The Articles of Confederation and The Constitutional

Conventionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TJg7PYM14E

Unit 2- the Constitution

• Identify the weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation that led to the need for the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Please answer the “STARTER” at the top of today’s note sheet

• Unit 2- the Constitution• Identify the weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation

that led to the need for the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Articles of Confederation

• Articles of Confederation- The first constitution (written government) of America

• MAIN PROBLEM:– WEAK national government, – All power with the STATES

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation QUICK STUDY

CIRCLE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT WEAKNESSES ABOVE. FOR EACH, EXPLAIN WHY THIS WOULD LEAD TO INEFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT

ONLY LASTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS UNDER THE ARTICLES- ORGANIZING THE WESTERN TERRITORIES:

Settling the Northwest Territory FOCUS ON GEOGRAPHY

• Northwest Ordinance and Land Ordinance of 1785

• Policy for creating new

states in territories• Bans slavery

north of the Ohio River

Shays’ Rebellion 1787• farmers/ veterans rebel

against Massachusetts gov’t over high taxes and farm foreclosures-

• Significance: convinces many of the need for a stronger national government to keep order

http://www.constitutioncenter.org

Clue #1• Article II.

– Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

• Article III.– The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of

friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare.

Clue #2

Clue #3

Clue #4

Clue #5

VS“An ACT providing for the Pay and Subsistence of the Militia that have been, now are, and may be employed by Government, In suppressing the dan-gerous Rebellion that has taken Place within this Commonwealth

(This Act passed February 6, 1787

Clue #6

An attack was made on Thursday last by a party of Insurgents, upon the troops commanded by General Shephard, at Springfield—previous to the attack, upon the approach of the Insurgents, General Shephard sent messages to them at three several times, informing them that if they

advanced he should assuredly fire on them.Hampshire Gazette January 31, 1787

Clue #7"I am mortified beyond expression when I view the clouds that have spread over the

brightest morn that ever dawned in any country... What a triumph for the advocates of despotism, to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious." - - George Washington

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government. God forbid that we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure.”

-- Thomas Jefferson

"Rebellion against a king may be pardoned, or lightly punished, but the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.”

- - Sam Adams

Clue #8

Shay’s Rebellion

The Well Bred, the well wed, and the well fed Meet

• All states except Rhode Island send delegates to Philadelphia in May 1787 to amend the Articles of Confederation- becomes the Constitutional Convention

• 55 white men• Mostly wealthy lawyers, merchants and planters

• “the well bred, the well fed, the well read, and the well wed”• More than half attended college • 23 had studied law; Average age 42 • Youngest was 26 – Jonathan Dayton• Oldest was Franklin, 81

James Madison- “Father of the Constitution”

• BRILLIANT• PREPARED• Arrives with

“Virginia Plan”• Day One: calls for a

new Constitution to be written

James Madison, Jefferson's secretary of state.. IRC. 2005.unitedstreaming. 27 July 2007<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

George Washington- “President of the Convention”

• “out of retirement” for his country

• Gives legitimacy to the Convention

• Most think he will be 1st president- trust him

George Washington at Princeton, early 1777.. IRC. 2005.unitedstreaming. 27 July 2007<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

Ben Franklin- The Gracious Host • Big name- adds credibility• Held private meetings at

home behind the scenes• Second most famous

American in the world after Washington

• Had been involved in almost every major moment of American history in 1700s

• Had several dinners and luncheons at his renovated Philadelphia home

Image courtesy of American Philosphical Society http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/pictures/images/3b42331r.jpg

Alexander Hamilton • Supported VERY

strong Federal government.

• Wrote Federalist Papers with Madison to help get Constitution ratified

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-bmAqhMrX4

Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.. IRC. 2005.unitedstreaming. 27 July 2007<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

Bank of the United States at Philadelphia, 1800.. IRC. 2005.unitedstreaming. 27 July 2007<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

So…..our key question:

• Can you identify two or three important weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that led to the need for a new Constitution?

Population of States, (1790)

MassachusettsNew Hampshire

ConnecticuttRhode Island

New YorkNew Jersey

PennsylvaniaDelawareMaryland

VirginiaNorth CarolinaSouth Carolina

Georgia

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000

Slave States: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware

Group Work Expectations

• All are on task• All participate• Listen to each other respectfully; • ask questions for clarification• For this, all should be writing down

information

Instructions• Introduce “yourself” to group• What states are you with?• YOUR JOB- For each issue…

– For each issue, come up with a proposal as a group- 7 minutes

– Look out for the interests of YOUR state, but…– May need to compromise to get anything accomplished

• Each member must loudly, clearly share ONE of your group and how you arrived at it.

• Our Convention will compare our results with the ones in 1787.

Proposals:

1- Representation? THE GREAT COMPROMISE

• House of Representatives– Number of members based on population of state– Directly elected by citizens– Elections every two years

• Senate– Each state has two members– Appointed by state legislatures (changed w/ 17th

amendment– 1/3 of the Senators have elections every six years

Proposals:

2- Slaves counted in population?

• 3/5 Compromise:– Each slave counts as 3/5 of a person when

deciding how many representatives a state gets in the House

Proposals:

3- Can Congress regulate the slave trade?

• The slave trade (importing slaves) cannot be touched for 20 years (until 1808)

• (What about slavery itself?)

Proposals:

Proposals

4- FEDERALISM- the division of power between the national and state governments

Delegated powers (national government)• foreign affairs• national defense• regulating trade• coining money

Reserved powers (remain with the states• education• marriage• trade inside a state

Concurrent (shared) powers• taxing• borrowing money• establishing courts

Proposals:

Proposals:

5- The Executive Branch

• One “president”• chosen by electoral college (not by direct vote

of people)• 4 year terms• No term limit until 22nd Amendment (1951)• Fairly powerful president (we’ll get into

specifics later)

Revisiting objectives- CLOSURE QUESTIONS

• Describe the major decisions and compromises made at the Constitutional Convention

• Identify the weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation

• Explain how the Constitution addressed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

THE CONSTITUTION

THE PREAMBLE– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OyU4O80i4

• Explain how a historical event reflects a goal stated in the Preamble

• Explain what a goal of the Preamble means in your own words

• Describe the six goals of the Constitution as stated in the Preamble

• ****Create a “poster” for one of the goals of the Preamble