The New Nation

Articles of
Confederation (1777)
The Second Continental Congress directed the
colonies during the war, but had no real authority
or mandate to do so.
Congress had the power to:

conduct foreign affairs, maintain armed

forces, borrow money, and issue
currency
Congress DID NOT have the power to:
regulate trade, force citizens to join the
military, impose taxes
The Second Continental Congress drafted a
written constitution called the Articles of
Confederation- in order for anything to pass, this
document had to be ratified by all 13 states

The Articles had two major

problems:

no power to control
commerce
no power to levy taxes

These powers were left to

the individual states

A major issue was what to

do with the land in the Ohio
River Valley. Many states
had claims and others didnt
so who would control it?
The state or national
government?

A compromise was reached

through the Northwest
Ordinance and Land
Ordinance

The states were now

content and the Articles were
unanimously ratified
*

Land Ordinance -(1785)

All lands claimed by individual

states had to be turned over to
national government
All lands sold to the public
would be revenue to pay for the
national debt from the
Revolution (at least $1/acre)
All land would be surveyed and
mapped before any public
auction would take place
townships 6x6 miles,
townships into 36 sections
(640 acres)
Set aside specific areas in the
new territories for public
education

Northwest Ordinance(1787)

Divided area into 5 territories

Illinois, Michigan, Ohio,
Wisconsin, and Indiana
(IMOWI)
Set a procedure how a territory
could become a state:
population of 60,000
same rights as original 13
states
Bill of Rights for each state
Forbade slavery

Small farmers in Massachusetts began

losing their farms to banks because
they couldnt pay their taxes or meet
mortgage payments.

Shays Rebellion1787

One reason was that many of them had

not been paid back pay for their military
service during the War.
A delegation of farmers approached the
state legislature for relief but were
unsuccessful.
Led by Daniel Shays, these farmers
took over many courts and a federal
arsenal. The national government struggled
to raise an army to put the rebellion down
but eventually did.
Importance renewed interest in need
for a strong central government

The
Constitutional Convention- 1787
Delegates were called to Philadelphia in
1787 to REVISE the Articles of
Confederation.

all states but Rhode Island attended.

delegates from American aristocracy

NO middle or lower class
representation
Primary motives:

preserve the United States

stop anarchy
They secretly wrote a new constitution
against the orders of the Second
Continental Congress because they
couldnt effectively amend the
Articles of Confederation.
(needed all 13 states to agree)

Ratification of the New

Constitution
Rather than unanimous
acceptance, the Convention
adopted a two-thirds ratification
rule.
Ratification would be done through
specially elected constitutional
conventions in each state.
Federalist Papers:
Written by Jay, Hamilton, and
Madison
Collection of essays in favor of the
new Constitution in New York
newspapers to muster support for
ratification
*

Problems with ratification:

Rhode Island and North Carolina refused to ratify Congress had to threaten
them with a high tariff to get them to ratify.
US was on its second constitution in a dozen years with little domestic and
foreign confidence in the American government.
Some compromises were built in the Constitution to promote ratification.

Great Compromise

Great Compromise
compromise reached was a bicameral (2 house) legislature
with representation in House by
population and in the Senate
equally (written by Roger
Sherman)

Virginia Plan (large state

plan) representation by
population

New Jersey Plan (small state

plan) representation should
be equal
*

3/5s Compromise

Three-Fifths Compromise
compromise reached was
slaves would be counted as
3/5s of a person

South said slaves should be

counted into their population,
but North said no

It was agreed that slavery

would be abolished 20 years
after ratification of the
Constitution.

Compare and Contrast

Articles of Confederation
1.
2.

Loose confederation of states

1 vote in Congress for each state
(unicameral legislature)

3.

2/3 vote necessary in Congress

for all important measures

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Laws were carried out by

congressional committees
No congressional power over any
commerce
No congressional power to levy or
collect taxes
No federal court system
Unanimous vote needed by states
to amend the Articles
No authority to make individuals
and states to comply with federal
laws

Constitution
1.
2.

3.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Firm union of people and states

2 votes in Senate for each state
plus a House with representation
by population (bicameral
legislature)
Simple majority needed in
Congress on most manners but
subject to presidential veto
Laws were executed by a
powerful president
Congress regulates foreign and
domestic commerce
Extensive congressional power to
levy and collect taxes
Intricate system of federal courts
headed by a US Supreme Court
Amendment was available
through a variety of mechanisms
Ample power to enforce laws
concerning states and individuals

Interpretation of the
Constitution
Thomas Jefferson strict interpretivist

(constructivist)
national government should exercise no powers
that are not specifically granted in the Constitution
all unspoken powers are reserved for the state
governments

Alexander Hamilton loose interpretivist

(constructivist)
cited elastic clause of the Constitution Congress
may pass any laws necessary and proper to carry
out its granted powers

Political Parties
Constitution doesnt provide for political parties.
Political parties resulted from ideological clash between Jefferson and
Hamilton:
interpretation of Constitution
financial policy
foreign policy

Federalists led by Hamilton:

strong central (national) government
positive relations with England
favored upper class
Democrat-Republicans led by Jefferson:
strong state government
positive relations with France
favored common man
*

Early Problems
Difficulties for the new government:
constitutional interpretation
economic stability
foreign relations
how to avoid war
political precedents