Ch. 8: Creating the Constitution

The Articles of

Confederation • After declaring

independence from Britain in 1776, Congress tried to unite the states under one national government.

• However, many feared a strong central government would trample the rights that they were fighting to preserve.

• Their solution was the Articles of Confederation, America’s first Constitution

The Articles of Confederation • The Articles created “a firm league of

friendship” in which “each state retains its

sovereignty, freedom, and independence.”

• The Articles formed a loose union in which

the 13 states cooperated for common

purposes.

• It was run by Congress, in

which each state had one

vote.

The Articles of Confederation • The Articles of Confederation gave Congress

the power to make war and peace, raise an

army and a navy, print money, and set up a

postal system.

• However, in reality, these powers were

limited by the inability of Congress to impose

taxes.

• Instead, Congress had to ask the states for

money in order to do anything and the states

often ignored Congress’s requests.

Developing Western Lands

• After gaining independence, America was left with western lands acquired from Britain in the Treaty of Paris.

• But there was no orderly way of dividing up and selling these lands.

• Settlers would just walk into the wilderness and claim the land they liked.

• Disputes over who owned what land clogged the courts.

Land Ordinance

of 1785 • The Land Ordinance of

1785 ended this confusion.

• It set up a system for dividing and settling western lands, allowing for the establishment of towns.

• It allowed for the transfer of federally owned lands into private holdings, townships, and states.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• It divided the Northwest

Territory into smaller

territories.

• As soon as a territory

had 60,000 people, it

could apply to Congress

to become a state.

• It gave settlers the same

privileges as other

citizens. It banned

slavery in the Northwest

Territory.

Money Shortage

• Under the Articles of Confederation, the U.S.

had serious money problems. Congress

lacked the gold or silver it needed to mint into

coins. The states reacted by printing their

own money. No one knew what all this new

money was truly worth, but

most thought that it wasn’t

worth much.

Shays’s Rebellion • The money

shortage was particularly hard on farmers- couldn’t pay their debts and taxes.

• In Massachusetts, judges ordered them to sell farms and livestock.

• Angry farmers led by Daniel Shays rebelled.

Shays’s Rebellion • They closed down

courthouses to keep judges from taking their farms. Then they marched on the national arsenal at Springfield and seized weapons stored there.

• Since the Continental Army had been disbanded after the end of the Revolutionary War, Congress was unable to stop them.

• Ultimately, Massachusetts sent in its own militia troops to end Shays’s Rebellion.

A Call for a Convention

• Shays’s Rebellion was viewed as a sign that

the nation was falling apart.

• Congress called for a convention to consider

“the situation of the United States.” Each

state was invited to send delegates to

Philadelphia in May 1787, “for the sole and

express purpose of revising the Articles of

Confederation.”

• The delegates were

“the well-bred, the

well-fed, the well-read,

and the well-wed.” In

other words, they

were among the best

men in the country.

• Thomas Jefferson

(who was in Great

Britain at the time)

called them “an

assembly of demi-

gods.”

Creating the Constitution

Independence Hall

Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania

• Fifty-five delegates from 12 states attended (Rhode Island boycotted).

• They met in the same place that the Declaration of Independence was signed.

• The first action of the Constitutional Convention delegates was to elect George Washington president of the convention.

• He would play a key role by presiding over the convention and lending it his prestige.

• At 81, Benjamin

Franklin was the

oldest delegate.

• He arrived at the

convention each day in

a sedan chair carried

by four prisoners from

a nearby jail.

James Madison

“Father of the

Constitution”

• He was the main author of

the Constitution, having

prepared himself for the

issues discussed long before

the convention occurred.

• He addressed the convention

more than 200 times.

• He took notes on everything

said (over 600 printed pages)

so that we know what went

on inside the convention day

by day.

• He would later be our nation’s

fourth president.

Shared Beliefs The Constitutional delegates agreed that . . .

• The basic purpose of government was to

protect the rights to “life, liberty, and the

pursuit of happiness.”

• All powers of government came from “the

consent of the governed.”

• Liberty and equality were based on the “laws

of nature.”

• The best way to protect these rights was

through a republic, a country governed by

elected representatives.

Differing Beliefs They disagreed about which people were

entitled to vote and to hold office. They

were divided over which should have more

power, the national government or the

individual states.

Clashing Views

on Three Issues

1. How should

states be

represented

in the new

government?

2. How should

slaves be

counted?

3. How should

the chief

executive be

elected?

Issue 1:

How should states be represented?

The Debate

• Large states = representation based on

populations (the number of people).

• Small states = same number of representatives

The Virginia Plan

• A strong national government with three

branches:

– A legislative branch (Congress) to make laws

– An executive branch (chief executive) to carry out the

laws

– A judicial branch (system of courts) to apply and

interpret the laws

• The legislative branch: two houses, the House of

Representatives and the Senate.

• The number of reps depended on its population.

• larger states favored Virginia Plan

The New Jersey Plan

• A government with three branches

(legislative, executive, and judicial).

• Legislative branch (Congress) would have

just one house, not two.

• Each state would have an equal vote

• Smaller states favored New Jersey Plan

The Main Differences

Between the Two Plans

• The Virginia Plan - two houses of

Congress; representation in each

house determined by population.

• The New Jersey Plan - single house of

Congress; each state having one vote.

The Great Compromise

• The delegates agreed to a

two-house Congress.

• One house, the House of Representatives,

would represent the people and would have

the number of representatives from each

state based on the state population.

• The other house, the Senate, would

represent the states with each state

having two senators that were elected by

their state legislatures (not by the voters).

Issue 2:

How

should

slaves be

counted?

• Having agreed to base representation in the House of Representatives on state population, the delegates now had to decide how slaves should be counted.

• 9 out of 10 slaves at this time lived in the South

• Thus, southern states wanted slaves to be counted the same as any other person.

• However, the north argued that slaves should be counted as property that could be taxed like any other property and not counted in determining a state’s population.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

• The delegates finally agreed to count each slave as three fifths of a person when determining a states population.

• The compromise was a contradiction to the statement in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.”

The Slave Trade • South Carolina and

Georgia’s economy was based on slave labor, so each believed they needed fresh slaves to survive.

• The delegates eventually agreed that Congress would have the power to control trade, but with two limitations:

1. Congress could not place any tax on exports going to other countries.

2. Congress could not interfere with the slave trade for 20 years (or until 1808).

• The three-fifths compromise brought up the additional issue of the slave trade.

Issue 3: How should the chief

executive (president) be elected?

• Some delegates wanted a single chief executive (the person in charge of the government)

• Other delegates feared that a single chief executive might turn out to be like King George III, the leader they had revolted against.

• These delegates wanted a three-member executive (three people in charge).

• Eventually, the delegates agreed to a single executive (the president).

Choosing the Chief Executive

• Some delegates wanted Congress to appoint the president, but others argued against this, stating that the president “must not be made a flunky of the Congress.”

• Several delegates thought that the people should elect the president, but Madison argued that voters would naturally vote for someone from their own states (which would be unfair to the candidates from the smaller states).

• A third group of delegates argued that the president should be elected by a specially chosen group of “electors” from each state. They believed that most Americans at the time would not know enough about the candidates to be able to make an informed decision as to who would serve them best.

The Electoral College

• After about sixty votes on the issue, the

delegates reached a compromise.

• They decided that the president and vice

president would be chosen by a special body

known as the Electoral College.

• The Electoral College would consist of one

elector for every member of Congress.

• Before 1820, state legislatures chose electors in

most states.

• Today, the people choose their state’s electors

when they vote in presidential elections.

Signing the

Constitution • On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was

finally finished and put up to a vote.

• Benjamin Franklin stated, “I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution . . . It therefore astonishes me to find this system approaching so near to perfect . . . and I think it will astonish our enemies.” He added that he approved the final plan “because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best.” He then urged “every member of the convention” to “put his name to this instrument.”

Some Delegates Refuse to Sign

• Some delegates feared that it gave the

national government too much power

and did not protect the rights of the

people, so they refused to sign the final

draft of the Constitution.

The Constitution Is Put

Before the Nation

• Nine of the thirteen state legislatures had to ratify (approve) the Constitution before it could become law and replace the Articles of Confederation as our nation’s written plan of government.

• To help build support for ratification, many Federalists (supporters of the Constitution) published persuasive writing.

• The Federalist Papers were articles written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay urging ratification of the Constitution.

The Story of the Rising/

Setting Sun Chair

• Benjamin Franklin was waiting to sign

the document that would hold the fate

and destiny of our nation. As he stood,

his eyes fell upon a carving on the back

of George Washington's chair, a carving

of half a sun. He stared thoughtfully at it

for a minute, then proclaimed words that

would be remembered forever, "I have

often looked at that picture behind the

president without being able to tell

whether it was a rising or setting sun.

Now at length I have the happiness to

know that it is indeed a rising, not a

setting sun."

• By this, he meant that we had risked

everything, and indeed did win. The sun

will continue to shine over America. If

we had lost, the painting would have

been declared a setting sun, bringing

darkness upon our nation.