Constitution

And

The

Articles of Confederation

Chapter 8

“For a decade after independence, American revolutionaries were less committed to creating a single national republic than to organizing 13 separate state republics, united only loosely under the Articles of Confederation. By the mid-1780s, however, the weakness of the Confederation seemed evident to many Americans…”

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“Republican ideology viewed property as the key to independence and power. Lacking property, women and black Americans were easily consigned to the custody of husbands and masters. Then, too, prejudice played its part: the perception of women and blacks as naturally inferior beings.”

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Slavery and Sectionalism

– 1775: African Americans were 20% of nation’s population; 90% of them lived in the South

– Difficulty of squaring republican ideals with the continued presence of slavery

– Most northern states began to abolish slavery

– Free black population grew in both the North and South

– Slavery continued to exist in southern states 4

The Northwest Territory

– Congress adopted three ordinances in the 1780s to deal with issue of westward expansion

– The most important was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which outlawed slavery north of the Ohio River

– Ordinance ignored rights of Indian peoples living in the region

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The Attack on Aristocracy

– Limited success in achieving equality because of republicans’ obsession with rooting out vestiges of the monarchy rather than “raising up the bottom” of society

– Disestablishment of state-supported churches

– Example of Society of Cincinnati, which could no longer base membership on heredity

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Republican Experiments

The State Constitutions– Desire to curb executive power– Strengthened legislative powers– Written constitutions seen as legal codes to protect

the people

From Congress to Confederation– Articles of Confederation created a weak federal

government that consisted only of a national legislature

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• The Jay-Gardoqui Treaty– Sectional animosity aggravated by proposed—but

never ratified—treaty between the United States and Spain over shipping rights on the Mississippi River

• Shays’s Rebellion– 1786: Daniel Shays led rebellion of disaffected

farmers in western Massachusetts

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Articles of Confederation• Adopted in Nov 1777 a

National constitution; 4 years of squabbling before ratifying the Articles of Confederation.

• National Legislature (Unicameral); wage war, make peace, conduct diplomacy, regulate Indian affairs, appoint military officers, conscript into the Continental Army

Wartime Economic Disruption

War produced massive public and private debt– Reckless printing of paper money and shortage of goods

sparked severe inflation

– Serious conflicts among nation’s leaders over economic policy

“As long as the individual states remained sovereign, the Confederation was crippled—unable to conduct foreign affairs effectively, unable to set coherent economic policy, unable to deal with discontent in the West.”

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Articles of Confederation

• Power of the Purse remained with the States.

• States retained their sovereignty over this federation.

• Any legislation passed had to be unanimous.

• Could not levy taxes on the individual states; had no distinctive executive branch—did not have ultimate authority—that rested with the individual states.

Articles of Confederation

• Because many feared the tyranny of a strong governmental entity, this is how the articles were worded;

• 1) This shall be a confederacy of states (notice not union);

• 2) Each state shall retain sovereignty and its individual independence;

• 3) The individual states agree to enter voluntarily into a league of friendship with each other.

Issues Concerning the Articles• Patriotic souls that had loaned money to Congress

—were given certificates—(War Bonds).

• Congress was indebted to its people and foreign countries; especially France and the Netherlands.

• Could not regulate the money supply in hard specie, all they could do was print more paper money.

• Could not pay interest on the national debt—no power to enforce foreign or domestic commerce.

• The states refused to accept Continental IOUs as collateral—many people were losing everything lack of monetary--.

• Debtors began to fight back, Shays rebellion in Western Massachusetts. Force the probate and foreclosure courts to close. State Militia had to put the rebellion down.

• Another big issue:

• Britain was dumping cheap goods on the American Market;

• The British West Indies and other Foreign Ports were closed to American Shipping; no outlet for American goods;

• Un-Regulated money supply;

• No ability to tax or collect duties.

• Because of War there was a great deal of capital loss, labor loss; then natural effects of recovering from war; weakened economy, destabilizing of the currency, loss of jobs, double digit inflation and a lowered GNP. (150 million dollars in debt).

• Manufactures wanted protective tariffs, stronger navigation laws, and a centralized currency and control over commerce foreign and domestic.

• South wanted foreign ports open to trade; farmers needed credit; begin to galvanize against the industrious North.

• Many of the older Generation feared a strong government; trading one tyrant for another;

• New Younger Generation: They saw America as a Nation, not as individual states;

• Had fought under one flag and one commander for America and Congress; not for an individual state.

• Best Example is Alexander Hamilton—something had to be done, or America would soon be a British colony again.

• Two events sparked the need for a re-evaluation of the Articles of Confederation;

• 1) Annapolis Convention to discuss some uniformity and enforcement of interstate commerce and navigation practices;

• 2) Capt. Daniel Shays rebellion against the tax collectors—supporting popular revolution.

End of Articles• Shays rebellion was problematic for a fledgling

nation.

• These were not rabble, but reputable members of the community who wanted their property protected.

• The Confederation Government had failed to protect them against creditors, recession and debtors and foreign annoyance.

The Jay Treaty--SectionalismGranted favor nation status to Britain; abandoned

neutrality of shipping w/o repercussions;

No more boycotts or economic sanctions against Britain; America would repay their Revolutionary debts to British merchants;

Britain agreed to indemnity of shipping seizures during “The Quasi-War” and would abandon all Northwest fortifications—limited trading rights in the West Indies and India.20

Constitutional Convention• The idea was simple, this convention would forge

a constitution “adequate to the exigencies of the Union.”

• 55 of the most distinguished men in America most of them lawyers on May 25, 1787 decided the fate of the Union.

• There would never be more than 26 people in attendance at any one given time—sickness, business, or temperament absented some: Rhode Island never participated.

Constitutional Convention• Washington President of

the Convention;• Benjamin Franklin elected

Pro-Tempore;

• The rest were relatively young, served in the Continental army;

• Imbibed with Revolutionary zeal

Constitution• The procedures of the convention were less than

democratic, but proved to be beneficial;

• Wanted honest and open dialogue, not some political denizen harping to the press;

• The convention would be in secret, no speaking to the media or others;

• Agreed that 1) the federation must be altered; and 2) a strong central government was needed.

Constitution• Most obvious issue was that of power and how it

was to be structured.

• 1) This new national government was authorized to levy taxes on states and areas of commerce; also it was authorized to raise and maintain a standing Army and Navy.

• Second issue was who was to control this government—A strong national legislature, or a strong natural executive, or the individual states?

Constitution• Another issue was how this structure would develop—

large states swallow up the small, or would the small states have equal voice.

• James Madison put forth the Virginia Plan: two house legislature, an executive and a judiciary. Senate would be elected by the state legislatures, the House of rep. Would be popular vote; The national Congress would elect the President.

• Squabbling outright, the large states had the most population therefore could send more reps to congress and always influence who the President would be.

Constitution• Gunning Bedford of Delaware preferred a European

Monarch than dictatorship by Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

• William Patterson of New Jersey offered what became the “New Jersey” Plan.

• A one house national legislature with each state having an equal voice—congress could tax and regulate commerce—President would be chosen by a plurality in Congress—establish a national Supreme Court—seemed that states would have too much power—back to square one.

Constitution• Connecticut Compromise: House of Representatives

popularly elected; Senate consisting of two from each state; no state could be deprived of equal suffrage—small state would have protection in the Senate—to appease the Large states—the power of the Purse would be in the House (Ways and Means Committee).

• The Great Compromise was the two House legislature, one elected by popular vote and the other composed of equal representation from each state. A Separate and Supreme Judiciary.

Constitution• They did design a surprisingly strong Executive

Model—President responsible for executing the Laws, commanding the Armed forces, and supervising foreign relations;

• This may very well have ended the attempt at constitutional government—but the President was to be elected by an Electoral College—Large states now cannot control the executive—and most important of all, the 1st President was to be George Washington …

Constitutional Omissions• No allowance for Political Parties, Supremacy of federal

government over the states was implied never outright stated, and no precise standard of citizenship was established.

• It did not free the African Slaves, address Gender issues, nor did it address the Native American Issues—it left a lot to be inferred and out rightly ignored other issues; however, they addressed and succeeded very well for the issues that were immediate to them … they offer a document that could and would transcend time and be flexible enough to address troublesome issues.

Constitutional Obfuscation• Slavery was unnamed but identified by the phrase “held

to service or labor, under the laws thereof,” upheld in Article 4: section 2—

• Section 2 guarantees that any fugitive or person that escapes to another state must be delivered up by edict of the law.

• Section 4 indirectly upholds slavery by suggesting that any uprising or rebellion against said state would have the benefit of the national militia to quell it.

Constitution• The entire document is one of compromise and

even frustration; however, it established a system of checks and balances that serve it very well—each having a specific duty and responsibility;

• There will be no Cromwell’s or Napoleon's gracing the pages of American history.

• The document has stood the test of time in good times and during extreme crisis—simply it is the greatest document of World History.

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Constitutional Sectionalism• Controversies between North and South have origins of

fundamental differences; they are truly two distinct regions with two distinct political, social and economical philosophies.

• The Mason-Dixon line surveyed in 1767. The states below this line easily became labeled Southern States.

• South warmer temperate climate—mostly agricultural, African Slave labor force, intense year round labor systems—very agrarian and Planter Aristocracy.

South• Always afraid that the

populace North would dominate the South;

• Southerners always distrusted the North based on economic interests—South needed western lands and the free navigation of the Mississippi—Central government was seen as weakening the South

South• They forced the North to compromise to gain

Southern consent into this new Union;

• South wanted slaves counted as equal to whites in apportionment and elections, but not for the purposes of taxation;

• South Carolina demanded full representation—it was simple Justice, the slaves were as productive as those of the Northern states …

Impasse

• Governuer Morris of Pennsylvania suggested that if this country is modeled on slavery, it will eventually perish; if the Southerners want to make their way on such a vile institution, “Then let us at once take friendly leave of each other …”

• To avoid dissolving the Union before actually establishing a Union—they compromised on the 3/5ths rule—essentially suggests that for every three white people in the South, they may count 2 Black people—roughly the South was gaining a 60% Apportionment over the North …

More Compromise

• External and Internal Taxation and Commerce split along sectional lines;

• North wants a protective tariff—offer the government good income and protect the new industry of the North—however, South would not agree to tax exports—Southern exports more valuable than northern exports.

• Taxation would only profit Yankee Shipping—Southerners wanted to be free to ship or negotiate commerce and trade with whomever they desired.

More Compromise• Deep South wanted to maintain the international slave

trade;

• North opposes the South’s insistence of individual state sovereignty as compared to foreign trade and contracts—must be exclusively with National Government—also oppose trafficking Human cargo—

• Congress would regulate foreign commerce, impose import taxes, but not export; set a dead line to end the slave trade—ship with whomever, but honor all National contracts first. South found this agreeable

Ratification• Patrick Henry claimed he “smelled a Rat!”• Samuel Adams worried that the individual states and

especially the communities were giving up too much of their independence.

• Pro-Constitutionalist took the moniker Federalist• This left the Old Revolutionaries no choice but to assume

the moniker AntiFederalist.(explain this in lecture)

• Hamilton and Madison undertook a propaganda campaign in the Federalist Papers—very successfully explained the constitution and why it was needed.

“Within the life span of a single generation, Americans had declared their independence twice. In many ways the political freedom claimed from Britain in 1776 was less remarkable than the intellectual freedom from all the Old World that Americans achieved by agreeing to the Constitution.”

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