A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 1: Colonialism and NationhoodPart 20: The Constitutional Convention (II)

EXECUTIVE LEGISLATURE JUDICIARY

Presidentand Cabinet

Power overinternational relations.

Veto power overlaws passed bythe legislature.

Power to makenominations tothe judiciary.

Elected everyfour years.

Congress

Power to create laws.

Power to approve or deny executive

nominations andappointments.

Supreme Courtand Federal Courts

Nine justicesappointed for life. Nominated by the

executive, approvedby the legislature.

Power to overturnlaws passed bythe legislature

and approved bythe executive,

depending on theirconstitutionality.

House

Made up ofrepresentativesfrom each state,

435 in total,elected every

two yearsproportionate

to population ofelectoral districtat last census.

Senate

Made up ofrepresentativesfrom each state,

100 in total,elected everysix years, on atwo-year rolling

basis, with afixed number oftwo per state.

THE DEBATE BEGINS

• In September 1787, following completion of the United States Constitution, the text was sent to each of the states for ratification.

• However, opposing voices began to criticize the Constitution.

• Opponents objected to the concentration of national power in a single national body rather than the distribution of power amongst the states. They worried that this situation would put the United States back where it was before the revolution, with too much power in executive hands.

THE FEDERALIST

• Opponents of the Constitution were known as Anti-Federalists. They aimed to raise enough objections to the Constitution for the states to refuse ratification.

• Those who argued in favor of the Constitution were known as Federalists. Throughout 1787 and 1788, three prominent Federalists who had helped to write the Constitution published a series of articles explaining its virtues. These were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay (pictured).

FEDERALIST #10

• Written by James Madison in response to Anti-Federalist fears that small cultural and religious factions would accrue too much governmental power.

• Madison argued that because the United States was a large and geographically diverse republic, no one faction could seize too much power because they would have to compete for power with all the other factions. The factions would therefore cancel each other out.

FEDERALIST #51

• Written by James Madison in response to Anti-Federalist fears that too much executive power could come to rest in the hands of one person.

• Madison argued that the Constitution contains sufficient checks and balances to make sure that no one person can accrue too much power. Each of the three branches of government can override some of the actions of the others.

A BILL OF RIGHTS?

• States began ratifying the Constitution in December 1787.

• The foremost concern of the Anti-Federalists now was that the Constitution did not clearly spell out the rights and liberties of the people. They argued that the failure to enumerate these things opened the way for people in power to curtail them. They began to propose that the Constitution be amended with a Bill of Rights that made these rights explicitly inviolable.

FEDERALIST #84

• Written by Alexander Hamilton in response to Anti-Federalist urges for a Bill of Rights.

• Hamilton argued that the rights and liberties of the people were already implicitly safeguarded in the Constitution.

• He worried that if they were enumerated in a Bill of Rights, future generations would believe that they were the only rights to be guaranteed.

THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPROMISE

• In February 1788, Massachusetts ratified the Constitution only after Federalists and Anti-Federalists came to an agreement.

• The Anti-Federalists would consent to ratification only if the Federalists would support them in recommending a federal Bill of Rights as an amendment to the Constitution.

• This deal was known as the Massachusetts Compromise.

LEFT BEHIND: NATIVE AMERICANS

Native Americans were effectively denied citizenship, and were not to be counted in the Census for purposes of political representation, unless they paid taxes (Article I).

LEFT BEHIND: AFRICAN SLAVES

Slaves were given sub-human status, with the Census counting each slave as only three-fifths of a full human being. This weakened the federal power of slaveholding states, however, by reducing the overall number of citizens entitled to proportional representation in the United States Congress.

LEFT BEHIND: AMERICAN WOMEN

Abigail Adams to John Adams, 1776

I long to hear that you have declared an independancy — and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.

LEFT BEHIND: AMERICAN WOMEN

Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.

LEFT BEHIND: AMERICAN WOMEN

American women were denied property rights and voting rights, being entirely dependent on their husbands if married or a male relative if unmarried.

AMERICA BEGINS

• George Washington was unanimously elected President on January 10, 1789.

• The Constitution came into effect on March 4, 1789, and the United States of America was born, evolving from a scattering of British colonies into a nation-state that took on the essential qualities of its present form.

• In the first session of the United States Congress in June 1789, James Madison introduced ten amendments to the Constitution which became the Bill of Rights.

A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 1: Colonialism and NationhoodPart 20: The Constitutional Convention (II)