Chapter 7, Section 1

1. Chapter 7, Section 1 Creating a Republic

2. The States Write Constitutions • Constitution – a document that sets out the laws, principles, organization, and processes of a government. • States wrote a constitution for two very important reasons. • 1. It would spell out the rights of all citizens. • 2. It would limit the power of government. • Virginia’s constitution included a bill of rights, or list of freedoms the government promised to protect. • Virginia’s Bill of Rights guaranteed: • The freedom of religion • Trial by Jury. • Freedom of the Press.

3. The States Write Constitutions • States divided power between an executive and legislative branch. • The legislatures were elected by the voters to pass laws. • Every State but Pennsylvania had an executive to carry out our enforce the laws. • Under the state constitutions more people had the right to vote than in colonial times.

4. The Right to Vote • A citizen had to be white • Only males could vote • Must be over the age of 21 • Own a certain amount of property or pay a certain amount of taxes. • Some women could vote in New Jersey. • In some states free African Americans who owned land could vote.

5. The Articles of Confederation • The Continental Congress believed that the colonies needed to e united by a national government. • Some states were reluctant to give up power to a central government. • Few people saw themselves as a citizen of one nation, instead they felt loyal to their own state. • People feared replacing the “Tyranny” of British rule with another strong government.

6. The First Continental Congress • The Continental Congress approved the first American constitution in 1777. • The Articles of Confederation created a very loose alliance among the 13 colonies.

7. Limited Powers • Each State had one vote under the Articles of Confederation. • Congress could declare war, appoint military officers, and coin money. • Congress was also responsible for foreign affairs. • Congress could pass laws, but nine states had to approve a law before it could go into effect.

8. Limited Powers continued • Congress could not regulate trade between states or foreign countries. • Could not tax ( to raise money, Congress had to ask the states for it or borrow it). • The Articles of Confederation had no President to execute laws. • It was up to the States to enforce the laws passed by Congress. • No court system to settle conflicts between states.

9. Dispute Over Western Lands • Before the Articles of Confederation came into effect Maryland refused to ratify the Articles unless Virginia and other states ceded, or give up their claims to the land west of the Appalachian mountains. • The states agreed to ceded their land except Virginia. • Thomas Jefferson and other leading Virginians recognized the need for a central government and persuaded state lawmakers to give up Virginia’s land claims.

10. Weaknesses of the Confederation • Conflicts between States: • New Hampshire and New York both claimed Vermont, but the Articles did not give Congress the power to resolve such conflicts. • Money Problems: • After the war, the United States owed millions of dollars to individuals and nations. • Under the Articles Congress did not have the power to tax. • Congress had to ask the states for money, but they often refused.

11. Money Problems • During the war, the Continental Congress solved the problem of raising money by printing paper currency, or money. • The Continental dollar had little value because it was not backed by silver or gold. • As the Continental dollar because useless states began printing their own money, which caused great confusion. • States refused to accept other states money. • Trading became difficult.

12. Other Nations Take Advantage • Ignoring the Treaty of Paris, Britain refused to remove troops from the Ohio Valley. • Spain closed its ports in New Orleans to American shipping.

13. Admitting New States • Congress was however able to establish laws on how territories would be governed and how they could become states. • Land Ordinance of 1785- set up a system for settling the Northwest Territory. • The land would be surveyed and divided into townships. • Each Township would be divided into 36 sections of 1 square mile each. • Congress would sell sections to settlers for 640 a piece. • One section in each town was set aside to support public schools.

14. Admitting New States continued • Northwest Ordinance of 1787: • Set up a government for the Northwest territory • Guaranteed basic rights to settlers, • Outlawed slavery It provided a way to admit new states to the Nation: • One a territory had a population of 60,000 free settlers, it could ask Congress to admit them as a new state. • Each new state would have the same rights as all the other states. • Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were all formed from the Northwest Territory.

15. A Call for Change • The Northwest Ordinance was the greatest achievement the Articles of Confederation had. • However, the Articles were still unable to the nations economic problems. • After the Revolution, the nation suffered a Depression. • A period when business activity slows, prices and wages fall, and unemployment rises.

16. Farmers Revolt • Farmers impacted the most from the war. • Farmers borrowed money for land, animals, seeds, and tools. • After the war, the demand for farm goods went down and as a result farmers could no repay their loans. • In Massachusetts, matters worsened and the state raised taxes. • The courts seized the farms of those who could not pay back their loans.

17. Shay’s Rebellion • Daniel Shay, from Massachusetts. • Fought at Bunker Hill and Saratoga. • Organized an uprising in 1787. • 1,000 farmers attacked court houses and prevented the state from seizing farms.

18. A Convention is Called • After Shay’s Rebellion, Americans realized that the Articles of Confederation were not working. • Leaders from several states called for a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. • They met in Philadelphia in May 1787. • In the end this convention would create an entirely new form of government.

19. Chapter 7, Section 2 The Constitutional Convention

20. The Delegates to the Convention • Constitutional Convention • Opened on May 25, 1787. • Its goal was to revise the Articles of Confederation. • Every state except Rhode Island sent representatives.

21. An Amazing Assembly • 55 delegates met and of those 55 eight of them had signed the Declaration of Independence. • The oldest delegate there was 81 year old Benjamin Franklin. • George Washington also attended the convention, representing Virginia. • He was so well respected the delegates elected him president of the convention almost immediately.

22. An Amazing Assembly continued • Half of the delegates were in their thirties including Alexander Hamilton. • During the war, he served as Washington’s secretary. • Hamilton hated the Articles of Confederation. • He believed the nation needed a strong central government.

23. Alexander Hamilton

24. James Madison • 36 years old from Virginia. • His ideas on how to structure government influenced other delegates. • Today he is known as the “Father of the Constitution.”

25. Two Rival Plans • The delegates realized that the Articles of Confederation weren’t working, so they came up with an entirely new constitution.

26. The Virginia Plan • Edmund Randolph and James Madison proposed a new form of government. • It was called the Virginia Plan, which called for a strong national government with three branches. • The Legislative Branch – would pass laws. • The Executive Branch- would carry out the laws. • The Judicial Branch- system of courts, would decide if laws were carried out fairly.

27. The Virginia Plan continued • The Legislature consists of two houses. • Seats would be awarded based on population. • As a result, in both houses, larger states would have more representatives than smaller ones. • Under the Articles of Confederation, each state, regardless of population got on vote in Congress.

28. The New Jersey Plan • Small states opposed the Virginia Plan because they believed large states could out vote them in Congress. • After serious debate, William Patterson of New Jersey came up with a plan for the smaller states. • The New Jersey Plan – called for three branches of government, Each state regardless of population would receive one vote

29. William Paterson • William Paterson • The New Jersey Plan

30. The Great Compromise • Roger Sherman. • From Connecticut. • Came up with the Great Compromise

31. The Great Compromise • Compromise- a settlement in which each side gives up some of its demands in order to reach an agreement. • Sherman’s plan called for the creation of a two house legislature. • House of Representatives (Lower House) • Members would be elected by popular vote. • Seats would be awarded in the lower house based on population.

32. The Great Compromise • The Senate ( Upper House): • Members would be chosen by state legislatures • Each State no matter the size would have two senators. • This part of Sherman’s compromise appealed to the smaller states. • On July 16, the delegates approved Sherman’s plan. It was known as The Great Compromise.

33. Northern and Southern States Compromise • The debate between large and small states had ended but a new controversy emerged between Northern and Southern states, slavery. • The two biggest questions regarding slavery would be: • Would slaves be counted as a part of a state’s population? • Would the slave trade continue?

34. The Three-Fifths Compromise • Sothern's wanted slaves to be counted in the population yet slaves were not allowed to vote. • If slaves were counted, southern states would have more representatives in the House of Representatives. • Northerner’s believed since could not vote, they should not be counted when assigning representatives.

35. The Three-Fifths Compromise • Delegates came to another compromise: • three-fifths of the slaves in each state would be counted. • For example of a state had 5,000 slaves only 3,000 would be counted. • This was known as the Great Compromise.

36. The Slave Trade • By 1787 some northern states had banned the slave trade within their borders. • Delegates from these states wanted to banned slavery all together. • Delegates from the south stated that ending slavery would ruin their economy.

37. The Slave Trade continued • Northern and Southern states came up with another compromise. • Congress could not outlaw slavery for 20 years. • After 20 years congress could regulate the slave trade if they wished. • Northerners agreed that no state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to an owner who claimed that slave.

38. Signing the Constitution • The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. • Delegates lined up one by one to sign the constitution. • All except three delegates signed the constitution. • 1. Edmund Randolph • 2. George Mason • 3. Elbridge Gerry *They feared that the new constitution gave to much power to the national government. • Each state had to have a convention to either approve or reject the Constitution. • Once nine states approved the constitution it would go into effect!

39. Chapter 7, Section 3 Ideas Behind the Constitution

40. Setting the Scene • Thomas Jefferson did not attend the Constitutional Convention because he was in Paris, France. • Today, we refer to these men such as Madison, Jefferson, and the other leaders who laid the groundwork of the United States as the Founding Fathers. • Although creating a new form of government for their nation was a bold experiment, they did not invent a government from scratch.

41. The Lessons of Rome’s Republic • John Adams asked Americans to investigate on how governments worked. • The Constitutional Convention wanted to create a republic, a government in which citizens rule themselves through elected representatives. • In order to create a lasting government, American leaders looked at the ancient Rome.

42. The Roman Example • Independence and public service were virtues the Founding Fathers saw in the citizens of Rome. • Romans were willing to serve in office, not for money, but because they were devoted to their republic.

43. The Roman Warning • The Founding Fathers saw the collapse of the Roman Empire as a warning. • No republic could survive unless its citizens remained independent and devoted to public service. • Under Ceaser Augustus, Rome eventually became a dictatorship, a government in which one person or a small group hold complete authority.

44. Magna Carta • Despite their quarrel with Great Britain, the Founding Fathers called British traditions of freedom as well. • King John of England signed the Magna Cartain 1215. • The Magana Carta contained two basic ideas. • 1. Made it clear that English monarchs themselves had to obey the law. • 2. Nobles had certain rights- rights that were later extended to other classes of people as well

45. The English Bill of Rights • In 1689, the English Bill of Rights, went even further in protecting the rights of citizens. • Stated that parliamentary elections should be held regularly. • It upheld the right to trial by jury and allowed citizens to bear arms. • It affirmed the right of habeas corpus, no person could be held in prison without first being charged with a specific crime.

46. A Constitutional Tradition • The Mayflower Compact, written in 1620, was the first document of self-government in North America. • Each of the 13 colonies wrote their own charter granted by the monarch or Parliament.

47. The Revolutionary Era • The Declaration of Independence accused the King of placing military power above civilian authority and protested that the king had made judges “dependent on his will alone. • The Constitution did two thinks to prevent this from happening. • 1.The Constitution made the elected President “Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy. • The Constitution set up a court system independent of President Legislature.

48. Teachings of the Enlightenment • Enlightenment thinkers believed that people could improve society through the use of reason. • English writer, John Locke published the Two Treatises of Government in 1960. • Two important ideas came from Locke’s work. 1.All people had natural rights to life, liberty, and property. 2. Government is an agreement between the ruler and the ruled.

49. John Locke • English Philosopher. • He believed a ruler must enforce the laws and protect the people. • If a ruler violates the peoples natural rights, the people have the right to rebel.

50. Baron de Montesquieu • French Enlightenment thinker. • Inspired American ideas on government. • In 1748, he wrote the book The Spirit of Laws. • It stressed the importance of the rule of law.