I) Government Under the Articles of Confederation
A) Early attempts at Union
1) Albany Plan of Union - Franklin - at the time of the French and Indian War - failed - why?
2) First Continental Congress - temporary
meeting - petition the King - called for a meeting
within a year - unified
colonies - 1774-- except Georgia.
3) Second Continental Congress -
Spring of 1775- Sent final Olive Branch Petition to King.
Called for the raising of an army, appointed Washington as
Commander in chief, and began to seek alliances with France
and other countries.
Under this congress, the States assembled ran the war
against England. They became convinced they could not
gain the help of foreign nations unless they declared their
independence from England.
In the Spring of 1776, several state legislatures instructed their
delegates to work and vote for independence.
a) Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution for independence
in June of 1776. A committee was appointed to draft a
declaration of independence and on July 2, 1776 the
Second Continental Congress accepted it. It was formally
signed on July 4th.
4) Articles of Confederation - Ratified by the
Second Continental Congress in 1781 after solving
the issue of western land claims. - research this.
a) Structure
of the Government under the Articles.
1) A league between sovereign states with the title of The United States.
2) Consisted of one branch of government - A Congress where each
state had one vote.
b) Powers of the
Congress under the Articles
Declare war, make treaties, organize an army and navy, regulate trade with
Indians,
establish a postal system, borrow money, make laws
c) Weaknesses of
the Articles of Confederation government:
1) No executive branch (president, king, prime minister) Why would this
be a weakness?
2) No national courts - no judicial branch of government - no federal judges
3) Could not levy taxes ( had to request money from states)
4) Could not control interstate commerce or foreign commerce - What problems
could
and did this cause??? It would act as a catalyst for change!!!!
5) Passage of a law required approval of 9 of the 13 states. (Very difficult
to obtain -
consider why this is so)
6) The greatest weakness was the fact that any amending of the Articles
required the
approval of all 13 states. This would be almost impossible to obtain. This
would
prevent the government from growing as the nation grew. It didn't allow
for the idea
of an "elastic clause" that would allow the government to expand and assume
powers
necessary for the running of a government. (Why - Fear of corruption- abuse
of power)
5) Problems under the Articles Government:
a) Political
Problems
1) Tariff Issue - New York vs. New Jersey, Pennsylvania vs. Connecticut.
2) With other countries - England held forts in the Northwest, Indian attacks
encouraged by
England and Spain, problem of the right of passage on the
Mississippi River.
b) Economic
Problems
1) Trade - US. lost trading rights with England and her colonies. She would
seek trade with
a new area of the world - What country????
2) Money- Money printed by the US. (continental dollar) was worthless -
debts could not be
paid by government and by the people - this would lead to the loss of property
and voting rights on the part of some people. This would lead to unrest
and the
revolt of a group of people in Massachusetts. (Find out who they were and
what
this revolt was known as.) Most important, the Congress did not have
the power
to tax and the states contributed very little. The national debt
steadily increased.
6) Achievements under the Articles of Confederation:
a) Land Ordinance of 1785 - research this
b) Northwest Ordinance of 1787 - research this
Events growing out of Shay's Rebellion and the
problems of interstate commerce on the Potomac
would result in the recognition of the need for
a stronger government.Keep in mind the idea that the
colonies created a new national government that
reflected their concerns and fears. They didn't want
to a create new government that would be as tyrannical
as theone they had just overthrown.
They looked to what had worked in the old colonial
government - thelegislature or assemblies -
and they created a national government with only
that branch. They feared an executive branch and
a judicial branch because they had been controlled
by England and the King in the past.
They believed in the concept that, "Power corrupts,
absolute power corrupts absolutely.
" Like the swing of a pendulum, they went from
too strong a government to one that wastoo weak.
This mistake would have to be corrected
and would be with the calling of a meeting in Philadelphia
to revise and strengthen the Articles. Out of
this meeting would grow a new and stronger government
based on the Constitution we have today.
7) Events leading to the call for the restructuring
of the national government:
1)
Shay's Rebellion - Acted as a catalyst for reform - fear of another revolution.
2)
Problems with interstate commerce on the Potomac led to a meeting at Mt.
Vernon - There
Maryland and Virginia were able to settle their differences. They called
for a meeting of all
states to be held in Annapolis Maryland.
3)
The Annapolis Convention - Five states showed up for this meeting - because
little could be
done without the approval of all states, this meeting called for a gathering
of all the states to be held in Philadelphia. It was to meet to discuss
the
revision of the Articles of Confederation.
a) There were differing views on a stronger government. People such as
Washington,
Hamilton and Madison called for a stronger federal government, while Jefferson
and
Patrick Henry felt differently. What were the views of landowners, merchants,
creditors,
farmers and debtors?
b) Groups would begin to form around Hamilton
and Washington and would be known as Federalist,
while those following
Jefferson would be called Anti-Federalist or Jeffersonian Republicans.
8) Problems at the start of the Convention
a) Fear
of creating too strong of a government.
b) Convention
was illegal in the eyes of some people. Why?
c) Upper
vs. Lower classes views on government.
d) Large
vs. small states views of government - esp. how they will be represented.
e) Slavery
issue - divided the North and South.
Questions you should be able to answer as you read the text and discuss the convention in class:
1) What conclusion did the delegates to the convention come to upon their arrival in Philadelphia?
2) Compromise was
a very important part of the convention: Be able to show two examples of
how compromise was used by the delegates.
3) Examine carefully
and make a comparison of the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan.
Notice that the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) is a blending
of both. Is this
compromise a revision of the Articles , or a whole new government??????
4) Be able to explain
how the differences between the large states and small states were solved
by the makeup of the Congress. How was the issue of slavery solved?(Three-Fifths
Compromise
5) Be able to define
the important principles of the Constitution: Federalism, Popular Sovereignty,
Constitutional Supremacy, System of Checks and Balances, Separation of
Powers, Supremacy
of Civilian Rule, Limited Government.
6) Know the expressed powers of the Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court.
7) Know the terms of office and qualifications for the President, Congress and the Supreme Court.
8) What is the "elastic clause", where can it be found, why is it so important?
9) Why was the Bill of Rights added to the constitution?
10) The first political
parties form around Hamilton and Jefferson: Be able to show the differences
between these men in terms of their birth, social class, views of the common
man, views of
city and country life, views of a national bank, and views on HOW THE CONSTITUTION
SHOULD BE INTERPRETED.
