Creating Republican Institutions, 1776-1787: Pursuit of Equality and Constitution Making

1. Chapter 9: The Confederation and the Constitution1776-1790 Section I: Creating Republican Institutions, 1776–1787

2. The Pursuit of Equality • Most states reduce (but not usually eliminate) property-holding requirements for voting • Slavery challenged (esp. in Quaker Philadelphia) • Laws discriminated against freed blacks and slaves. • No states South of Pennsylvania abolish • Why not? • Impractical to have the discussion • Would have slowed the process down. • Extending doctrine of equality to women? • Not yet

3. Republican Motherhood • Women were charged with keeping the nation’s conscience • She would educate herself • Cultivate the virtues demanded by the republic in their husbands, daughters and sons

4. Constitution Making in the States • 1776: Continental Congress tells states to draft new constitutions • Commonalities: • Defined the powers of government • Said authority came from the poeple

5. Creating Republican Institutions, 1776–1787: The State Constitutions: How Much Democracy? • Pennsylvania’s constitution: • abolished property owning as a test of citizenship • allowed all male taxpayers to vote & hold office • created a unicameral legislature with complete power.

6. In Massachusetts: • John Adams created a system of government that dispersed authority • He assigned lawmaking, administering, & judging to separate branches. • Adams called for a bicameral legislature • the upper house, filled with property owning men, would check the power of the popular majorities in the lower house.

7. In Massachusetts: •  Patriots endorsed Adams’s system…WHY? • it preserved representative government while restricting popular power. • The Adams bicameral legislature • emerged as the dominant branch of government • state constitutions apportioned seats on the basis of population.

8. The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation were passed by Congress in November 1777 & ratified in 1781 provided for a loose confederation in which each state retained its independence as well as the powers & rights not “expressly delegated” to the United States.

9. Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) • “Firm league of friendship” • Naming of the league--United States of America • Importance of sovereignty and independence for each state • Retention of powers not expressly delegated to national government by states

10. Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) • Creation of national unicameral (one house) legislature • Selection of delegates • Decision by individual states • One vote per state • Selection of President of Congress by congressional delegates annually

11. What did Congress do? • Chartered the Bank of North America (Robert Morris, superintendent of finance) • Why? • Hoped to stabilize the inflated Continental currency • Hoped to centralize control of army expenditures and foreign debt • Some state legislatures refused to support the increase in the Confederation’s powers • NY & RI rejected an import duty

12. Established the Northwest Territory • Congress wanted to use the land to raise add’l revenue for the government • Establishes the Northwest Territory • North of the Ohio River b/w the Appalachians and the Mississippi River • Fearful of settlers allying themselves with Spain in order to export their crops via the Mississippi

13. Map 7.1 The Confederation and Western Land Claims (p. 199) • The Confederation Congress resolved the conflicting land claims of the states by creating a “national domain” west of the Appalachian Mountains. Between 1781 and 1802 all of the seaboard states with western land claims ceded them to the national government. In the Northwest Ordinances, the Confederation Congress laid out the rules for establishing territories with democratic political institutions in this domain and declared that all territories were open to settlement by citizens from all the states.

14. Northwest Territory: Congress passes 3 Ordinances • The Ordinance of 1784 (written by T.Jefferson): • Called for the admission of states as soon as the population of a territory of the smallest existing state

15. Northwest Territory: Congress passes 3 Ordinances • Land Ordinance of 1785 (dealt w/squatters) • Required that the lands be surveyed before settlement • Mandated a grid system that would allow the work to be done quickly. • Specified that 50% of the townships be sold in single blocks of 23,040 acres each • Only large-scale investors & speculators could afford • The rest in parcels of 640 acres, which only well-to-do farmers could afford

16. Northwest Territory: Congress passes 3 Ordinances • Northwest Ordinance of 1787: • Creation of 3 to 5 territories that would eventually become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan & Wisconsin • Initially Congress shall appoint a governor & judges to administer a new territory • When adult free men reached 5000 they could elect their own legislature • When population = 60,000 residents could write a republican constitution & apply to join the Confederation

17. Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) • Handling of three major functions by committees • Foreign affairs • Receiving of Ambassadors • Military • Raising of an army • Request to states for troops • Financial • Borrowing of money • Establishment of value currencies • Fixing of uniform standard of weights and measures

18. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Inability of Congress to lay and collect taxes Inability of Congress to regulate interstate and foreign commerce Need for agreement by nine states for any addition Need for unanimous agreement among the states to amend the Articles

19. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Absence of a National Judiciary and Executive One vote per state regardless of population Retention by states of all powers not expressly given to Congress No power to act against an individual state Election of delegates for a one year term

20. Problems of the nation (1781-1789) • Bankruptcy of national government • Receipt of only 1/4 of expected $10 million from states • Inability to pay interest on foreign loans • Defeat of proposed tariff on imports by one vote • Trade wars among the states • Charging of state fees for permission to trade • Closing of ports to foreign trade

21. Problems of the nation (1781-1789) • Continuing inflationary spiral • Trade wars among the states • Refusal of some states to accept other states’ currencies • Fear of further uprisings after Shays' Rebellion

22. Shay’s Rebellion • Background: • In the East, peace brought recession…WHY? • The British Navigation Acts barred Americans from trading with the British West Indies • Low-priced British goods flooded American markets. • Many states allowed debtors to pay in installments, while other states printed more paper currency in an effort to extend credit

23. Shay’s Rebellion • Captain Daniel Shays: • Provoked by no debtor-relief legislation in Massachusetts • Led a rebellion • To preserve its authority, Massachusetts passed a Riot Act outlawing illegal assemblies. • Winter of 1786–87: Shays’s army dwindled & was dispersed by Governor James Bowdoin’s military force.

24. Shay’s Rebellion • What did this mean? • Many families who had suffered while supporting the war felt that they had traded one kind of tyranny for another • others feared the fate of the republican experiment.

25. Constitutional Convention At Philadelphia (May 1787) • Attendance: • men from all states except Rhode Island • Adoption of rules of organization and procedure: • One vote for each state delegation • Majority vote to pass measures • Requirement of secrecy • no official record of proceedings • Knowledge of actions of proceedings from James Madison’s personal notes

26. Constitutional Convention At Philadelphia (May 1787) • Selection of George Washington as President • Redefinition of the purpose of the Convention • Writing of a new document

27. Picture of the delegates: White Protestant males Men of wealth many with some college education Men of distinction future presidents Future state governors Future Chief Justices of Supreme Court Revolutionary War Veterans Previous service in Colonial Assemblies and/or pastCongresses and/or State Constitutional Conventions

28. Shared beliefs of the delegates Need for stronger national government Belief in republican form of government Agreement with John Locke’s “Theory of Rights” Support for Montesquieu’s separation of powers

29. Controversy between the big and small states: Virginia Plan • Support of big states for The Virginia Plan: • Bicameral Legislature: • Representation by population • Election procedures: • Direct election of lower house members by the people • Additional powers beyond Articles: • Overriding of vetoes • Use of force to make a state obey the national law • Right to legislate whenever “separate states are incompetent”

30. Controversy between the big and small states: Virginia Plan • One Term Executive: • Selection by legislature • Power to execute the law • National Judiciary: • Selection by legislature • Power to veto legislative acts • “Council of Revision” • Combination of Executive and members of the Judiciary • Power to veto congressional legislation

31. Controversy between the big and small states: New Jersey Plan • Support by small states for the New Jersey Plan (Paterson) • Unicameral legislature • Equal representation for each state • Additional powers to the Articles • Enforcement of tax assessments • Regulation of interstate commerce • Plural Executive: • selection and removal by Congress • Federal Judiciary: • One Supreme Court or Tribunal • Appointment by Executives

32. MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCK BETWEEN THE VIRGINIA AND NEW JERSEY PLANS = ISSUE OF REPRESENTATION

33. Great Compromise or the Connecticut Plan • Bicameral legislature • Representation by population in the House of Representatives (national census taken every 10 years) • Equal representation (two) for each state in the Senate

34. Slavery (3/5s Compromise) Support in southern states for counting 3/5s of slaves for representation. Support in northern states for counting 3/5s of slaves for taxation

35. Commerce • Granting of power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce to Congress • Support from northern business interests • Fear of southerners • Support for export as well as import duties by the national government (major export of the nation-southern tobacco) • Intervention by Congress to stop the slave trade. • Assurances to the South: • Prohibition on export duties • no prohibition of the slave trade until 1808

36. Executive Indirect selection of one Executive by an Electoral College Unlimited number of four year terms Enumerated powers

37. Evidence of the fear of popular citizen control Selection of Senators by state legislatures Selection of President by Electoral College Difficulty of amending process

38. Ratification: Need for acceptance by nine states to go into effect (important to have support from big states) Fairly easy passage in Massachusetts & Pennsylvania Close vote in New York & Virginia

39. Supporters = Federalists • Spokesmen for a strong national government • James Madison • Alexander Hamilton • John Jay • Tactics: • Emphasis on weaknesses of Articles of Confederation and resulting problems • Publishing letters to the people in newspapers to turn the tide in New York, Later compiled into The Federalist Papers • Request for vote by state conventions rather than state legislatures or a referendum • Insistence on a vote on the entire document not individual sections

40. Opponents = Anti-Federalists • Spokesmen for states’ rights • Patrick Henry • John Hancock • Richard Henry Lee • Samuel Adams • Tactics: • Emphasis on the powers given to the national government at the expense of the states • Revival of fears of a strong Executive • Threat of the loss of rights with the absence of a Bill of Rights

41. Ratification of eleven states by September 1788 Selection of New York city as temporary capital Election and inauguration of George Washington as President Ratification by 1790 of all thirteen states

42. Chapter 7: The New Political Order,1776–1800 Section III: The Political Crisis of the 1790s

43. Alexander Hamilton • Selected by George Washington as Secretary of the Treasury • Devised controversial policies • Enhanced the authority of the nat’l gov’t • Favored financiers & seaport merchants

44. Hamilton’s Financial Program • His financial program was outlined to Congress in 3 reports • On public credit (January 1790) • On a national bank (December 1790) • On manufactures (December 1791)

45. Hamilton’s Report on the Public Credit • Asked Congress to redeem millions of dollars in securities issued by the Confederation • At face value • Why? • To boost the gov’ts credit • Negative? • Would create a permanent debt

46. Hamilton’s Report on the Public Credit • Problems? • Many people believed that the treasury couldn’t pay the gov’t bonds • They believed they were only worth only 10-15 cents per dollar • Speculators went out and purchased lots of the bonds • inadvertently provided a windfall of profits to speculators • Congress passes his proposal

47. Hamilton’s Report on the Public Credit • Also: he wanted Congress to assume the war debts of the states • Rumors of this created more speculation & gov’t corruption • Controversial: • Some states had levied taxes to pay off the states’ war debts • Some feared that the nat’l gov’t was getting too strong

48. Hamilton’s Report on the Public Credit • Hamilton’s response? • He agreed to reimburse those states • Agreed to move capital to Washington D.C. so VA & MD could watch the federal gov’t closely

49. Hamilton & the National Bank • He asked Congress to charter the Bank of the United States, to be jointly owned by: • private stockholders • & the national government • Argued that: • The bank • Could make loans to merchants   • Could issue financial notes • In doing so • Would provide a currency for the American economy

50. Hamilton, Jefferson & the National Bank • Washington signs the legislation • Jefferson & Madison argue: • a national bank was unconstitutional because the Constitution did not specifically provide for one. • = the first argument over strict vs. loose interpretation of the Constitution