The Road to the Philadelphia Convention

The Story of Why Our Constitution was written.

Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation was America’s 1st Constitution. It established the rules for our first national government. It was passed on November 1777, but was not take effect till 1781.

The type of government established by the Articles was called a republic. In a republic people elect representatives to govern them.

The national government was run by a Confederation Congress. Each state had only one vote.

Strengths and Weakness of the Articles of Confederation

• Governed the nation during the Revolution

• Negotiated the Treaty of Paris after the War ended.

• Passed two important American Laws,

• Passed the Land Ordinance of 1785

• Passed the Northwest Ordinance

•Lacked the Power to enforce laws

•Lacked the power to collect taxes

•Lacked the power to regulate trade among the states.

•Needed all 13 states to make changes to the Articles of Confederation

Problems caused by the weak national government

There was no executive nor judicial branch of government.It was a very rigid document, it took a 2/3 majority vote to pass laws, and

13 votes to amend (change) the Articles. Each state had equal power in congress no matter its size.

There was no Army nor a Navy leaving our nation vulnerable to attacks. Britain still occupied forts in the western lands and our trade ships were raided when they went overseas.

The National government could not regulate trade between states and other nations.States placed tariffs on each other goodsForeign Nations also placed tariffs on our goods, but we could not do the same.

National government could not tax nor enforce laws.

Each state issued it’s own money making the national currency weak.

The United States after the Revolutionary War

• The United States increases in size, the area shaded in pink are known as the Western Lands.

• Many colonies were in debt from fighting the war.

• The Western lands could be used by Colonies to pay off each state’s debt.

The Western Lands

• Most states claimed land in the Western Territory.

• The Continental Congress took control of the Western lands and passed the Land Ordinance of 1785, and later the Northwest Ordinance.

• These laws established the method for orderly distribution of land.

Land Ordinance of 1785

• Land surveyors were to divide the Northwest Territory into six mile square plots of land called townships.

• Each township could be further divided into 36 individual square mile plots.

• These 1 square mile plots could then be sold to settlers.

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

• Set up the rules for creating government in the Northwest Territory. As a territory grew in population it would gain the rights to govern themselves.

• Population at 5,000 free males = the right to elect an assembly.

• Population reached 60,000 free males the territory could apply for statehood.

• Slavery was banned, and Freedom of Religion and Trial by Jury were protected rights in the Northwest Territory.

1,000 people

Right to elect an assembly (local government)

Statehood

Shay’s Rebellion

• In the mid 1780’s Massachusetts faced financial problems.

• They heavily taxed their citizens to help this problem.

• Many people at this time earned very little money and could not pay these taxes

• Farmers asked the state government for some tax relief.

• They refused

Shay’s Rebellion

• Fed up with their government, some 1,500 farmers led by Daniel Shay’, an Revolutionary War veteran, marched to the federal arsenal. The arsenal was guarded by about 900 soldiers. They quickly defeated these angry farmers.

• But many other sympathized with these farmers and it became clear that a stronger national government was needed.

What is important to remember

• The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance were passed under the Articles of Confederation. These laws helped to create a system of orderly land distribution in America.

• Shay’s Rebellion showed that a stronger national government was needed to protect the citizens of America.

Solve the following:

The current population of the United States is approximately 317,000,000 people. California, the nation’s most populous state, has an estimated population of 38,000,000 people. Wyoming, the nation’s least populous state, by comparison has a population of 576,000. What percentage does each state represent of the nation’s total population?

Answer

California

Wyoming

Philadelphia Convention

• Alexander Hamilton called for delegates to meet in Pennsylvania in May of 1787 to discuss changed to the Articles of Confederation.

• 55 delegates met in May in what became known as the Philadelphia Convention.

• In attendance were G. Washington, B. Franklin, and James Madison

The Convention Begins

• The first order of business was to elect a president of the Convention. The delegates unanimously selected George Washington.

James Madison “the Father of the Constitution”

• Unofficial secretary of the Convention.

• The discussions at the Convention were kept secret.

• His notes are the only reason why we know what happened.

Virginia Plan of Government

Proposed a government with three branches:• Legislative – makes the

laws• Executive – enforces the

laws• Judicial – interpret the laws

Legislative branch would be divided into two houses. Membership would be based on a state’s population

New Jersey Plan

Proposed a government with three branches:• Legislative – makes the

laws• Executive – enforces

the laws• Judicial – interpret the

laws

The Legislative Branch would have one house, and each state would receive one vote each.

Great Compromise

• The Legislative Branch of government would be made up of two houses.

• One house, called the senate, would equally represent the states. Each state sent the same number of senators.

• The second house would be called the House of Representatives. Membership to this house would be determined by a state’s population.

This resolved the issue of how to structure the Legislative Branch of government.

How the people would be represented.

Northern States only wanted the, “free” inhabitant of each state to be counted towards representation and taxation purposes.

Each Congressional District represents approximately 33,000 citizens.

In other words every state gets 1 representative for every 33,000 citizens in their sates.

Today the number is more like 700,000 for every representative.

The Southern states wanted to count their slave population towards representation only, but not to be included for taxation purposes.

How the people would be represented.

Northern States did not want Southern States to use their slave population to determine representation.

They did want slaves to be counted for taxing purposes.

The 3/5th Compromise

• To resolve the issue a compromise was made.

• Only 3/5th of a states’ slave population would be counted in as part of the State’s total population.

• This would be used for taxation and representation purposes.

Ratifying the Constitution

FederalismFederalistAnti-FederalistFederalist PapersThe Bill of Rights

Federalism

A system of government in which the National government and the states governments share power to govern everyone.

Delegated Powers – powers assigned to the Federal government.

Reserved Powers – powers left to the states after

powers were assigned to the Federal government.

Concurrent Powers – powers assigned to both the Federal and State governments.

Federalist – Those who supported the Constitution.

Basic Arguments

•They argued that the Confederacy was flawed, and could not address national problems such as national defense and strengthening the nation’s economy.•They described that the type of government formed by the Constitution was a better form of government than the Confederacy.•They felt that a strong Federal government would be the best for the Nation.

Alexander Hamilton,

John Jay, &

James Madison

Anti Federalist - Those against the Constitution.

Basic Arguments

•They felt that the Constitution took away too much power from the States.•They felt that Federal government was given too much power at the expense of the States.•They felt they had fought the Revolution to escape a strong central government.•They felt that State and Individual Rights would be eventually trampled on by the Federal government.•They basically felt that Federal government had too much power.

Patrick Henry

George Mason

The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers were a set of 82 essays, mainly published in New York Newspapers.

They were written to argue the benefits of the Constitution and strong Federal government.

They were signed anonymously, but we know that the majority of the essays were written by Alexander Hamilton who wrote 52.

James Madison wrote 28 essays, and John Jay contributed to 5 essays.

They are the best resource for understanding the Constitution.

They were essential in getting the Constitution ratified.

Ratifying the Constitution

• A copy of the Constitution was sent to each state to look over before they would vote to ratify (accept) it.

• 9 out of the 13 states needed to ratify it before it became official.

• In June of 1788, nine states had ratified the Constitution, it was official.

Bill of Rights

• In order to get the States to ratify the Constitution, the Federalist agreed to include a Bill of Rights to the Constitution.

• These rights were added to the Constitution by the Congress once the Constitution took effect.

• The Bill of Rights are the first 10 Amendments (changes) to the Constitution.

• They protect our individual rights from being abused by the Federal government.

Philadelphia Convention Cornell Notes

1. Why was the Philadelphia Convention held?2. Who was in attendance?3. What was G. Washington’s and James

Madison’ role in the Convention?4. What was the Virginia Plan of Government?5. What was the New Jersey Plan of

Government?6. What was the Great Compromise?7. What was the 3/5th Compromise?