SSUSH5 The student will explain specific events and key ideas that brought about the adoption and implementation of the United States Constitution.

a. Explain how weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and Daniel Shays’ Rebellion led to a call for a stronger central government.

b. Evaluate the major arguments of the anti-Federalists and Federalists during the debate on ratification of the Constitution as put forth in The Federalist concerning form of government, factions, checks and balances, and the power of the executive, including the roles of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

c. Explain the key features of the Constitution, specifically the Great Compromise, separation of powers (influence of Montesquieu), limited government, and the issue of slavery.

d. Analyze how the Bill of Rights serves as a protector of individual and states’ rights.

e. Explain the importance of the Presidencies of George Washington and John Adams; include the Whiskey Rebellion, non-intervention in Europe, and the

development of political parties (Alexander Hamilton).

The United States in 1783

America’s 1st national government was the

Articles of Confederation (1777-1789)

The Articles established a weak national government in order to protect state power.

Some of the successes of the Articles

The Articles established a good system of settling

western lands

The Land Ordinance of 1785 established an orderly process

for laying out western townships

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed for local government, statehood, & outlawed slavery

in the Northwest

Major Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Shays’ Rebellion gave nationalists like Washington, Madison, Hamilton the urgency

to call for a stronger national government

Constitutional Reform • By 1787, the major flaws of the Articles of Confederation

were exposed:

–Shays’ Rebellion broke out among desperate

Massachusetts farmers who faced losing their

farms or being sent to debtor’s prison.

–Congress called for a meeting in Philadelphia to

discuss revising the Articles and improving the

national government.

Shay’s Rebellion

James Madison helped negotiate many of the compromises that made the Constitution possible &

is referred to as the “father of the Constitution”

A Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia to try and fix the Articles

of Confederation.

However, they ended up scrapping the entire thing and a new government was

created instead

The influence of Enlightenment Ideas

• Members of the convention drew upon numerous enlightenment ideas, such as Montesquieu’s “separation of powers,” which argued that, to avoid tyranny, the three branches of government (legislature, executive, and judiciary) should be separated as far as possible, and their relationships should be governed by a system of checks and balances.

The Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention

• Virginia Plan: Two-house legislature in which the number of representatives for each state would depend on the number of people in the state. (Benefit larger states)

• New Jersey Plan: Single-house Congress in which each state was equally represented.

Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise): Two houses of Congress:

–The House of Representatives (based on population)

–The Senate (equal representation)

The Constitutional Convention

• Each state would elect one member to the House of Representatives for every 40,000 people in the state.

• This led to a conflict between Northern and Southern states.

• Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of the population.

• Northern states said no because slaves could not vote and if they were counted for representation then they should also be counted for taxation.

The Constitutional Convention

• Three-Fifths Compromise: every five enslaved people in a state would count as three free persons.

• Another compromise targeted the slave trade:

– Congress would not ban the slave trade until 1808.

The Federalist Papers • The Federalist Papers

were a series of 85 articles supporting the ratification of the new United States Constitution.

• The articles were written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

FEDERALISTS

ANTI-FEDERALISTS

Federalist vs. Anti-federalist

Federalist • Favored a strong National

government.

• Believed in a loose interpretation of the Constitution that resulted in a national government that was strong enough to do the will of the people

• George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton were Federalists

Anti-federalist • Favored a weak national

government and strong state governments.

• They believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

• Demanded a Bill of Rights be added to the Constitution.

• Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Paine were Anti-Federalists.

Federalists & Anti-Federalists

Federalists • Supported approval

for the Constitution.

• Were well-organized and educated.

• Used Federalist Papers to argue for ratification and gain public support.

Anti-Federalists

• Against approving the Constitution.

–Distrusted a government that removed power from control of the people.

–Wanted more protection of personal liberties.

• To win approval of the Constitution, the Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights to protect the people’s liberty.

• By 1788, all states except Rhode Island and North Carolina had ratified the Constitution. Nine states were all that were necessary for ratification

• All 13 states ratified the Constitution by 1790.

Effects of the

Constitutional Convention

What are the Checks and Balances?

1. Parts of the Constitution

Essential Question:

What were some events that happened in Washington’s

Presidency?

Actions taken by President Washington

Created a Cabinet

Judiciary Act of 1789

Stopping the Whiskey Rebellion

Proclamation of Neutrality

Farewell Address

Washington’s Cabinet • State

Department- Secretary of State

• Foreign Affairs

• Thomas Jefferson

Washington’s Cabinet • War Department-

Secretary of War (now known as the secretary of the defense)

• Manage military affairs

• Henry Knox

Washington’s Cabinet

• Treasury Department

• Secretary of the Treasury

• Oversee the nation’s finances

• Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton’s Beliefs • Hamilton believed that the

nations future depended on a strong federal government controlled by the wealthy

• The best way to strengthen the government was to establish economic polices that helped business and industry

Hamilton’s Financial Plan • Pay off the National

Debt

• Pay bonds

(certificates issued in exchange for loans) in full

• Federal Government should pay off all states debts

“Ham”-ilton”

National Debt

• The nation owed money to other countries

• To have good standing on additional loans, the nation must pay the original debts off

Bonds • During the Revolutionary War, the new

government of the colonies borrowed from individuals to finance the war

• The government issued bonds to the lenders, but the bonds were virtually worthless.

• Hamilton felt that the government had to make good on all bonds made.

A REVOLUTIONARY WAR BOND

State Debts • Many of the Southern States had already

paid off their debts they had from the Revolution

• The Northern States had not

• Southern States were compromised with a pledge that the Nation’s Capitol would be located across the Potomac River from Virginia. This was Washington D. C.

Hamilton’s Bank Proposal • Create a Bank of the

United States, or a National Bank

• This would provide a safe place to deposit government funds and establish uniform currency (paper money)

• The bank could make loans to assist the government.

Judiciary Act of 1789

• Established a federal district court for each state

• Specified that there would be 6 justices of Supreme Court to be nominated by the President and approved by the Senate

Pennsylvania Farmers

Whiskey Rebellion • Federal Government placed a

tax on whiskey.

• The government intended to raise money for paying its debts

• This hurt the Pennsylvania Farmers

• They rebelled by marching to Philadelphia as an angry mob

Whiskey Rebellion

• Washington sent in the colonial militia and ended the rebellion.

• It was the first action of “enforcing” the law by a President.

France • In 1789, the French

people revolted against the king and the aristocracy

• The people of the United States were split on helping the French people with their revolution

France • On one hand, the French

Monarchy had supported the U.S. in the Revolution

• On the other hand, the people of France were resisting a Monarchy that was not treating its people as participants in government.

France If the United States were to get involved

on the side of the French people, it

might bring the U.S. into war with Britain, who had sided with

the Monarchy.

Neutrality Proclamation President George

Washington believed that no involvement in

Europe was the best course. In 1793, he

issued the Proclamation of

Neutrality stating that the U.S. would not get

involved.

Farewell Address • “steer clear of

permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world”

• Dangers of forming political parties

• Government is good if it is based on religion and morality

Election of 1796 • Sectionalism- loyalty to a particular part of

the country, further contributed to the emergence of political parties.

– Federalists Party- led by Alexander Hamilton and

John Adams

– Democratic Republican Party- led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

Federalist Party Merchants, Manufacturers,

lawyers and church leaders from New England and the Atlantic seaboard

tended to support the Federalist Party.

Federalists wanted to promote the development of commerce, particularly

with Britain.

Democratic-Republican Party • Planters, small farmers,

wage earners, artisans, workers, and trades people. Very strong influence from frontier and the south.

• They believed that farmers deserved the greatest voice in government.

Federalists versus Republicans (short for Democratic-Republicans)

• Presidential Election of 1796

– Federalist candidates- John Adams and Thomas Pinckney

– Republican candidates- Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr

– Adams (having the most votes) became President

– Jefferson: (having the second amount of votes) became Vice President

– Both Men were on opposite party lines, but worked together in the Executive Office

Events in John Adams’ Presidency

• XYZ Affair

• Alien and Sedition Acts

• Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

• John Marshall appointment as Chief Justice

• Midnight Judges

XYZ Affair

• France was upset with the U.S. for making Jay’s Treaty with Britain.

• The U.S. sent representatives to meet with the Prime Minister of France, Tallyrand

XYZ Affair Instead of meeting Tallyrand, they met

three French officials that were named only, “Mr. X, Mr. Y, and Mr. Z”. These secret men

told the U.S. representatives they may see Tallyrand, if they pay $250,000.

XYZ Affair • The XYZ Affair infuriated the U.S.

citizens

• The U.S. began to build a large impressive navy after this situation

• The quote of the time was, “millions for defense, not one cent for tribute”

Alien and Sedition Acts • Series of laws intended to protect the nations

and to weaken the republicans

• Authorized the president to imprison or expel “all such aliens (foreigners) as he shall judge dangerous to the peace an safety of the United States.”

• Sedition targeted U.S. Citizens, anyone who wrote or said or printed anything false, scandalous, and malicious (with ill will)” about the government, the Congress, or the president could be fined and jailed.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

• Denounced the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional

• Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolutions and Madison wrote the Virginia Resolutions.

• These resolutions asked congress the to repeal the acts, but Congress refused.

Election of 1800

• The Federalist Candidates:

–John Adams

–Charles Pinckney

Results of the votes: • Jefferson and Burr (both republicans) received

the same amount of votes

• Neither was indicated to be the President or Vice President, so this had to be decided by Congress (specifically the House of Representatives).

• Alexander Hamilton convinced the Federalists in the House of Representatives to vote for Jefferson because he felt Burr was “unprincipled and dangerous”

The Twelfth Amendment

• Added to the Constitution in 1804

• This amendment requires electors to vote for presidential and vice presidential candidates on separate ballots

Hamilton and Burr

• Hostility between Hamilton and Burr continued to grow over the years.

• IN 1804, Hamilton publicly criticized Burr, who was then running for governor of New York

• Burr’s demand for an apology led to a duel in which Burr shot and killed Hamilton

The Federalists and the Judiciary

• On his last day in office, President John Adams placed a number of Federalists in Judicial appointments.

• These last minute appointments became known as the “Midnight Judges”

John Marshall • One of the Midnight

Judges that was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that served at this position for 30 years.

• John Marshall’s time as Chief Justice established many basic principles of U.S. Constitutional law.

Marbury v. Madison • One of the Midnight Judges was

William Marbury • James Madison, was Jefferson’s

Secretary of State and he refused to allow Marbury to take office.

• This case brought up the interpretation of the Constitution by the Supreme Court

• This case was the first case of Judicial Review- the power of the courts to declare an act of Congress Unconstitutional