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THE CONSTITUTION & THE NEW REPUBLIC
UNIT III – CH. 6
The Mass militia is called out to The Mass militia is called out to stop itstop it
SIGNIFICANCESIGNIFICANCE: Prompted : Prompted national leaders to create a national leaders to create a stronger central governmentstronger central government
• Called by Alexander Hamilton– NY lawyer– Officer under GW– Commercial questions
• Annapolis Convention – only 5 showed• Call for Philadelphia Convention following
year– Purpose to amend A of C– Supported by GW after Shays’ Rebellion –
inspired other states to attend
• “for the sole and express purpose of revising the A of C.”– Yeah, not so much
• 55 delegates; May-Sept. 1787• All states (not so fast Rhode Island)• “Founding Fathers”:–Well-educated– Property-owning class– VA: James Madison, Edmund Randolph –
key roles in structure
– 1787 Framers needed to centralize power• Bridge between theory and reality
– Divides the national government into three branches
– Describes the powers of those branches and their connections
– Outlines the interaction between the government and the governed
– Describes the relationship between the national government and the states
– Is the supreme law of the land
The Constitution – An Overview
• 3 branches3 branches• Checks & balancesChecks & balances• Majority rule, Majority rule,
minority rightsminority rights• Federalism = strong Federalism = strong
central govcentral gov’’t w/ t w/ powers reserved for powers reserved for statesstates
• Article I – legislativeArticle I – legislative• Article II – executiveArticle II – executive• Article III – judicialArticle III – judicial
• Article IV – statesArticle IV – states• Article V – Article V –
amendment amendment processprocess
• Article VI – national Article VI – national supremacysupremacy
• Article VII – Article VII – ratificationratification
• Amendments… Amendments… starting with Bill of starting with Bill of RightsRights
• BicameralBicameral (two-house) (two-house) legislaturelegislature– House of House of
RepresentativesRepresentatives with with proportional proportional representationrepresentation
– SenateSenate with equal with equal representation (2 per representation (2 per state, chosen by state state, chosen by state legislatures until legislatures until passage of 17passage of 17thth Amendment)Amendment)
• Sometimes called the Sometimes called the Connecticut Connecticut CompromiseCompromise
The Great Compromise
Roger Sherman of Roger Sherman of
ConnecticutConnecticut
CONGRESSCONGRESS
• HOUSE– Representation in the House of
Representatives would be apportioned according to the population of each state (initially consisting of 56 members)
• SENATE– Each state would be represented equally
in the Senate (2 each)– Senators would be selected by their state
legislatures, not by direct popular election
Slave was 3/5’s as productive as a free worker and thus contributed ONLY 3/5’s as much wealth to the state
• No tax on exports• No authority to stop slave trade for
20 years• No definition of citizenship• Absence of individual rights
• HOW COULD BOTH THE NATINOAL GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT EXERCISE SOVEREIGNTY AT THE SAME TIME?
• “WE THE PEOPLE…” DUH!!!• “IN STRICTNESS, NEITHER A
NATIONAL NOR A FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, BUT A COMPOSITION OF BOTH.” – JAMES MADISON
• (1) Factions - place as much of the gov beyond direct control of the majority = large republic• (2) Separation of powers• (3) Construct a system of checks and balances
Voting – depended on state – no universal male suffrage
Women – “civic virtue” “republican motherhood”Virtuous citizenry guided by mothers –
women achieved higher status for the purpose of creating a better society
Abigail Adams – “remember the ladies”Religion – movement of separation
NY and some southern states disestablished Church of England
TJ (1786) Statue of Religious Freedom – complete separation b/t church and state
Slavery – outlawed in NE and PA; maintained in all southern states
• Must be approved by 9/13 states (Article VII) – ratifying conventions
• Factions formed over ratification• The Constitution placed obstacles b/t the people
and the exercise of power
• Federalists – in favor– GW, BF, AH, JM, JJ
• Anti-Federalists – against– TJ, PH
Ratification Debate
• Federalistsvs.
• Anti-Federalists
• The Federalist Papers: Madison, Hamilton, Jay• Published under pseudonym “Plubius”• Series of essays in favor of ratification
• Anti-federalist concerns:• constitution too aristocratic• large republic not feasible• possible tyranny of national government• no specific protection of rights
• Madison promises the Bill of Rights after ratification
• Presiding officer at Constitutional Convention
• Supported federalists• John Adams – 2nd – VP• Inaugurated in NY - 4/30/1789
• March 4, 1789 – Congress met for 1st time
• George Washington unanimously elected president–“the event which I have long dreaded”–“summoned by my country” compelled to serve
• Presidency defined by moderation and mediation
• Vice presidency: most “insignificant office…ever…contrived.” – John Adams
Electing Washington
An informal group of advisorsNot in the Constitution – how GW rolled3 Departments:
Department of StateSecretary of State – TJPriority: international alliances
Department of TreasurySecretary of Treasury – AHPriority: stabilize aching financial
infrastructureDepartment of War
Secretary of War – Henry Knox
Washington’s CabinetAlexander Hamilton & Thomas Jefferson
Federalist Party
Democratic-Republican Party
Loose interpretation
Strict interpretation
Supported a standing army
Opposed a standing army
Federal power
States’ rights
Favored Britain
Favored France
Favored a national bank
Opposed a national bank
Supported nullification
Opposed nullification
Merchants & bankers
Farmers
Leading politician
President
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of State
Member of Washington’s Cabinet
His vice president was Aaron Burr
He was killed by Aaron Burr
Author of the Declaration of Independence
Owned slaves
Did not own slaves
Revenue – critical needCongress enacted tariff – tax on importsDecrease foreign competition for
American manufacturersWanted to combine national and
state debt $21 million (262 mil. today)
National Bank of United StatesFunded by federal govt. and wealthy
citizensHamilton moved capital to DC to get
southern support – Madison and Jefferson oppose
Responsible for development and success of commercial capitalism
• “national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a great national blessing.”– Federal taxing power– Respect and authority over states
• First debate among Washington’s cabinet over Constitutionality– Necessary and proper clause: strict vs. loose
construction– Hamilton’s argument convinced Washington – set
precedent
• http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Jefferson (cabinet) and Madison – Congress - (Left Federalist b/c of elitist monetary policy of Hamilton)
Two-party system slowly developed (factions)
Power of the federal government and the states
Federalist (Hamiltonians) vs. Democratic Republicans (Jeffersonians)
• Hamilton’s excise tax in 1791 upset backcountry farmers…shocker
• PA vigilantes assaulted revenue collectors–Stole mail, stopped court
proceedings, reeked havoc• GW proclaimed “Whiskey Boys” go
homeMilitia and GW 15,000 men – showed
strength of central gov.–Suppressed uprising w/o violence
• 1792 Washington reelected…obv.• French Revolution main agenda• American’s support idea of French, but
not war• Economic stability relied on equal trade–HAMILTON’S FINANCIAL SYSTEM
WOULD COLLAPSE!• Technically allies with France• Washington’s neutrality proclamation–“friendly and impartial toward the
belligerent powers”
Citizen Edmond Genet• French
ambassador• Sought aid of
Americans to attack British & Spanish ships
• Denounced by President Washington
• Britain, Spain, Holland (ALL monarchies) at war with French Republic
• Neutrality caused conflict with British trade– Federalists – supported Great Britain
(order)– Republicans – supported France (liberty)
• John Jay (Chief Justice – Federalist) appointed by GW– Treaty b/t US and GB • Increased trade; averted war• British Northwest territory
• Ended in 1803 – Jefferson’s embargo • American public said no bueno >:-(
• US minister Pinckney treaty with Spain–America southern boundary at
31st parallel–Free navigation of the Mississippi–No inciting Indian attacks–Use of New Orleans port without
customs duty• Popular treaty w/ little opposition
b/c of MS River use
Washington ONLY served 2 termsRetired to Mount Vernon (died in 1799)FAREWELL ADDRESS:
Domestic – unity among states; party politics increases liberty
Foreign – neutrality and fairness
The First Two-Party System
Federalists Democratic-RepublicansIssueGovernment: State or national?
Interpretation of the Constitution: Strict or Loose?
Tariffs, Banks & Business or farming?
Banks: National or State?
Defense: Standing Army or Militias?
Foreign Policy: Support Britain or Support France?
Regions of Support: N, S, E, W?
Nullification
More important: Order or Liberty?
Party Leaders & Presidents
Questions1) Why does the Electoral
College encourage a two-party system rather than a multiparty system?
2) Explain how Thomas Jefferson’s election in the “revolution” of 1800 changed the way the federal (national) government operated.
National State
Mass. lawyer; Harvard educated; vane; leader in Revolution, American diplomat; VP under Washington
Ideas b/t Hamilton and JeffersonAlways felt underappreciated
"My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."
1st President to live in White HouseDied July 4, 1826; same as TJ (50 years
after Declaration of Independence signed
Result of conflict b/t US and FranceFrance refused to receive American envoy
and had suspended commercial relations (trade)
Sent Charles Pinckney, John Marshall, Elbridge Gerry to negotiate
Agents of Foreign Minister Tallyerand (labeled X, Y, Z in report to Congress) to demanded $250,000 bribe
Nation broke out into what Jefferson called "the X. Y. Z. fever” – gross objection to French
Department of Navy created 1798Undeclared naval war for 2 years
The Quasi War• Piracy, small naval
battles• Convention of
1800 – ends the Quasi War, but terminates US alliance with France against Britain
• U.S. is now neutral, following Washington’s farewell advice
Proposed by Federalists in Congress, backed by AdamsFrench and Irish immigrants identified as Republican
4 provisions:Naturalization Act: 5 to 14 years for citizenshipAlien Act: empowered President to deport
“dangerous” aliensAlien Enemy Act: empowered President in time
of declared war to expel or imprison enemy aliens at will
Sedition Act: conspiracy against legal measures of government, high misdemeanor
Forbade writing, publishing, speaking, against government or officers of government
Republican response: KENTUCKY AND VA RESOLUTIONS – acts unconstitutionalState-compact theory – Constitution arose as a
compact among states, states could nullify questionable acts of Congress
Acts eventually repealed
Nullification• Jefferson and many states oppose
the Alien & Sedition Acts• Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
call the act “null and void”• States vs. federal government: who
wins?...• …principle remained untested
because Adams lost next election to Jefferson
Election of 1800• Jefferson wins• “Revolution of
1800”… peaceful transfer of power