Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and how US Constitution corrected them.
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Transcript of Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and how US Constitution corrected them.
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Weaknesses
No power to tax
No national executive
Unicameral legislature
No judicial/national court
No checks & balances!
Result
No money
Federal laws not enforced
One vote per state unequal representation
Problems with interstate relations
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Weaknesses
No regulation of commerce
No power to maintain army
States more power than national gov’t
Need 9/13 to pass a law & unanimous consent to
amend
Results
Economic quarrels among states & foreign trade hurt
No national defense
Almost no unity among states
Impossible to accomplish
Other Problems under Articles of Confederation
States were issuing their own paper money but inflation soon made it worthless
Nat’l government couldn’t settle disputes between states
Post war depression hurt small businesses and farmers which left farmers unable to pay debts.
In Mass. farmers attacked courthouses to prevent judges from foreclosing on farmers – Shay’s Rebellion
SHAYS’ REBELLION
Angry farmers in Mass. took law into their own hands- violated property rights of others
Congress had no real power to help stop the rebellion
This caused concern by property owners in other states
Led to calling of a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation
The Constitutional Convention
started May 25, 1787 met at Independence Hall, Philadelphia An extraordinary group of delegates
55 men Well-educated Lawyers, merchants, college presidents, doctors, generals,
governors, and planters with considerable political experience
Rhode Island did not go…they did not want a stronger central government
The Boss Who was chosen to
preside over the convention?
George Washington Respected for his
leadership during the Rev. War
http://richmondthenandnow.com/Images/Famous-Visitors/George-Washington-big.jpg
Procedures of the Convention
• Each state was only allowed one vote
• Majority votes from all states made decisions
• All discussions were a secret! Why…??
This way, delegates could speak freely, without worry about how the public would react
The Virginia Plan
presented by James Madison
called for 3 branches of government
bicameral Congress (2 houses), both
determined by population
Favored big states b/c of population
The New Jersey Plan
presented by William Patterson
also called for 3 branches of gov’t
Unicameral legislature (1 house) with equal representation for each state
favored by smaller states b/c equal
The GREAT COMPROMISERoger Sherman of Connecticut comes up with the solution… a compromise to please large & small states Lower House
House of Representatives Determined by population 2 year term of office Favored larger states
Upper House– Senate– Equal representation (2 from each state)– 6 year term of office– Favored smaller states
also known as the Connecticut Compromise
use of population to determine representation led to another debate
• How will slaves be counted in population?• at that time, there were 550,000 slaves
mostly in the South
• Southern states wanted slaves counted to increase their population & reps in Congress
• Northern states did not want slaves counted since they were not citizens
3/5 COMPROMISE
Conflict over counting slaves in population was settled by 3/5 Compromise
Every 5 slaves would count as only 3 people
This formula was used for determining representation in Congress & figuring taxes
HOW TO CHOOSE THE PRESIDENT?
• Selecting the Chief Executive also created debate at the Convention
• Some delegates felt Congress should choose President• What’s wrong with this plan?
• Others felt vote of all citizens should choose President• What’s wrong with this plan?
Finally compromised by creating the Electoral College
How does the Electoral College work?
Correcting Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Weakness
• No power to tax
• No national executive
• 1 vote per state
• No way to settle disputes
Solution
Article I sec 8Congress has powers to….
Article IIExecutive Branch- Presidential powers
Article IBicameral Congress- representation
Article IIIFederal Court- Supreme Court
Correcting Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Weaknesses
• No regulation of commerce
• No national defense
• States more power than national gov’t
• Need 2/3 vote to pass a law & unanimous vote to amend
Solutions
Article I sec 8foreign & interstate commerce
Article I sec 8create an army & navy
Article VIConstitution & Federal Govt are supreme
Articles I & VI = majority for lawsV = easier to amend- not unanimous
once Constitution was written in Philadelphia, what was required to
replace the Articles
• Look at Article VII.
“The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.”
Ratification of Constitution created conflict between
Federalists & Anti-Federalists
FEDERALISTS• Wanted the Constitution to
be ratified• Thought nation needed
stronger national gov’t• Felt country couldn’t survive
under Art. of ConfederationLeaders were: John Adams
Alexander Hamilton James Madison
writers of the Federalist Papers
ANTI-FEDERALISTS• Opposed to ratifying the
Constitution • Feared giving away state powers
to federal gov’t• Preferred to keep the Art. of
Confederation Leaders were: Sam Adams
Patrick Henry James Monroe
Were finally appeased by Bill of Rights