Warm-up for 5-1

What would happen if every player on a basketball team concentrated on setting personal records rather than working as a team to win games? What would happen to the national government if each state pursued its own interests rather than those of a nation as a whole?

(relationship between states and national govt. was difficult to define)

people thought of the colony as the primary political unit

reluctant to unite under a strong centralized govt.

govt. favored- republic- citizens rule through elected representatives

republicanism- idea that govt. should be based on the consent of the people

State Constitutions (similar characteristics) limited power of govt. leaders guaranteed specific rights to citizens differed on voting rights

few models of republic1. short-lived English Commonwealth (1649-1660)2. Italian cities during the Middle Ages3. Ancient Greece & Rome

Continental Congress tries to dev. a constitution 3 main questions

1. Representation by pop. or by state states unequal in size, wealth, & pop. *each state given 1 vote regardless of pop.

2. Supreme Power: can it be divided? Articles of Confederation- 2 levels of govt. sharing powers author- John Dickinson new form of govt. called a confederation- alliances National Powers- declare war, make peace, sign treaties,

borrow money, est. postal service, & deal w/ Native Americans

*no executive department created to enforce the acts of Congress

*no court system to interpret laws

3. Western Lands: who gets them? smaller states feared large

states would grow and overpower them (ex- Maryland)

states gave up western claims

Articles of Confederation take effect in 1781

Land Ordinance of 1785- est. a plan to survey land west of Appalachian Mts.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787-procedure for dividing land into territories & requirements for admission of new states

**Both ordinances became Confederations greatest achievements

Basic stage for becoming a state – Do not copy1. Congress would appoint a territorial governor & judges2. When a territory had 5000 voting residents, the settlers would write a

temporary constitution and elect their own government.3. When the total population of a territory reached 60,000 free inhabitants, the

settlers could write a state constitution, which had to be approved by Congress before it granted statehood.

Political Economic Foreign-relation

-Confederation lacked national unity

-Confederation did not recognize the differences in state pop.

-Articles could not be amended w/o the consent of every state

-huge debt amassed from war

-*lacked the power to tax (RI rejected proposed tax)

-no control over interstate or foreign trade

-struggle between creditors and debtors (creditors favored high taxes and supply of paper $ low to keep its value)

-U.S. could not repay debt to British merchants, nor compensate loyalists for property losses during war

-British refused to evacuate military forts on the Great Lakes (until 1794)

-Spain closed Mississippi River to American navigation (1784) closing shipping markets through New Orleans hurting western farmers (until 1794)

These congressional presidents had predecessors under the title of "President of the Continental Congress;" but in 1782, the Articles of Confederation were ratified by the Continental Congress, which changed the body's official name to the Congress of the Confederation. These two offices encompassed different duties and responsibilities. Congress, however, continued to refer to itself simply as the Continental Congress up to the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1788

Presidents of the Congress under the Articles of Confederation

John Hanson (1782)

Elias Boudinot (1783)

Thomas Mifflin (1784)

Richard Henry Lee (1785)

John Hancock (1786)

Nathan Gorman (1787)

Arthur St. Clair (1788)

Cyrus Griffin (1789)

Warm-up for 5-2

Think about any disputes that you successfully resolved by compromise. What steps did you take to reach the compromise? What did you give up or change your minds about in order to reach a peaceful solution?

Shay’s Rebellion- an uprising of debt-ridden Massachusetts’s farmers protesting increased state taxes in 1787

“What a triumph for our enemies…to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves.”

“The consequences of … an inefficient government are too obvious to be dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereignties pulling against each other, and all tugging at the federal head will soon bring ruin on the whole… Let us have government by which our lives, liberty, and property will be secured or let us know the worst at once.” George Washington

James Madison (the father of the Constitution) and Alexander Hamilton call for convention to talk about a stronger national govt.

meet in Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1787 & decided to form a new govt.

big states vs. small states

Madison’s Virginia Plan proposed a 2-house legislature w/ membership based on state pop.

William Patterson’s New Jersey Plan proposed a single-house congress w/ each state an equal vote

The Great Compromise

proposed by Roger Sherman

called for a 2-house Congress

each state would have equal representation in the Senate, or upper house

size of the pop. would determine representation in the House of Representatives, or lower house

voters would choose members of the House

state legislatures would choose members of the Senate

Issues of slavery

Political southern delegates wanted slave pop. counted not counting gave Northern states more representatives Three-Fifths Compromise- called for 3/5 of a state’s slaves to be

counted

Economic Congress was given power to regulate foreign trade, but prevented

from interfering w/ the slave trade for 20 yrs.

Creating a New Government

federalism- political system in which power is shared (national & state)

National Powers- called delegated or enumerated powers -foreign affairs, defense, regulating trade, & coining money

State Powers- called reserved powers -providing education, est. marriage laws, regulating trade within state

Powers Shared-tax, borrow $, pay debts, & est. courts

3 Branches created

legislative branch-to make laws

executive branch- to carry out laws

judicial branch- to interpret the law

checks and balances- system to prevent one branch from dominating the others

Electing a president- no political parties, travel & communication was limited and distrust that the common man would vote wisely

Electoral college group selected by the states to elect the executive branch each state’s # of electors equal to the # of members in

Congress

Warm-up for 5-3

Video warm-up – Impact of the Bill of Rights

Suppose you have spent a great deal of time writing a paper for a class and it is exactly the way you think it should be, but your teacher will not accept it without some additions. Would you make the changes? Why or why not?

Ratification-official approval required the agreement of 9 states- (framers didn’t think they could get all 13)

Federalists-supporters of the new Constitution

George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton

Supporters urban areas w/ interest in a

govt. that regulated trade

small states w/ weak economies

Antifederalists-opposed a strong national govt. argument centered on lack of protection for individual rights &

that govt. would serve the privileged minority Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee Supporters

rural areas where people were concerned of high taxes large states w/ strong economies

War of words

The Federalist-series of 85 essays published in NY newspapers defending and explaining the Constitution

Letters from the Federal Farmer-Antifederalists publication

Bill of Rights

Antifederalists argued the Constitution weakened the states, thus people needed a Bill of Rights

Federalists argued the Constitution granted only limited powers to the national govt. so it could not violate the rights of the states or people

Federalists yield w/ promise of ratification

1789- new govt. accepted

12 amendments send to state legislature- 10 ratified

Bill of Rights- 1st ten amendments to the Constitution- ratified in 1791

1st 8- personal liberties

9th & 10th limits on the powers of the national govt.

protection and freedoms did not apply to all

flexibility of Constitution makes it a model for others

Proposed amendments not passed with Bill of Rights

Article I – Section 2 –Apportionment (distribution).After the enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred representatives, nor less than one representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than two hundred representatives, nor more than one representative for every fifty thousand persons.

Article II (ratified in 1992 as Twenty-seventh Amendment) –Congressional pay raises.

No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened(Congress cannot give themselves a raise until after the next election.)