The Articles of Confederation
The Constitution
Introduction
• The American Revolution wasn’t too
radical (socially)
• Some social changes were involved
– Customs
– Political Institutions – Gender roles
• A weakening higher class = more
democratic ideas
State Constitution Construction
• 1776
– The Continental Congress called for states/
colonies to draft new constitutions
• Massachusetts- had a special
convention to draft its constitution – Citizens ratified it in 1780
– This process was known as a constitutional
State Constitutions (cont.)
• Made it easier to create a federal
constitution
– Defined gov’t powers
– Common people have authority
• However,
Creating a Confederation
• Now that individual states had made
their own constitutions, the whole country needed a constitution
• 1776- before the Declaration of
Independence, the Continental Congress created a committee to draft a written constitution
Articles of Confederation
• Adopted in 1777 • Ratified in 1781
– Unanimous approval was required- MD was
America’s First Constitution
• The Articles provided for a loose
confederation
• 13 independent states = 1 weak
Congress
– No executive and judicial federal branch – Amendments needed unanimous
Articles (cont.)
• Congress was intentionally weak
• Colonies were still suspicious of big gov’t
Article Weaknesses
• Two handicaps:
• No commerce regulation
– Economic warfare will go on btwn./among
states (tariffs)
• No tax collection
– Who is going to fund gov’t programs and
Article Weaknesses (cont.)
• Nat’l gov’t in Philadelphia
– Could deal with independent states, but could not
control them
• The new Congress was less effective than the
Continental Congress
• An acronym: WAIT
– W: Wars
– A: Armies and Navies – I: Indian Affairs
Article Strengths
• Defined general powers
– Even though gov’t was very weak
• Maintained unity
• Made a postal service
• Defined land ownership and management
Landmarks in Land Laws
• The first Congress was good at only a
few things, one of which was land regulation
• Land Ordinance of 1785- Old Northwest should be sold off in
Land Ordinance of 1785
• This act then…
– Divided land into 6 mile x 6 mile squares
– These squares were split into 36 1 sq. mile
sections
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• Concerned governing the Old Northwest
– 60,000 residents in a territory
– Area is subordinate to federal gov’t
• These two characteristics = potential for
statehood
U.S.A.- The Ugly Duckling
• Foreign relations were strained • Britain was the worst!
– Did not send any foreign minister to U.S.
capital
Spanish Relations
• Spain was also unfriendly to the U.S.
– Controlled Miss. River
• 1784: Spain closed Mississippi to American
trade
– Also took Florida and areas north of Gulf of Mexico
• Natchez- Spain held a fort on American
territory
France Relations
• France was America’s ally during the
Revolutionary War
Anarchy Rises
• The economy was suffering during the
time of the Articles
• Raising money was a serious problem
– Some states don’t pay $ – Credit was worsening
• States were raising tariffs on each
other
Shay’s Rebellion
• 1786 @ Western MA
• Poor backcountry farmers were angry
– Losing farms through foreclosures and tax
delinquencies
• Leader: Daniel Shays
– Wanted:
– Cheap paper money – Lighter taxes
Shay’s Rebellion (cont.)
• Response: MA raised a small army to
crush movement
– 3 killed, 1 wounded in fighting
• Shays- condemned to death, but later
Results of Shay’s Rebellion
• Fear of poor mobs
A New Constitution
• 1786- A convention was held in
Annapolis, MD
– Only 5 states came (how shameful)
• Alexander Hamilton- called upon
Congress to meet in Philadelphia
– Need to revise the entire Articles of
Philadelphia Convention
• May 25, 1787- representatives from 12
states
– Rhode Island didn’t come
• Some Revolutionary leaders were not
there
– Still, these meetings were an “assembly of
Patriots in Philly
• 55 delegates: none of them represented
the lower classes – All nationalists
• Convention’s Intent: preserve the union,
stop anarchy
Compromising
• Virginia Plan- also known as the
“large-state plan”
– Proposed a bicameral Congress
– Representation- came from population size,
unfair to smaller states
• New Jersey Plan- “small-state plan”
– Proposed a unicameral Congress
– Representation- equal, regardless of size
Compromising (cont.)
• Great Compromise
– House of Representatives: population size
affected number of representatives
– Senate: two senators/state
• Tax/Revenue Legislations- must originate
in the House (population counted!)
• President: military commander-in-chief
and had appointing powers
Compromising (cont.)
• Essentially, the Constitution was a giant
compromise
– Electoral college helps determine the
President
– Large states have advantage in popular votes – Small states get a voice if there was no
electoral majority and the election went to the House
Sectionalism
• South: believed that slave populations
counted as people
– North: slaves are not citizens
• 3/5 Compromise- a slave is 3/5 of a person
– For example, 5 slaves who go to vote would count
Anti-Federalists
• Anti-Federalists- supported a weaker
federal gov’t in order to draw more power from common men
– Mostly from the poorer class
• Members: Samuel Adams, Patrick
Federalists
• Federalists- wealthier and more
educated
• Members included George Washington
Political Parties
• Federalists and Anti-Federalists were
the nation’s first political parties
– Both parties were a mix of today’s
Great Debate
• Special elections were held to ratify
the Constitution
• All but 4 states ratified the
Constitution – VA
Four Stragglers
• VA was a hotbed for opposition to the
Constitution
– Eventually ratified it
• NY- Hamilton, Jay, and James Madison
created the Federalist Papers
Four Stragglers (cont.)
• NC- a convention was held here, but fell
apart
• RI- did not hold a convention!
– Rejected the Constitution in a popular vote
• Eventually, these two states ratified it
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