1st Constitution

Articles of Confederation

• Approved November 15, 1777

• Est. “a firm league of friendship” between the states

• Needed the ratification of the 13 states

• March 1, 1781 Second Continental Congress declared the Articles effective

Articles of Confederation

• Powers of Congress:–Make war and peace –Send and receive ambassadors

–Make treaties–Borrow money –Set up a money system –Est. post offices

–Build a navy –Raise an army by asking the states for troops

–Fix uniform standards of weights and measures

–Settle disputes amoung the states

Articles of Confederation

• States Obligations:– Pledge to obey the Articles and Acts

of the Congress– Provide the funds and troops

requested by the congress – Treat citizens of other states fairly

and equally – Give full faith and credit to public

acts, records, and judicial proceedings

–Submit disputes to congress for settlement

–Allow open travel and trade b/w and among states

–Primarily responsible for protecting life and property

–Accountable for promoting the general welfare of the people

Weaknesses of the Articles

Influential Documents

The way our government works today can be traced to important documents in history:

Compromises addressed before the constitution would be approved;

Responses to the new constitution

The Virginia Plan: Called for a NEW Government

• Three Separate branches of government• Legislature, Executive, and Judicial

• Bicameral legislature• Based on population or money given to support the central

government

• Members of House of Reps = based on population

• Senate = chosen by House from a list from the State Legislature

• Congress would be given powers it had under the A of C

• Veto any State law that conflicted with National Law

• “National Executive” and “National Judiciary”

• Council of Revision

• Veto acts passed by Congress (but can be overridden by Congress)

• State officers should take an Oath to a Union

• Admit new States to the Union

The Virginia Plan: Called for a NEW Government

The New Jersey Plan • Unicameral Congress of the Confederation

– Each state equally represented • Add closely limited powers

– Tax and regulate trade • Federal Executive

– More than one person – Chosen by Congress/could be removed with maj. Vote

• Federal Judiciary – Single “supreme Tribunal” – Selected by Executive

Differences between the plans

• How should the states be represented in Congress?– Based on population?– Financial contribution?– State equality?

• 4 weeks they deliberated – Heated debate – Lines drawn in the sand

The Compromises

• Connecticut Compromise – Two houses – Senate – equal representation – House – proportional representation

• Combination of Virginia and New Jersey plans • AKA: The Great Compromise

• Three-Fifths Compromise – Should Slaves be counted?– Split North v South – All “free person’s” will be counted; 3/5 of all other

persons – Southerners could count slaves but had to pay

taxes on them

The Compromises

• The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromises– Congress = power to regulate foreign and

interstate trade – Scared southerners – Congress: forbidden the power to tax the export

of goods from any state – Could not act on the slave trade for 20 years

The Compromises

• The Framers were familiar with the political writings of their time– Jean Jacques Rousseau (Social Contract Theory) – John Locke (Two Treaties of Government).

• They also were seasoned by – The Second Continental Congress, – The Articles of Confederation and – Experiences with their own State governments.

Influences on the New Constitution

• When the Constitution was complete, the Framers’ opinions of their work varied. Some were disappointed, like George Mason of Virginia, who opposed the Constitution until his death in 1792.

• Most agreed with Ben Franklin’s thoughts when he said,

“From such an assembly [of fallible men] can a perfect production be expected? It…astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does…”

Reactions tothe New Constitution

Ratifying the Constitution

• Federalists – Articles of Confederation were weak– argued for the ratification of the Constitution.– James Madison – Alexander Hamilton

• Anti-Federalists – objected to the Constitution for including the

strong central government – the lack of a bill of rights.– Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Samuel Adams

The Constitution is Ratified • Nine States ratified the

Constitution by June 21, 1788, but the new government needed the ratification of the large States of New York and Virginia.

• Great debates were held in both States, with Virginia ratifying the Constitution June 25, 1788.

• New York’s ratification was hard fought. Supporters of the Constitution published a series of essays known as The Federalist.

Inaugurating the Government

• The new Congress met for the first time on March 4, 1789.

• Congress finally attained a quorum (majority) on April 6 and counted the electoral votes. Congress found that George Washington had been unanimously elected President. He was inaugurated on April 30.

How a bill becomes a LAW

Don’t forget you have a graphic organizer with this information on it !

Step 1: Someone has an idea for a bill

Step 2: Bill is introduced into the House or Senate by a member and assigned to a committee, who refers to the subcommittees

Step 3: Subcommittees performs studies, holds hearings, and makes revisions. If approved the bill goes to FULL committee.

Step 4: Committee: FULL committee may amend or rewrite the bill, decides whether to send it to the floor or “kill” the bill

Step 7: Conference committee: composed of members of both houses and they meet to iron out the differences between the bills, the compromised bill is returned to both houses for a second vote.

Step 6: Full House/Senate: bill is debated; amendments are offered and a vote is taken, (if the bill is different than the original….it goes to conference committee)

Step 5: Rules committee (house only): issues rules on debate (senate: leadership decides)

Step 8: Full House/Senate: votes on the compromised bill; if bill passes it is sent to the President

Step 9: President: sign or veto’s the bill; congress may override the veto by a 2/3 vote in both the House and Senate

Step 10: If veto stands = Bill is KILLED; if President Signs = BILL BECOMES A LAW

How A Bill Becomes A Law