Constitutional Era SOL VUS.5

During the Constitutional Era, the Americans made two attempts to establish a workable government based on republican principles. The Articles of Confederation The Constitution of the United States

Articles of Confederation American political leaders, fearful of a powerful central government like England’s, created the Articles of Confederation which were adopted at the end of the war.

Although the Articles of Confederation were weak, they provided a beginning for forming our government. The following weaknesses crippled the effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles provided for a weak national government, therefore, the national government did not have decisive power over the states. There was also provision in the Articles for an executive or judicial branch. NO

There was no power given to Congress to tax or regulate commerce among the states. This was a major weakness!

There was no common currency. This meant that each of the states issued their own currency!

Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was given one vote regardless of size. This did not seem fair to large states with more population!

Because of the weaknesses of the Articles, a Constitutional Convention was called to amend the Articles of Confederation. However, delegates to the Convention wrote a new Constitution rather than amend the old Articles of Confederation.

The Constitution of the United States of America established a government that shared power between the national government and state governments, protected the rights of states, and provided a system for orderly change through amendments to the Constitution.

The Constitution made federal law the supreme law of the land, but otherwise gave the states considerable leeway to govern themselves.

The Great Compromise This compromise balanced power between the large and small states by creating a bicameral Congress. The Senate – each state gets two senators The House of Representatives – membership is based on population

The Three-Fifths Compromise This compromise placated the Southern states by counting the slaves as three-fifths of the population when determining representation in the U. S. House of Representatives.

Branches of Government By establishing three co-equal branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial, the new plan of government avoided a too-powerful central government. Numerous checks and balances were incorporated to limit the power of any single branch of government.

The powers of the federal government were limited to those identified in the Constitution. This allowed states to retain control of powers not given to the federal government.

George Washington Chairman of the Convention Washington presided at the Convention and, although seldom participating in the debates, lent his enormous prestige to the proceedings.

James Madison Father of the Constitution Madison, a Virginian and a brilliant political philosopher, often led the debate and kept copious notes of the proceedings. His notes are the best record historians have of what transpired at the Constitutional Convention.

At the Convention, Madison authored the “Virginia Plan,” which proposed a federal government of three separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial) and became the foundation for the structure of the new government. Actual “Virginia Plan”

Later, James Madison authored much of the Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, safeguard some of the most precious American principles.

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights gave Americans a blueprint for successful self-government that has become a model for the rest of the world.

Ratification of the constitution did not end debate on governmental power or how to create “a more perfect union.” The diversity of our nation has spawned continuing debates over the meaning of the Constitution for generations – a debate that continues today.

The diversity of our nation has spawned continuing debates over the meaning of the Constitution for generations – a debate that continues today. During the Constitutional Era, this debate flared between the Federalists and Anti- Federalists as the country’s foundations were being established.

The Federalists favored a strong national government that shared some power with the states. They believed that a strong national government was necessary to facilitate interstate commerce and to manage foreign trade, national defense, and foreign relations.

The Federalists argued that the checks and balances in the Constitution prevented any one of the three branches from acquiring preponderant power.

They argued that a republic could survive in a territory as large as the United States because the numerous political factions would check each other, thereby preventing any one faction from gaining too much power.

They also argued that a national Bill of Rights would be redundant, because the Constitution itself protected basic rights, and because most states already had bills of rights that clearly defined basic rights that the governments could not abolish.

The Anti-Federalists believed a strong national government would tend to usurp the powers of the state governments, thereby concentrating too much power at the national level and too little at the state and local level.

The Anti-Federalists believed that notwithstanding the Federalists’ arguments, a national Bill of Rights was necessary and during the ratifying conventions in several states, forced the Federalists to pledge that a Bill of Rights would be the first order of business of the new government established by the Constitution.

The major principles of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution were based on earlier Virginia statutes.

Virginia Declaration of Rights George Mason Reiterated the notion that basic human rights should not be violated by governments.

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: Thomas Jefferson Outlawed the established church – that is, the practice of government support for one favored church.

James Madison, a Virginia, consulted the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom when drafting the amendments that eventually became the United States Bill of Rights.

1. What did the Great Compromise establish? A bicameral Congress Senate – equal representation House of Representatives – by population

2. Which document addressed the separation of church and state? Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom

3. What was the compromise that was reached that related to slavery? It was agreed that slaves would count as three-fifths a person when calculating population.

4. Which group supported a weak federal government? The Anti-Federalists

5. Why did the Federalists think a Bill of Rights was unnecessary? They felt the state Bill of Rights was sufficient to protect people’s rights.

6. Who is the “Father of the Constitution”? James Madison

7. Which group supported the government outlined in the new Constitution? The Federalist

8. What was the name of the document on which many of the principles of the Bill of Rights are based? The Virginia Declaration of Rights drafted by George Mason

9. Who wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom? Thomas Jefferson

10. How did the supporters of the Constitution insure ratification? They agreed to add a Bill of Rights.

11. How does the checks and balance system apply to the three branches of government? Each branch of government has power over the other two branches.

12. Who presided over the Constitutional Convention? George Washington