The Confederation and the Constitution

1776-1790

Alex Lucas, Austin Dailey, Christelle Genis and Coraline Welch

Pursuit of EqualityCrumbling of aristocracy, this affected social

customs and political institutionsSeparation of Church and StateContinental Congress in 1774 called for the

abolition of slavery, although it was not accomplished because it would separate the colonies

Women received the new prestigious title of “Republican Motherhood”, but were still not equal to men

Constitution Making in the StatesContinental Congress in 1776 called to draft

new constitutions in the colonies which officially made the colonies in to new states

Massachusetts’ process of drafting the constitution, by submitting the final draft to the people for ratification

The written law was to represent the fundamental law, which was superior the whims of legislation

Constitution Making in the States Continued…The constitution was meant to define the

powers of governmentStates had weak judicial and executive

branches because England's monarchs left a bad taste in the Patriot’s mouths

Legislators had sweeping powers:Reflected democratic character most were from poor west elected annually

Economy Economic democracy preceded political

democracy because of the abundance of cheap land

Americans were mainly farmers although a sharp stimulus was given to manufacturing by the pre and post war agreements

Economic independence from Britain meant that colonies did not have favored trade

Colonies could now trade with foreign countries

Inflation was on the rise

We weren’t sure what to name this slide…States were sovereign, not unifiedArticles of Confederation made by Congress

and adopted by all thirteen colonies by 1781Created to prove to France that America had

genuine governmentNorthwest Ordinance of 1787 – the

“Republican” states created out of the western territories were later admitted as equal states, the surrendering of western lands by the colonists to the central government led to an addition to the Union

The Articles of Confederation: America’s First ConstitutionNo Executive BranchA clumsy Congress was to be the chief

agency of governmentAll bills dealing with subjects of importance

required the support of 9 states; any amendment of the Articles required unanimous radification

Problems with CongressCongress had no power to regulate tradeThe states had conflicting laws regarding

tariffs and navigationNo power to enforce tax collection; no money

for government

Land LawsLand Ordinance of 1787- Old Northwest sold

and proceeds were used to pay off national debt

Northwest Ordinance of 1787- Territories of Old Northwest subordinate to federal government until population reaches 60,000, then it would become equal to the other statesThe ordinance also forbade slavery in the Old

Northwest

The World’s Ugly Duckling (I hate alex lucas)

Brittan (nice spelling)declined to make a commercial treaty to repeal

it’s ancient navigation laws which shut off trade between their West Indies and America

Spain took control of the Mississippi which strangulated the West

France demanded repayment from the war North African pirates, Dey of Algiers attack

American shippers because American shippers no longer had protection from Brittan

Schafe continuedStates were frustrated at the economic state

of the nation because there was an increase in public debt and a decrease in credit available

Shay’s Rebellion 1786In Massachusetts back-country farmers

demanded cheap paper money, lighter taxes and suspension of property takeovers due to mortgages, foreclosures and tax delinquencies

Rebellion led to people losing confidence in the Republic – needed a stronger confederation

Hammering out a bundle of compromisesNew Jersey came up with the “small-state plan”

which provided equal representation in congress by the states regardless of size and population

Virginia presented the “large-state plan” which offered representation based on the states size and population

The Great Compromise was reached which made the House of Representatives based on the large state plan and the Senate based on the small state plan.

The 3/5ths compromise was formed which stated that a slave was worth 3/5ths of a person when determining a states population

Safeguards of ConservatismThe members of the Continental Convention

agreed that the government should be made of three branches of government each with its checks and balances

The Clash of Federalists and Anti-FederalistsAnti-Federalists consisted of states' rights

devotees, back country dwellers, and one-horse farmers - in general, the poorest class

Federalists were wealthier than the Anti-federalists, more educated, and better organized. They also controlled the press.

The Great Debate in the StatesDelaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia,

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire were the first 9 states to sign the Constitution. Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island were the only states to not sign it.

The Four Laggard StatesVirginia, New York, and North Carolina all

ratified the Constitution before it was put into effect. Rhode Island was the last state to ratify it and it did so only after the new government had been in operation for a few months.

These 4 states did not ratify the Constitution because they wanted to but because they had to. They could not safely exist outside the fold.

A Conservative TriumphThe architects of the Constitution believed

that every branch: executive, judiciary, and legislative, effectively represented the people.

By using the principle of self-rule in a self-limiting system of checks and balances among these 3 branches, the Constitution settled the conflicting doctrines of liberty and order.

DBQ

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail to provide a sufficient constitution for America?Primary Source 1: Excerpt from the Articles of Confederation (1781) Article VIII.All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or

general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states, in proportion to the value of all land within each state, granted to or surveyed for any Person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated according to such mode as the united states in congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint. The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states within the time agreed upon by the united states in congress assembled.

Article XIII.Every state shall abide by the determinations of the united states in congress assembled, on

all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every state, and the union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a congress of the united states, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state.

Primary Source 2: Excerpt fromIntroduction to The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 by James Madison 

The principal difficulties which embarrassed the progress, and retarded the completion of the plan of Confederation, may be traced to 1. the natural repugnance of the parties to a relinquishment of power: 2 a natural jealousy of its abuse in other hands than their own: 3 the rule of suffrage among parties unequal in size, but equal in sovereignty. 4 the ratio of contributions in money and in troops, among parties, whose inequality in size did not correspond with that of their wealth, or of their military or free population. 5 he selection and definition of the powers, at once necessary to the federal head, and safe to the several members.

To these sources of difficulty, incident to the formation of all such Confederacies, were added two others one of a temporary, the other of a permanent nature. The first was the case of the Crown lands, so called because they had been held by the British Crown, and being ungranted to individuals when its authority ceased, were considered by the States within whose charters or asserted limits they lay, as devolving on them; whilst it was contended by the others, that being wrested from the dethroned authority, by the equal exertion of all, they resulted of right and in equity to the benefit of all. The lands being of vast extent and of growing value, were the occasion of much discussion & heart-burning; & proved the most obstinate of the impediments to an earlier consummation of the plan of federal Govt. The State of Maryland the last that acceded to it held out as already noticed, till March 1, 1781, and then yielded only to the hope that by giving a stable & authoritative character to the Confederation, a successful termination of the Contest might be accelerated. The dispute was happily compromised by successive surrenders of portions of the territory by the States having exclusive claims to it, and acceptances of them by Congress.

The other source of dissatisfaction was the peculiar situation of some of the States, which having no convenient ports for foreign commerce, were subject to be taxed by their neighbors, thro whose ports, their commerce was carryed on. New Jersey, placed between Phila & N. York, was likened to a cask tapped at both ends; and N. Carolina, between Virga & S. Carolina to a patient bleeding at both arms. The Articles Of Confederation provided no remedy for the complaint: which produced a strong protest on the part of N. Jersey: and never ceased to be a source of dissatisfaction & discord until the new Constitution, superseded the old.

But the radical infirmity of the "arts Of Confederation" was the dependence of Congs on the voluntary and simultaneous compliance with its Requisitions, by so many independant Communities, each consulting more or less its particular interests & convenience and distrusting the compliance of the others. Whilst the paper emissions of Congs continued to circulate they were employed as a sinew of war, like gold & silver. When that ceased to be the case, the fatal defect of the political System was felt in its alarming force. The war was merely kept alive and brought to a successful conclusion by such foreign aids and temporary expedients as could be applied; a hope prevailing with many, and a wish with all, that a state of peace, and the sources of prosperity opened by it, would give to the Confederacy in practice, the efficiency which had been inferred from its theory.

 Primary Source 3: Excerpt from The General Introduction of The Federalist Papers by

Alexander Hamilton  AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government,

you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America. The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences nothing less than the existence of the UNION, the safety and welfare of the parts of which it is composed, the fate of an empire in many respects the most interesting in the world. It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force. If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.

Among the most formidable of the obstacles which the new Constitution will have to encounter may readily be distinguished the obvious interest of a certain class of men in every State to resist all changes which may hazard a diminution of the power, emolument, and consequence of the offices they hold under the State establishments; and the perverted ambition of another class of men, who will either hope to aggrandize themselves by the confusions of their country, or will flatter themselves with fairer prospects of elevation from the subdivision of the empire into several partial confederacies than from its union under one government.