The United States in 1783 Articles of Confederation America’s 1 st national government was the Articles of Confederation ( ) The Articles established a weak national government in order to protect state power.

Some of the successes of the Articles The Articles established a good system of settling western lands The Land Ordinance of 1785 established an orderly process for laying out western townships The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed for local government, statehood, & outlawed slavery in the Northwest

Major Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

urgency Shays’ Rebellion gave nationalists like Washington, Madison, Hamilton the urgency to call for a stronger national government Constitutional Reform By 1787, the major flaws of the Articles of Confederation were exposed: – Shays’ Rebellion – Shays’ Rebellion broke out among desperate Massachusetts farmers who faced losing their farms or being sent to debtor’s prison. – Congress called for a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss revising the Articles and improving the national government.

Shay’s Rebellion

James Madison James Madison helped negotiate many of the compromises that made the Constitution possible & is referred to as the “father of the Constitution” Constitutional Convention A Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia to try and fix the Articles of Confederation. However, they ended up scrapping the entire thing and a new government was created instead

The influence of Enlightenment Ideas Members of the convention drew upon numerous enlightenment ideas, such as Montesquieu’s “separation of powers,” which argued that, to avoid tyranny, the three branches of government (legislature, executive, and judiciary) should be separated as far as possible, and their relationships should be governed by a system of checks and balances.

The Constitutional Convention

Virginia Plan: Two-house legislature in which the number of representatives for each state would depend on the number of people in the state. (Benefit larger states) New Jersey Plan: Single-house Congress in which each state was equally represented.

Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise): Two houses of Congress: – The House of Representatives (based on population) – The Senate (equal representation)

The Constitutional Convention Each state would elect one member to the House of Representatives for every 40,000 people in the state. This led to a conflict between Northern and Southern states. Southern states wanted to count slaves as part of the population. Northern states said no because slaves could not vote and if they were counted for representation then they should also be counted for taxation.

The Constitutional Convention Three-Fifths Compromise: every five enslaved people in a state would count as three free persons. Another compromise targeted the slave trade: – Congress would not ban the slave trade until 1808.

The Federalist Papers The Federalist Papers were a series of 85 articles supporting the ratification of the new United States Constitution. The articles were written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

FEDERALISTS ANTI- FEDERALISTS

Federalist vs. Anti-federalist Federalist Favored a strong National government. Believed in a loose interpretation of the Constitution that resulted in a national government that was strong enough to do the will of the people George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton were FederalistsAnti-federalist Favored a weak national government and strong state governments. They believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Bill of Rights Demanded a Bill of Rights be added to the Constitution. Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Paine were Anti-Federalists.

Federalists & Anti-Federalists Federalists Supported approval for the Constitution. Were well-organized and educated. Federalist Papers Used Federalist Papers to argue for ratification and gain public support. Anti-Federalists Against approving the Constitution. – Distrusted a government that removed power from control of the people. – Wanted more protection of personal liberties.

Bill of Rights To win approval of the Constitution, the Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights to protect the people’s liberty. By 1788, all states except Rhode Island and North Carolina had ratified the Constitution. Nine states were all that were necessary for ratification All 13 states ratified the Constitution by 1790.

Effects of the Constitutional Convention

The Bill of Rights