Forging A New Constitution

Basic Government Structure Under Articles of Confederation  Only had a Congress (chose a leader they called the President, but not like ours)  No Judicial Branch  No Executive Branch

The Need for Change  People felt government was too weak under Articles of Confederation  U.S. went into economic depression  Southern plantations were severely damaged during the war  Trade fell  Had lots of war debt

Shay’s Rebellion  Farmers were hit hardest by the depression  Could not pay taxes and debts  So they were thrown in prison  Farmers were angered  They started to see the new government as a tyrant  In Massachusetts, Daniel Shays led a rebellion to stop judges from taking land from farmers who could not pay debts  The rebellion was stopped a year later by the Massachusetts militia  People were concerned that the rebellion meant the government was too weak to prevent chaos and violence

Slavery in the New Republic  During the Revolution it was brought to attention that every state allowed slavery  Quakers in Pennsylvania made the first American antislavery group  From several Northern states freed slaves  African Americans were still discriminated in the North  Slavery was still vibrant in the South.  Debate over slavery made it hard to debate changes to the Articles of Confederation.

The Constitutional Convention  American Revolution made a union of 13 states, but it did not create a country.  Multiple people wanted reform to the Articles of Confederation.  Two significant Americans supporting reform were:  James Madison - Virginia  Alexander Hamilton - New York

The Convention Begins  Sept Hamilton called for a convention in Philadelphia  Washington was not supportive of this meeting at first, but Shays’ Rebellion changed his mind.  Convention started May 1787 during one of the hottest summers in recorded history  55 delegates including lawyers, doctors, planters, ministers, and others were in attendance  Oldest delegate: Ben Franklin  No women, Native Americans, or African Americans were represented in this group  People felt comfortable about the convention because Franklin and Washington were there.

The Convention Organizes  Washington is put in charge of the convention  Each state had one vote  The meeting was not open to the public  It was very secretive

Virginia Plan  Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed the Virginia Plan  Called for a strong national government  Plan was designed by James Madison  Had three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, Judicial  Legislature would have 2 houses.  States number of representatives would be based on population.  Bigger states had more representatives  This Legislature had the power to tax, regulate trade, and veto state laws  Small states objected to this plan.

New Jersey Plan  Proposed by William Paterson - New Jersey  Only wanted to amend the Articles of Confederation not make a new form of government  Wanted to give Congress power to tax, regulate trade, and elect an executive branch  Wanted a legislature with one house  Each state would only have one vote.

The Great Compromise  Proposed by Roger Sherman - Connecticut  Created a two house legislature each with different representation  Upper House - Senate - Each state has two members  Good for small states  Lower House - House of Representatives - Number of seats depended on population  Good for large states

Three-Fifths Compromise  North and South disagreed on how to count enslaved population  Counting each slave would increase the size of the Southern States’ sizes  Would mean Southern States would have more seats in Congress  South liked this plan, North did not  However, South would also have to pay more taxes to national government, because their population would be significantly increased  Three-Fifths Compromise was formed  Counted three out of every five slaves counted toward the state’s population  Solved the representation and tax issues

Question of Slave Trade  Slave trade was already banned in the North  North wanted to ban slave trade nationwide  South opposed the North on this  North agreed to not let Congress deal with this issue until 1808

Debating a Bill of Rights  Many state constitutions had lists of key rights and freedoms known as a bill of rights  Some delegates at the Convention were concerned that if this new national government did not have one, then it would misuse its power  George Mason of Virginia proposed a bill of rights for the Constitution but it was defeated  Was defeated because most delegates thought the Constitution was very specific in defining government powers to limit it from taking the rights of individuals.

Approving the Constitution  Sept. 17, 1787 delegates were getting ready to sign it.  3 delegates refused to sign it:  Elbridge Gerry (MA), George Mason (VA), Edmund Randolph (VA)  Refused to sign because there was no Bill of Rights  Constitution was approved by the convention and sent to the states for approval  Only needed 9 out of 13 states to approve it before it would go into effect.