1781 Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation

 The colonies were already wary of the power of a centralized government(think England)  Under the AOC Congress could: Declare war Provide mail service Enter into Treaties with other countries Coin/Print money

 The AOC could not: Collect taxes Regulate Trade Because the AOC Was so weak, it was Likely that another Country would take Over the country.

 States began taxing other states goods and also began to heavily tax the citizens of their state.  Revolutionary War veteran, Daniel Shays, lead a group of farmers and attempted to seize guns at the Springfield Armory.  This act made the weakness of the current government obvious.

 Continental Congress calls for a convention to take place in Philadelphia.  First meeting takes place on May 25, Every state but Rhode Island sent a delegate.  Discussions were kept secret so that there would be a free exchange of ideas. George Washington led the debates.

 Virginia Plan  James Madison proposes a federal govt. where the power is SHARED between the national and state governments  3 BRANCHES / 1 Legislative 2 Executive 3 Judicial  Central Idea of the Plan. Checks and Balances which means no one branch has more power than the other  For example: the President can Veto a law passed by the Congress or the Supreme Court can declare it UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

 PROBLEM: the Va. Plan proposed representation based on population. So the smaller states would have less power.  Virginia  Connecticu t

 The New Jersey Plan: an alternative to Madison’s plan that gave each state the same number of Representatives  The larger states rejected this plan and it looked as if there would be no document.

 The Great Compromise  Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposes a BICAMERAL system: a Legislature a TWO parts.  There would be a Senate  and a House of Representatives  Compromise accepted and the work contined.

 The 3/5’s compromise  Slaves would be counted as three fifths of a person as far as representation goes.

 Federalist vs Anti-Federalist  The Federalists believed that the “folks” could not handle the responsibility of voting directly for the President  Anti-Federalists believed each citizen should vote directly for the President  THE COMPROMISE is “The Electoral College”

 The States had to “Ratify” or vote for the Constitution by a two-thirds margin or nine states.  North Carolina was number 12.