by a slim
  margin soon afterward

Pro-Constitution cartoon
49
The Final States Ratify

• New York
• North Carolina ratifies in November of 1789
• Rhode Island ratifies in May of 1790

50
Creation of a Bill of Rights

• Initially, the Constitution had no bill of rights
• Briefly mentioned during the federal convention
  but rejected
• During the ratification conventions, it became
  clear a bill of rights was desired
• Federalists agreed to include a bill of rights
• Bill of Rights drafted and approved in the first
  Congress in 1789
• Approved by the people through the amendment
  process in 1791

51
The Promise in the Bill of Rights

• Written rights dont guarantee rights
• The Bill of Rights continued the dialogue on
  liberty and freedom discussed at the Federal
  convention
• 14th amendment Federal and state governments
  are held accountable to not violate peoples
  rights
• Democracy is best practiced by people defending
  their rights
• The Supreme Court serves as the forum for
  continued dialogue over
  peoples rights and freedoms