A New Nation & The Road to Washington’s Presidency
Big Idea and Why it Matters Now
- Big Idea: Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation but found the new government to be too weak to solve the nation’s problems.
- Why it matters now: The reaction to the weak articles of confederation led to a stronger central government that has continued to expand its power
Republic
- A government in which the citizens rule through their elected representatives
Republicanism
- The idea that governments should be based on the consent of of the people
Articles of Confederation
- The first attempt at forming a post-war government, Congress proposed a new type of government in which two levels of government shared fundamental powers. State governments were supreme in some manners, while the national government would be supreme in others.
- Ultimately fails
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- Congress provided a procedure for dividing the land into territories. Guaranteed Religious freedom, and barred slavery.
- Provided a path to statehood: Congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges. At 5,000 voting residents, settlers could write a temporary constitution and elect a local government. At 60,000 free inhabitants, the settlers could write a state constitution, which congress had to approve before it granted statehood.
Drafting the Constitution
The Big Idea and Why it Matters
- The Big Idea: At the Philadelphia convention in 1787, delegates rejected the Articles of Confederation and created a new constitution.
- Why it matters now: The Constitution remains the basis of our government.
Shays’ Rebellion
- Farmers who were veterans of the revolutionary war returned to their farm in heavy debt and faced debtors’ prison.
- Shays felt he was the victim of too much taxation. Shays led an army of 1200 farmers to force the courts closed. Eventually put down with minimal bloodshed
Great Compromise
- The middle ground between the Virginia Plan ( Which called for a bicameral or two house legislature based on each state’s population ) and the New Jersey plan ( Which proposed a single house congress with each state getting an equal vote )
- Which offered a two-house congress where each state would have equal representation in the Senate (upper-house) and population size would determine representation in the House of representatives (lower-house)
3/5ths Compromise
- ⅗ Compromise: called for 3/5 of a state’s slave population to be counted as population for both representation and taxation. The convention gave
- congress the power to regulate trade but prevented it from interfering with the slave trade for at least 20 years.
Federalism
- Divides power between the national and state government.
Checks and Balances
- Prevents one branch from dominating the others
Electoral College
- A group of electors chosen by the state would cast ballots for the candidates.
Ratifying the Constitution
The Big Idea and Why it Matters
- During the debate on the constitution the federalists promised to add a bill of rights in order to get the constitution ratified.
- The bill of rights continues to protect ordinary citizens.
Federalists
- Supporters of the Constitution
Antifederalist
- opposed to having a strong central government
The Bill of Rights
- Codified freedoms to prevent government overreach of of a person’s individual liberties. Was necessary to get the antifederalists on board.