1. 5 Shaping a New Nation Experimenting with Confederation
QUIT 5
C H A P T E R
Shaping a New Nation
CHAPTER OBJECTIVE
INTERACT WITH HISTORY
TIME LINE
MAP
SECTION 1
Experimenting with Confederation
SECTION 2
Drafting the Constitution
SECTION 3
Ratifying the Constitution
VISUAL SUMMARY

2. HOME 5
C H A P T E R
Shaping a New Nation
CHAPTER OBJECTIVE
To examine the domestic challenges faced by the young Republic; to understand American beliefs and principles reflected in the U.S. Constitution

3. 5 Shaping a New Nation I N T E R A C T
HOME 5
C H A P T E R
Shaping a New Nation
I N T E R A C T
W I T H H I S T O R Y
The year is You have recently helped your fellow patriots overthrow decades of oppressive British rule. However, it is easier to destroy an old system of government than to create a new one. In a world of kings and tyrants, your new republic struggles to find its place.
How much power should the national government have?
Examine the Issues
• Which should have more power—the states or the national government?
• How can the new nation avoid a return to tyranny?
• How can the rights of all people be protected?

4. 5 Shaping a New Nation The United States The World continued . . .
HOME 5
C H A P T E R
Shaping a New Nation
TIME LINE
The United States
The World
1781 Joseph II allows religious toleration in Austria.
1781 The Articles of Confederation, which John Dickinson helped write five years earlier, go into effect.
1782 Rama I founds a new dynasty in Siam, with Bangkok as the capital.
1783 Russia annexes the Crimean Peninsula. Ludwig van Beethoven’s first works are published.
1783 The Treaty of Paris at the end of the Revolutionary War recognizes United States independence.
1784 Russians found colony in Alaska. Spain closes the Mississippi River to American commerce.
1785 New York state outlaws slavery. The Treaty of Hopewell concerning Native American lands is signed.
1785 Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries cross the English Channel in a balloon.
continued . . .

5. 5 Shaping a New Nation The United States The World HOME TIME LINE
C H A P T E R
Shaping a New Nation
TIME LINE
The United States
The World
1786 Charles Cornwallis becomes governor-general of India.
1786 Daniel Shays leads a rebellion of farmers in Massachusetts. The Annapolis Convention is held. The Virginia legislature guarantees religious freedom.
1787 Sierra Leone in Africa becomes a haven for freed American slaves. War breaks out between Turkey and Russia.
1787 The Northwest Ordinance is passed.
1788 The Constitution, which James Madison helped write at the Pennsylvania State House, is ratified.
1788 Austria declares war on Turkey. Bread riots erupt in France.

6. Experimenting with Confederation
S E C T I O N 1
Experimenting with Confederation
MAP
HOME
KEY IDEA
Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation but found the new government too weak to solve the nation’s problems.
OVERVIEW
ASSESSMENT

7. Experimenting with Confederation
S E C T I O N 1
Experimenting with Confederation
MAP
HOME
OVERVIEW
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation but found the new government too weak to solve the nation’s problems.
The reaction to the weak Articles of Confederation led to a stronger central government that has continued to expand its power.
TERMS & NAMES
• confederation
• Land Ordinance of 1785
• Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• Articles of Confederation
• republic
• republicanism
ASSESSMENT

8. Experimenting with Confederation Articles of Confederation
S E C T I O N 1
Experimenting with Confederation
MAP
HOME
ASSESSMENT
1. Describe the powers given to the national government by the Articles of Confederation.
Articles of Confederation
National Government
War and Defense:
Financial Matters:
Native Americans:
Power to declare war, make peace, and sign treaties
Power to borrow money; set standards for coins and weights and measures; and power to establish a postal service
Power to deal with Native American peoples
continued . . .

9. Experimenting with Confederation
S E C T I O N 1
Experimenting with Confederation
MAP
HOME
ASSESSMENT
2. Why were the states afraid of centralized authority and a strong national government?
ANSWER
The states felt that centralized authority would diminish their own independence; they may have remembered the failure of the English Commonwealth under Cromwell.
continued . . .

10. Experimenting with Confederation
S E C T I O N 1
Experimenting with Confederation
MAP
HOME
ASSESSMENT
3. What was the main problem with the system of representation by state (rather than by population) that was adopted by the Confederation?
ANSWER
States with small populations had the same voting power as states with large populations.
continued . . .

11. Experimenting with Confederation
S E C T I O N 1
Experimenting with Confederation
MAP
HOME
ASSESSMENT
4. Do you think that the United States would have become a world power if the Articles of Confederation had remained the basis of government? Think About:
• the power that the Articles gave the states
• foreign affairs and the Confederation Congress
• the Confederation Congress’s taxation powers
ANSWER
If the Articles of Confederation had remained the basis of government, the nation may not have become a world power because the states would have had more power than the national government. The Confederation Congress would have had very little power to deal with foreign governments, and it would not have been able to raise taxes.
End of Section 1

12. Drafting the Constitution
S E C T I O N 2
Drafting the Constitution
HOME
KEY IDEA
At the Philadelphia convention in 1787, delegates rejected the Articles of Confederation and created a new constitution.
OVERVIEW
ASSESSMENT

13. Drafting the Constitution
S E C T I O N 2
Drafting the Constitution
HOME
OVERVIEW
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
At the Philadelphia convention in 1787, delegates rejected the Articles of Confederation and created a new constitution.
The Constitution remains the basis of our government.
TERMS & NAMES
• Shays’s Rebellion
• legislative branch
• executive branch
• electoral college
• Three-Fifths Compromise
• Great Compromise
• checks and balances
• federalism
• judicial branch
• James Madison
• Roger Sherman
ASSESSMENT

14. 2 Drafting the Constitution
S E C T I O N 2
Drafting the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
1. Look at the graphic to help organize your thoughts.
List four issues that were debated at the Constitutional Convention.
Issues Debated at the Constitutional Convention
Fair representation
Slavery
Relationship between state and national governments
Limiting the authority of the national government
continued . . .

15. Drafting the Constitution
S E C T I O N 2
Drafting the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
2. In what ways did the new system of government fulfill the nation’s need for a stronger central government and at the same time allay its fear of a government having too much power?
ANSWER
The three branches of the national government—the executive, the legislative, and the judicial—were designed with a system of checks and balances so that no one branch could dominate the other two.
continued . . .

16. Drafting the Constitution
S E C T I O N 2
Drafting the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
3. What was the Great Compromise and how did it reconcile the interests of the small states with the interests of the more populous states?
ANSWER
The Great Compromise offered a two-house Congress. Small states benefited from equal representation in the Senate, while big states benefited from population-based representation in the House of Representatives.
continued . . .

17. Drafting the Constitution
S E C T I O N 2
Drafting the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
4. Do you agree or disagree with the creation of a system of checks and balances? Explain your answer. Think About:
• the main task of each branch
• how the branches function
• the efficiency of governmental operations
ANSWER
Agree: Checks and balances keep the branches from becoming too powerful.
Disagree: Checks and balances sometimes create dissent between branches, resulting in prolonged debates and the failure to make timely, well-supported decisions.
End of Section 2

18. Ratifying the Constitution
S E C T I O N 3
Ratifying the Constitution
HOME
KEY IDEA
During the debate on the Constitution, the Federalists promised to add a bill of rights in order to get the Constitution ratified.
OVERVIEW
ASSESSMENT

19. Ratifying the Constitution
S E C T I O N 3
Ratifying the Constitution
HOME
OVERVIEW
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
During the debate on the Constitution, the Federalists promised to add a bill of rights in order to get the Constitution ratified.
The Bill of Rights continues to protect ordinary citizens.
TERMS & NAMES
• Antifederalists
• The Federalist
• Bill of Rights
• ratification
• Federalists
ASSESSMENT

20. Ratifying the Constitution
S E C T I O N 3
Ratifying the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
1. Look at the chart to help organize your thoughts. Explain which groups and public figures supported the Federalists and which supported the Antifederalists.
Public Figures
Groups
Federalists
Antifederalists
George Washington
James Madison
People in urban centers, merchants, and skilled workers
Patrick Henry
Samuel Adams
Richard Henry
People in rural areas, large states, and states with strong economies
continued . . .

21. Ratifying the Constitution
S E C T I O N 3
Ratifying the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
2. Do you think the Federalists or the Antifederalists had the more valid arguments? Think About:
• whom each group represented
• Americans’ experience with the Articles of Confederation
• Americans’ experience with British rule
ANSWER
Federalists: the strength of a government with central authority, the protections coming from the division of power, and the system of checks and balances
Antifederalists: Centralized authority could lead to abuses of power; the country was too large to be managed by one government.
continued . . .

22. Ratifying the Constitution
S E C T I O N 3
Ratifying the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
3. Why did the Antifederalists demand the Bill of Rights?
ANSWER
Antifederalists argued that the new Constitution weakened the states, and lacked written guarantees of freedoms of speech, press, and religion.
continued . . .

23. Ratifying the Constitution
S E C T I O N 3
Ratifying the Constitution
HOME
ASSESSMENT
4. How might the course of American history have changed if the Bill of Rights had forbidden discrimination of all kinds and had protected the rights of minorities?
ANSWER
POSSIBLE RESPONSE:
If the Bill of Rights had forbidden all discrimination, the 20th century struggles for civil rights may not have been necessary.
End of Section 3