From Confederation to Constitution

1781 1783 1787 1789 1791

Articles of Confederation

Ratified

* Treaty of Paris* America is Sovereign* Articles go into effect

Constitutional ConventionPhiladelphia

* Articles Defunct* U.S. Constitution

goes into effect* Washington elected

President

Bill of Rights

Ratified

Colonial Government: 1588-1776

• Imperial Colonization

– Under the control and authority of the British Monarchy and Parliament

– An extension of England on foreign soil

– Each Colony had an individual relationship with England, which made its operation unique.

– Colonies had little to no representation in their own affairs

• People were subjects of the King

Guiding Question for the Post-War Era

• Now that we are on our own, how do we govern ourselves?

• Answer: We create a written plan of Government– Thinking about the phrase: “United States”

• United = a unified group

• State = individual entity

1st Governing Document for the New Nation

• Presented to Continental Congress in 1777 –fully adopted 1781

• The title of this confederacy shall be The United States of America

• A league of states held together by “willing association” – A DECISION made by each state

• States were both UNIFIED and SOVEREIGN• Unified through the document and by the

establishment of Congress to govern and make laws

• Sovereign in that the states were allowed to operate independent of each other and independent of the Confederation

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

13 Sovereign States vs. The STATE

PROVISIONS OF THE ARTICLES

• Made Congress the seat of authority for our National Government

• Each State had ONE vote• 9/13 had to approve for a proposal to

become law• All states had to approve to change a law

• The articles gave Congress the authority to:• conduct foreign affairs

• Treaties and agreements• maintain the army• borrow money• issue currency• Start a postal system• Create courts• Ask the States for tax revenue

The Articles of ConfederationStructure One branch of government: Congress, responsible for making national

laws Each state had one (1) vote in Congress No executive (President) No judicial branch

Decision-making 9 of 13 states had to approve a proposal before it could become a law

All the states had to agree to change an existing law

Money and Finances

The Articles of Confederation could not collect taxes The A of C had to ask the individual states for money The A of C could print and borrow money Each state could regulate trade with other states Each state could tax its residents

Protection The A of C managed agreements with other countries and Native Americans The Articles of Confederation could appoint military officers Only the states could establish militias

Other The A of C established a postal system weights and measures courts consequences for piracy

The Confederation: The Wrong Government Structure

• Administrative Weaknesses– Congress could not enforce laws in the states

– Congress could not tax and therefore could not pay the nation’s debts

– Congress could not

regulate trade; states

made there own deals

– Congress was not the sole

entity to coin money; states

issued their own currency

The Confederation: Foreign Policy Issues

• Britain– British kept forts and a presence in America – they

would not leave and America did not clear them out

– Americans treated Loyalists poorly

– British bullied them at Sea – stopped ships and forced them to detour into Pirate waters

• France and Netherlands– Could not pay back the money it borrowed in the War

• Spain– Had much land under their control and their were

Settlement, Port usage, and Border disputes

The Confederation: Domestic Issues

• Loss of Confidence in Central Government

– Heavy taxation in states to pay war debt

– Taxes on crops and goods

– Economic hardships grew -- Depression

• Shay’s Rebellion 1787

– Massachusetts Farmers organized a rebellion against excessive taxation that had to be put down by the militia

West

The Growth of a Nation Begins –

Westward, always westward…

The Growth of a Nation Begins –Westward, always westward…

Growth during the Confederation Era

• All states gave up claims to lands outside their borders

• The United States Congress gained possession of the Northwest Territory

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES:The first growth of the new nation

• Congress “bought” all the land from the Native Americans

– Ethical issue: they got it for almost nothing and displaced the native Americans in the process

• Divided land into Territories with governors and courts

– When territories reached 60,000 citizens they could apply or statehood

Northwest

Ordinances of

1785 and 1787

Established a new Territory

between the Miss River to the West and the Ohio

River to the South

Guaranteed Freedom of Religion

Prohibited SLAVERY north of the Ohio River

All or parts of 6 states came from the NW

Ordinance

The End of the Confederation Era

• By 1786 it became clear that the Articles were not working

• The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 brought leaders from the 12 states to address the following question:

– How can we fix the Articles of Confederation to balance the needs of the country with the rights of the states?

The End of the Confederation Era

• Philadelphia Convention AttendeesGeorge Washington – President of the Convention

* Ben Franklin * James Madison

* George Mason * Alexander Hamilton

* The state of Rhode Island refused to send delegates

• The Decision: The Articles could not be fixed. The convention delegates would create a new system and write a new plan of government.

• Thus, the Philadelphia Convention than became know as the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION