The Constitution and Ratification

The Articles of Confederation Our nation’s first governing document Was in place from 1877 to 1889 Created a very weak national or central government The Continental Congress, weary (afraid of) strong government, like the British monarchy they were rebelling against, gave most of the governmental power to the states. The Articles of Confederation, however, had many flaws and these flaws weakened the new nation.

Flaws of the Articles of Confederation Provided for a weak national government Gave Congress no power to tax The states regulated (controlled) foreign & domestic (within the country) commerce Provided for no common currency Gave each state one vote regardless of size Provided for no executive or judicial branch

Shay’s Rebellion A group of Massachusetts’ farmers revolt against the state government – opposing taxes and closing down state courthouses. The rebellion highlighted the problems within the new nation and caused some of our founding fathers to call for a meeting to fix the flaws within the Articles of Confederation – this meeting to fix the articles is now called the

Constitutional Convention Philadelphia – 1787 The meeting last about four months Delegates were only suppose to fix the flaws of the Articles of Confederation The meeting was not open to the public When the convention was over the delegates had created a new document based on compromise. The new document had to be ratified (approved) by nine of thirteen states for it to replace the Articles of Confederation.

Convention Delegates From Virginia; He was the first delegate in Philadelphia; his Virginia Plan became the cornerstone of the Constitution; therefore Madison is considered as the “Father of the Constitution”.

George Washington From Virginia; given the title of “Presiding Officer (or President) of the Convention; he did not speak much, but his presence at the convention helped to convince naysayers that the meeting had a legitimate purpose.

Patrick Henry From Virginia; did not attend the meeting; he was one of the naysayers of the meeting. Of the meeting in Philadelphia he said the words; “I smell a rat!”.

Issues and Compromises Issue 1 – Representation in Congress – Large states wanted more representation in Congress (since they had larger population; small states wanted equal representation (otherwise the large states would always have more power than the small states)

Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans The Virginia Plan; written by James Madison; Representation in Congress would be based on a state’s population. This would give states with larger populations more representatives in Congress. New Jersey Plan; written by William Patterson; states should have equal representation in Congress; this way small states have just as much power as large states.

The Connecticut Compromise Also known as the Great Compromise – created a bicameral (two house) legislature. In the House of Representatives, the number of representatives from each state would be determined by the state’s population. In the senate each state would have equal representation with two senators from each state.

Issues and Compromises Issue 2- Southern states wanted slaves to count as part of the population to increase the number of their representatives in their states. Northern states complained that this was unfair since slaves are not even considered citizens. They believed slaves should not count as citizens at all.

The 3/5ths Compromise Slaves would not be counted as a whole, but as three fifths of a person.

Fixing the Flaws The Constitution and the laws of the federal government are the supreme laws of the land. Congress has control of foreign and domestic trade. States do retain some powers, but the new federal government is supreme.

Fixing the Flaws To make sure that the new stronger national or federal government the Constitution created three branches of power. This way power is divided and no one person can control more than one branch.

Fixing the Flaws Each branch will also have checks and balances over the other. This allows the other branches to restrain the power of the other branches. Checks and balances is another safeguard that keeps the new government from becoming all too powerful, like a monarchy.

Ratification Fight After the Convention was over two sides emerged over the fight to ratify or approve the Constitution. Those who supported it called themselves Federalist. Those who were against it called themselves Ant-Federalists. G. WashingtonJ. Madison G. Mason P. Henry FEDERALISTSANTI-FEDERALISTS

Ratification Fight Federalists believed that there were enough safeguards in the Constitution (separation of powers and checks and balances) to control the new more powerful national or federal government. The Anti-federalists wanted a Bill of Rights for protection from this new powerful government. In the end the Constitution was ratified by all the states, but a Bill of Rights was also added to appease the Anti-federalists (another compromise?).

The Bill of Rights Also written by James Madison, but he consulted the works of two very important Virginia documents when writing the Bill of Rights George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights was used for many of the rights Madison listed in the Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom ended the practice of an established or state sponsored church in Virginia