The Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution

The Articles of Confederation In order to avoid a strong central government like England’s, the Founding Fathers created a new government in 1777 that was designed to be weak It was hoped that the Articles of Confederation would be a balance between the rights of the individual, and the power of the government to guarantee those rights

The Articles of Confederation According to the Articles of Confederation: –There would be a weak national government –Congress would have no power to tax or interfere with trade between states –There would be no national currency –Each state, no matter its size, would have a vote in congress –There would be no Executive branch (president) or Judicial branch (Supreme Court)

The Articles of Confederation

The United States Constitution In 1787, it became clear that the Articles of Confederation could not provide stability within the United States The Founding Fathers decided to create a new government that would balance the power of the states with the power of the federal government In 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held to create a new government

The United States Constitution The new government formed as a result of the Constitution: –Made federal laws the supreme “laws of the land”, but allowed states freedom outside of those laws –Balanced power of large states and small states by creating bicameral legislature House of Representatives- based on population Senate- 2 votes per state no matter what size

The United States Constitution The Constitution also: –Balanced power of Slave and Free states with the 3/5s Compromise Slaves were counted as 3/5s of a person, so southern states received more Representatives, but also paid property taxes on slaves –Created 3 Branches of government to avoid one branch becoming too powerful Executive- President Legislative- Congress Judicial- Supreme Court

The United States Constitution

Last: –The Federal government was not allowed to act outside the laws put forth by the Constitution Key Leaders –George Washington presided over the Convention and used his hero status to make the Constitution acceptable to all Americans

George Washington

Constitutional Leaders James Madison, “Father of the Constitution” –Virginian who documented and kept notes on what was going on –Authored the “Virginia Plan” which created 3 Branches of government –Authored “Bill of Rights”

James Madison

The United States Constitution In order for it to be adopted, Representatives from all states had to ratify, or sign the Constitution Some thought it gave too much power to the central government, some thought it didn’t give enough

The Federalists The Federalists were an early political party that wanted the Constitution signed They believed in a strong central government where the different branches and different political parties would keep one group from having too much power They also believed that a strong central government was the only way to provide for a national defense, and allow fair trade between states and other countries

Alexander Hamilton

The Anti-Federalists The Anti-Federalists believed that the Constitution made the Federal government too strong They also believed that in order to ensure individual freedoms, and freedoms of the states, that a Bill of Rights was necessary to keep the federal government from taking them away

Samuel Chase

The Bill of Rights Many ideas of the Bill of Rights were taken from earlier Virginia statutes –Virginia Declaration of Rights (George Mason)- Basic human rights should not be violated by governments –Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (Thomas Jefferson)- Outlawed a “national church”

The Bill of Rights

Bill of Rights James Madison combined these 2 Virginia statutes to create the Bill of Rights, which became the 1 st 10 Amendments to the Constitution