New Hampshire

New York

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Virginia

South Carolina

North Carolina

Georgia

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Massachusetts

Delaware

Maryland

State Constitutions

Features held in most state constitutions

• Bicameral legislatures• Both houses were elected directly• Elections for lower house held annually• Popularly elected governors (NY had the strongest

executive position)• Property ownership was a requirement for holding

office

Articles of Confederation

Features/Powers

• “a league of friendship”• Each state maintained its sovereignty• Legislative: Unicameral

– 9/13 to pass any measure

– Each state had one vote

• Executive: In name only—powerless • Judicial: Did not exist• Unanimous consent of all 13 to amend

Articles of Confederation

Challenges

• Foreign threats– British

– Spanish

– Barbary Pirates

Articles of Confederation

Challenges

• Foreign threats– British

– Spanish

– Barbary Pirates

• Interstate disputes• The problem of debt• Shay’s Rebellion

New Hampshire

New York

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Virginia

South Carolina

North Carolina

Georgia

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Massachusetts

Delaware

Maryland

America in 1787

America in 1787

Some key traits

• Size: Much larger than any other countries– Travel and communication challenges: Can it be

governed?• A very regional feel: distinct places

New Hampshire

New York

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

Virginia

South Carolina

North Carolina

Georgia

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Massachusetts

Delaware

Maryland

America in 1787

Northern New England: trade and fishing

NY and S. New England: better soil, access to Hudson

Delaware Valley: more cosmopolitan--Philadelphia

Chesapeake Bay: Fertile—large-scale commercial agricultureS. Virignia/NC: tobacco industry

SC/GA: sparsely populated; rice and indigo—slave labor

America in 1787

Some key traits

• Size: Much larger than any other countries– Travel and communication challenges: Can it be governed?

• A very regional feel: distinct places

• 75% white (but a diverse white); mostly Protestant

• 20% black (mostly slave)

• A deferential society

• Rural (Only Phila. And NYC had populations of over 25,000) – 90% farmers

• Hard-working, God-fearing, and prosperous