TEST #2 LECTURE NOTESThe Constitution and New Nation

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STATE CONSTITUTIONS

Virginia Declaration of Rights—George Mason Reiterated the notion that basic human rights should

not be violated by governments Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom—Thomas

Jefferson Outlawed the established church—the government

would not favor just one church—idea of religious freedom

Bill of Rights—James Madison Madison consulted the Virginia Declaration of Rights

and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom when creating amendments that would eventually become the Bill of Rights

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

After the Revolution, American political leaders were afraid to create a powerful central government like that of Great Britain

Thus, the new leaders of the American Nation created the Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation: Provided for a weak national government—power wrested

with the state, not federal government Congress had NO power to tax or regulation commerce

between the states No common currency ($) was created for the new nation—

each state could have its own $ Each state had only 1 vote regardless of the state’s size There was NO executive (president) or judicial (supreme

court) branch

Articles of Confederation Video

NORTHWEST ORDINANCE (1787)

Established rules for the organization of land west of the Appalachian Mountains Provided rules for electing assemblies in the western

territories Laid out the process through which a territory could

become a state Stated that all new states would be equal to the

original 13 states Protected civil liberties in the territories Placed limits on the expansion of slavery in the new

territories Territories south of the Ohio River could have slavery Territories north of the Ohio River could not have slavery

The states actually worked together on the Northwest Ordinance

FACTORS LEADING TO THECONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

The Articles of Confederation proved to be ineffective

Several factors will lead the government to look into making changes to the Articles of Confederation Boundary disputes between states Poor foreign relations Unpaid war debts Falling crop prices Shay’s Rebellion

SHAY’S REBELLION

Led by Daniel Shays in Mass. Farmers were heavily in debt after the

Revolutionary War The Mass. government began taking their farms for

payment In 1786, Shays called together 2,000 angry farmers

and attacked the court house at Springfield. The state government raised an army and ended

the rebellion The significance of Shay’s rebellion:

The Articles of Confederation had given the national government too little power

Americans were worried that the national government could not maintain order

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION—THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

A convention was convened and met in Philadelphia to amend the Articles, but a new Constitution was eventually created and the Articles were tossed out

Key leaders of the Convention George Washington

President of the Convention Rarely participated in the debates

James Madison—”Father of the Constitution” Usually led the debates Kept very detailed notes and records of the proceedings Created the “Virginia Plan”—proposed the idea of 3 branches of

government which became the foundation of the new government

He later created the Bill of Rights which were added to the Constitution

James Madison

KEY ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE US CONSTITUTION Made federal law the supreme law of the land when

constitutional States still had considerable leeway to govern

themselves Checks and Balances (Separation of Powers)—

Madison’s “Virginia Plan” Created 3 co-equal branches of government—Executive

(enforces laws—president), Judicial (decides constitutionality of laws—Supreme Court), Legislative (makes laws—Congress)

Helped to avoid a too-powerful central government Creation of the Senate

Helped to balance the power by large and small states Each state, regardless of size, has 2 Senators

Creation of House of Representatives The number of representatives for each state is determined

by the state’s population—larger populated states have more representatives

KEY ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE US CONSTITUTION (CONTINUED)

3/5 Compromise An attempt at making Southern states happy Counted slaves as 3/5 of the population when

determining representation in the House of Rep. Limited powers of the federal government to

those in the Constitution Amendments

RATIFICATION PROCESS Before the Constitution could take effect, it

had to be ratified, or approved by the states 9 of the 13 states had to ratify the

Constitution for the document to take effect

FEDERALISTS VS. ANTI-FEDERALISTS Not everyone in the newly formed United States was in

favor of ratifying the newly drafted Constitution Some were afraid the Constitution would create a too

powerful central government (Anti-federalists) Wanted a Bill of Rights added to the Constitution before

ratification—without the Bill of Rights, the Constitution would not have been ratified

These Anti-federalists were more conservative The leading Virginian opponents (against) to ratifying the

Constitution were Patrick Henry and George Mason Others believed the new nation needed a strong central

government to promote economic development (Federalists) The Federalists saw the federal government as needed to solve

national problems The leading Virginian proponents (in favor of) of ratifying the

Constitution were George Washington and James Madison

Patrick Henry

George Mason

THE FEDERALISTS PAPERS A collection of letters published in

newspapers by the Federalists explaining the ideas expressed in the Constitution

Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

The Federalist Papers were designed to persuade the American people to ratify the Constitution

BILL OF RIGHTS

The Anti-Federalists would only ratify the Constitution if a Bill of Rights was added—a series of amendments to the Constitution

Guarantees the rights of individuals and states

Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD—DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETING POLITICAL PARTIES

Several factors helped to create competing political parties in America’s early government

National Bank Controversy Washington and Hamilton created the Bank of the

United States Hamilton and Jefferson greatly disagreed that

Congress had the power to create the bank because the Constitution did not give this power to Congress

Hamilton argued that Congress had the “implied power” to create a national bank because of the “necessary and proper” clause

Greatly extended Congress’s power and led to the Whiskey Rebellion

WHISKEY REBELLION, 1794

Farmers in western Pennsylvania protested a tax on whiskey

Washington sent an armed force against the farmers

From then on, most people in the West opposed the Federalists

The Whiskey Rebellion proved that the Federal government had the power to enforce laws

Whiskey rebellion video

EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Several factors led to the development of political parties in the early American government Controversy over the Federalists’ support for the

Bank of the US The Jay Treaty between the US and GB The undeclared war on France

The differing parties developed after George Washington’s presidency ended in the late 1790s

FEDERALISTS

• Led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton• Believed in a strong national government and

industrial economy• Were supported by bankers and business

interests in the Northeast.

Alexander Hamilton John Adams

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Believed in a weak national government and

an agricultural economy. Supported by farmers, artisans, and frontier

settlers in the South Opposed to the Federalists’ support for

the Bank of the United States the Jay Treaty the undeclared war on France

James Madison

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1800

Won by Thomas Jefferson The first American presidential election in

which power was peacefully transferred from one party to another

Jefferson is elected president by the House of Representatives because there was a tie in the election Jefferson and Alan Burr both had the same

amount of votes The House voted and elected Jefferson

IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS—JOHN MARSHALL’S COURT

John Marshall will serve as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court He was from Virginia Appointed by President John Adams He served as the guiding force of the early

Supreme Court Marshall’s precedent-setting decisions helped

to establish the Supreme Court as an independent and equal branch of the national government

John Marshall

IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS—JOHN MARSHALL’S COURT Marbury v. Madison

Established the power of the federal courts to declare laws unconstitutional: “judicial review”

McCulloch v. Maryland The state of Maryland was placing taxes on all bank notes from

the National Bank of the US A National Bank cashier brought suit against the state because of

the tax Marshall and the Supreme court made 2 important decisions:

1.) Congress has powers that are not expressly written in the Constitution

2.)prohibited the states from taxing agencies of the federal government states did not have power to impede or control the laws of the federal

government “the power to tax is the power to destroy”

Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824 Established the federal government’s right to regulate all aspects

of interstate commerce (interstate waterways)

EXPANSION RESULTING FROM THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

The land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean was contested by France and Spain

1800 Napoleon forced Spain to give him the land President Thomas Jefferson was afraid that Napoleon

would close the port of New Orleans to American shipping traffic

1802: Napoleon closed the port of New Orleans to American trade, effectively killing the Mississippi River as a shipping and trading lane This would nearly kill the US’s trade in the west

1803: Pres. Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to purchase the Louisiana Territory The US bought the land for $15 million The US gained 830,000 square miles of land—doubling the

size of the US

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

LEWIS AND CLARK

Jefferson had the new land, but had no idea of what the nation had purchased

Jefferson chose 2 men to go and explore the new territory Meriwether Lewis—Jefferson’s personal secretary William Clark—an Army officer

Lewis and Clark received help from an American Indian woman named Sacajawea Sacajawea served as the explorers’ guide and

translator

M. Lewis W. Clark

THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”

When George Washington left the office of president, he warned the United States to stay isolationist—not to get involved in any alliance with a foreign nation

The American Government tried to follow this advice until Great Britain and France went to war in the early 1800s (and extension of the French Revolution)

The US tried to trade with both Great Britain and France, but GB and France kept harassing American ships France tried to keep American goods from England England tried to keep American goods from France

THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”

Great Britain began to imprison American sailors and force them into the British Royal Navy

The United States did not like its citizens being forced into the British Navy

Great Britain was helping many Indians fight against American settlers

War Hawks A new breed of politicians who pressed for war

against Britain because of their actions against Americans at sea and settlers on the frontier.

Allies of President Madison

THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”

The Federalists opposed James Madison’s war resolution (“his” war on Great Britain)

The Federalists even threatened to seceded from the Union

The Federalists also wanted to add more amendments to the Constitution—although none were added

Major Battles of the War of 1812

RESULTS OF THE WAR OF 1812

The United States emerged victorious in the war

America’s victory caused the US to lay claim to the Oregon Territory

The victory also to increase American migration into Spanish controlled Florida

ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA—ADAMS-ONIS TREATY

Americans from Georgia were migrating into Spanish held Florida—causing problems between Florida’s natives and the settlers

The Americans wanted the US government to buy Florida from Spain

1819: Adams-Onis Treaty Spain agrees to sell Florida to the US for $5

million

MONROE DOCTRINE

Issued by Pres. James Monroe in 1823 The Doctrine warned Europe to stay out of

the Americas—both North and South America The American continents should not be

considered for future colonization by any European powers

Nations in the Western Hemisphere were inherently different from those of Europe, republics by nature rather than monarchies

The United States would not interfere in European Affairs

Cartoon depiction of the Monroe Doctrine

AMERICA’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1789-1824) Industrial Revolution—a time when goods were

stopped being produced in homes and were produced in factories

Before the War of 1812, the US got most of its textiles (cloth) from Great Britain

During the War of 1812, the US received a lot less cloth The Americans were almost forced to start producing their

own textiles Francis Cabot Lowell

Lowell recognized the need for more textiles in the US Lowell created a new type of spinning and weaving

machine that was run by water He built a factory in Massachusetts to produce cloth His factory helped usher in the Industrial Rev. to the US

AMERICA’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1789-1824)

Eli Whitney Created the Cotton Gin The Cotton Gin removed the seeds from cotton

and cleaned the cotton The machine was 50 times quicker than a human The Cotton Gin made cotton cheap The demand for cotton increased, causing a

need for more cotton plantations in the south The Cotton Gin secured slavery in the south—lots

of slave labor was needed to keep up with the demand for cotton—the South=“Cotton Kingdom”

Eli Whitney

Cotton Gin

TARIFFS

The United States Government passed tariffs (taxes on imported goods)

These taxes were issued to protect the young American Industry

The industrial North favored high protective tariffs to protect the Northern manufactured goods from foreign competition

The agricultural South opposed (were against) high tariffs that made the price of imported goods more expensive

TRANSPORTATION IN EARLY AMERICA—WESTWARD MIGRATION

Early Pioneers went west along poor wagon road in Conestoga wagons

Others used the vast network of rivers to travel westward

TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPS

As industry began to better develop, better transportation was needed to get products from factories to the market

Growth of the railroads due to the steam engine

Canals linked the interior to Atlantic port cities Led to the growth of an industrial economy Better roads were eventually created

Turnpikes: built by private companies that charged tolls. Usually built of stone and gravel

National Road: 80-foot wide stone road begun in 1811 and by 1852 almost 600 miles linking Maryland with Illinois

ERIE CANAL

Erie Canal: 8 years to dig; 40 feet wide, 4 feet deep, 363 miles long; linked the Great Lakes with New York City

WESTWARD EXPANSION AND MIGRATION

The people of the United States began to slowly move westward, past the Appalachian Mts. Into Indian territories

People moved from the coastal states into the Midwest, Southwest, and Texas

Sought economic opportunity in the form of land to own and farm

“Manifest Destiny” The belief that it was America’s “Manifest

Destiny” to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific provided political support for expansion

This belief caused the frontier to constantly be pushed further west

WESTWARD EXPANSION AND MIGRATION

During this period of westward migration, the American Indians were repeatedly defeated in violent conflicts with settlers and soldiers.

They were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands

Native Americans were viewed as “savages,” not only uncivilized but uncivilizable

Most whites hungry for valuable land wanted the Indians removed from east of the Mississippi River

The Indians were either forced to march far away from their homes (“Trail of Tears”) or forced to live on reservations

WESTWARD EXPANSION AND MIGRATION

“Trail of Tears” In 1830, Congress passed the Removal Act, paying

the Indians for the land and removing them to the West

The Cherokee, who had adopted many European ways, tried to resist.

In 1838, the US government forced out the remaining 15,000-17,000 from Georgia

About 4,000 died of small pox, along with starvation and exposure, en route to resettlement in the Indian Territory in what later became Oklahoma

By the end of the 1830s, virtually all the important Indian societies east of the Mississippi had been removed to the West

TEXAS—THE ALAMO

American settlers began to move into Texas—a territory controlled by Mexico Stephen Austin received a grant from Mexico to

create a colony in Texas By 1836, 50,000 Americans had settled in

Texas The Americans in Texas soon became upset

with Mexican rule in Texas In 1836, the Americans in Texas declared

their independence from Mexico which will turn into a major revolt against Mexican rule—the Alamo

TEXAS—THE ALAMO

Mexican President Santa Anna sent his army into Texas in January 1836 and reached San Antonio in February

A force on 187 Texans under William B. Travis took a stand behind the walls of a Spanish mission nicknamed "the Alamo“

Along with Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, the Texans held off 5,000 troops for 10 days

The Mexican troops finally fought their way into the Alamo and slaughtered everyone

After receiving word of the battle, Sam Houston united the Texans under the battle cry "Remember the Alamo!"

President Santa Anna

Jim Bowie

TEXAS—THE ALAMO

Eventually Sam Houston was able to defeat Santa Anna, and Texas became an independent nation

Houston approached the United States to enter Texas as a slave state

Texas was finally admitted as a slave state in 1845

Texas’ annexation will lead to a war between the United States and Mexico—The Mexican American War

MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR

Mexico was upset when Texas became an American state

The US wanted war with Mexico to take possession of California and New Mexico

July 1846, the US took California In August, the US took New Mexico Sept. 1847, the War ended with the US as

victorious The US got the modern day states of California,

New Mexico, parts of Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,

OREGON TERRITORY

The territory of Oregon (modern Oregon and Washington state) was acquired from Great Britain in a treaty in 1846

The US and Great Britain nearly went to war over where the boundary of the Oregon Territory should be

The United States wanted the northern border of the territory to be at 54° 40‘, giving the US more land

In 1846, the US was at war with Mexico and accepted Britain’s offer at the northern border at the 49th parallel

Jacksonian Era—”the age of the common

man”

JACKSONIAN ERA

Election of 1824 Four men were running for president in 1824

Andrew Jackson Henry Clay John Quincy Adams William Crawford

Jackson was the least experienced, but many liked him

At the end of the election, none of the candidates had a clear majority

Because there was no clear winner, the election was handed over to the House of Representatives

Henry Clay gave his support to John Q. Adams

The House vote gave the election to John Q. Adams Adams received 13 state votes Jackson received 7 state votes

Many of Jackson’s supporters believed that Adams and Clay had created a “corrupt bargain”

Adams made Clay his Secretary of State The Democratic-Republican party split after

the election of 1824 Supporters of Adams and Clay became

National Republicans Supporters of Jackson became Democrats

John Q. Adams Henry Clay

The changing character of American politics in the “age of the common man” was characterized by Heightened emphasis on equality in the political

process for adult white males The rise of interest group politics and sectional

issues A changing style of campaigning Increased voter participation

Election of 1828 Before the election, property restrictions were

lowered Andrew Jackson ran on a platform that favored a

federal government with limited powers as well as a strict interpretation of the Constitution

He was a reform candidate whose hickory broom would sweep clean the “corruption”

the age of the “common man” had begun Jackson won the 1828 presidential election Jackson personified the “democratic spirit” of the

age by challenging the economic elite Jackson also used a “Spoils System”

He rewarded loyal party workers, campaign supporters, and financial contributors with government positions

a “kitchen cabinet” of close friends

Jackson felt that the executive branch should dominate.

Jackson alone vetoed twelve (12) bills. 9 by all the previous presidents

he acted out of personal disapproval rather than on constitutional grounds

Jackson was also instrumental in the removal of Indians from their lands—”Trail of Tears”

CHANGE IN POLITICAL PARTIES

The Federalist Party disappeared. New political parties, the Whigs and Know-

Nothings, were organized in opposition to the Democratic Party.

PANIC OF 1837

A financial crisis built on speculative fever Somewhat caused by the actions of Andrew

Jackson and his refusal to renew the charter of Second Bank of the United States

The end of the Second Bank of the US created a period of runaway inflation

May 1837: banks in New York City would only accept payment in gold and silver coins

Bank failures ensued The US fell into a 5-year depression

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Panic1837_crop.jpg