State Constitutions

1
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Differing Opinions
• Elite republicans welcomed hierarchical rule,
  not based on heredity. Feared democracy as mob
  rule.
• Working poor people - worried that propertied
  elites prospered at their expense
• Rural Colonist emphasized decentralization of
  power as much as possible

2
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• From Colonies to States
• Emphasis of State Governments during
  Revolutionary War
• Intensification of prewar struggle between more
  radical democratic elements and elites who would
  minimize popular participation
• New states continued to retain colonial
  precedents that favored the wealthiest elites

3
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• From Colonies to States
• Colonial Practices in New State Constitutions
• 11 had bicameral legislatures
• Few questioned property requirements for voters
  and elected officials
• Representatives should use independent judgment
  (not just vote the will of the people)
• Candidates campaigned on basis of personal
  reputation and fitness for office not policies.
• 1770s 1780s equal distribution of legislative
  seats between cities and counties

4
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• From Colonies to States
• Colonial Practices in New State Constitutions
  (checks on Power)
• Colonist changed previously British
  constitutions were body of customary arrangements
  and practices
• Colonists now saw Constitution as written
  compacts that defined and limited the powers of
  rulers
• Constitutions were adopted by popular
  ratification and could only be changed if voters
  decided to amend.

5
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• From Colonies to States
• Colonial Practices in New State Constitutions
  (checks on Power)
• Revolutionary Constitutions spelled out
  citizens fundamental rights as final check on
  government
• 1784 all states included Bill of Rights in state
  constitutions

6
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• From Colonies to States
• After newness of Revolution
• Wealthier landowners, bankers, merchants, and
  lawyers, reasserted their desires for centralized
  authority and political prerogatives of wealth.
• Apportionment according to property values
• Governor with powers to appoint and vetoing
  legislation
• 1790 Georgia and Pennsylvania substituted
  unicameral legislature
• Other states raise property qualifications
• Making room for Wisdom, remarkable integrity

7
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• From Colonies to States
• After newness of Revolution
• Thomas Paine 1782
• The American Revolution was intended to ring in
  a new era and give a new turn to human affairs.

8
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• 1776 John Dickinson drafted a proposal for the
  national Constitution
• Congress adopted a weakened version of his
  proposal

9
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Ratified by all thirteen states in 1777,
  reserved to each state its sovereignty, freedom
  and independence and was a very weak and
  ineffectual government.
• Americans were citizens of state first and nation
  second
• 1776 Whigs never considered consolidating this
  vast continent under one National Government
• Confederacy of States, each must have a separate
  government

10
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Structure of Government
• Executive there was none
• Congressional Committees oversaw financial,
  diplomatic, and military affairs
• Judicial there was none
• No system to compel allegiance to its laws
• Legislative all authority held by Congress

11
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Structure of Government
• Legislative all authority held by Congress
• Unicameral congress
• One vote per state (regardless of the number of
  delegates sent by each state or population)
• No power to tax (without every states approval),
  had to request money from states
• No power to regulate interstate or foreign
  commerce

12
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• War-related political issues
• Funding the military
• Establishing military alliance with France
• Negotiating a Treaty

13
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Robert Morris U. S. Superintendent of Finance
• U.S. had borrowed funds form abroad and printed
  paper money (continentals)
• Lack of faith in government destroyed value 98
  loss 1776-1781
• Attempted passage of the Import Duty of 1782
  Rhodes Island voted against
• State versus national control of war debt debate
  (and the need to establish financial credit,
  attract capital, and establish a strong national
  government)

14
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Newburgh Conspiracy 1783 Robert Morris and
  Alexander Hamilton
• Persuaded army officers, to threaten a coup
  detat unless the treasury obtain the taxation
  authority needed to raise their pay
• George Washington stopped the plot
• 1783 war ends and contributions from states
  decreasing
• Late 1780s states 80 behind requested funds to
  operate and honor national debt

15
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Economic Depression 1784
• North East hit the hardest poor land for
  farming, high taxes, and tightening credit
• Mid-Atlantic ship farm goods to Europe (famine)
• Southern Planters switch crops (hemp)
• 1770 2/3 of exports originated in the South
• 1790 less than ½ came form the South
• British Trade restrictions Confederation could
  not pry trade concessions from Great Britain
• Before war 60 of Northern exports went to West
  Indies
• Half of all American exports went to Great
  Britain or its colonies
• Great Britain had halted trade during the war

16
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Western territories Northwest Territories
  states surrendered claims to more that 160
  million acres north of the Ohio River, 1780-1786
• Ordinance of 1785 Congress established uniform
  procedures for surveying this land
• Law established a township six miles square as a
  basic unit of settlement.
• Etc.
• Northwest Ordinance of 1787 congress defined
  the steps to become a state
• it forbade slavery while a territory, but after
  becoming a state it could be legalized
• These two ordinances laid procedures for
  territory farther west

17
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Indian Affairs Dec of Ind. Described the
  natives as merciless Indian savages
• Most available land from Appalachians to
  Mississippi River was occupied by Native
  Americans
• 1789 divided into more than 80 tribes 150,000
  people
• Confederation commissioners declared You are a
  subdued peoplewe claim the country by conquest.

18
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Indian Affairs
• Northwestern Indians gave in under threats of
  continued warfare
• Iroquois lost about ½ of their land in NY and
  Pennsylvania in the second treaty of Fort
  Stanwix, 1784
• Delaware Shawnee leaders were forced to
  recognize American sovereignty over their lands
  at Fort McIntosh Treaty, 1785 and Fort Finny
  Treaty, 1786

19
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Indian Affairs
• Most Indians reacted with outrage
• Repudiated Treaties
• Natives felt British still present in the west,
  would supply arms to resist
• Mohawk Joseph Brant
• Leader of Indian resistance
• Translated book of Mark and Anglican Prayers
• Became minor celebrity in London

20
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Shayss Rebellion 1786
• Jay Gardoqui Treaty -
• opened up valuable Spanish markets to eastern
  merchants
• Renounced Spanish claims to disputed southwestern
  lands
• Relinquished American export rights through New
  Orleans for another 20 years
• Treaty rejected by Americans

21
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Shayss Rebellion 1786
• The depression of the 1780s in New England not
  fully recovered
• Competing political interests in the issue of
  national government powers
• New England Farmers taxes, etc
• Mid-Atlantic and southern farmers open markets
  for goods,
• Massachusetts bankers strong government for
  confidence
• Merchants and shippers secure shipping abroad
  to ensure economic stability and Americas
  standing in Atlantic Econ
• Land speculators more activist policy against
  Spain, Britain and Natives
• Western settlers more activist policy against
  Spain, Britain, and Natives
• Urban artisans Govt that would impose a
  uniformly high tariff as protection from foreign
  competition

22
State Constitutions Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation
• Postwar issues
• Shayss Rebellion 1786
• Daniel Shays and the farmers protest
• Created fear of mobocracy vulnerability
• Rumored threats by Spanish
• Widespread public awareness of the weaknesses of
  the national government
• The Annapolis Convention and the call for a
  convention to revise the Articles of
  Confederation