Articles of Confederation & The Consitution

Vocabulary:

Constitution: a formal document stating how a nation is to be governed; the document that governs the U.S. even today, considered a living document

Executive: the branch of government that executes the laws

Legislative: the branch of government that makes the laws

Judicial: the branch of government that judges the laws

Compromise: an agreement which both opposing sides agree to because it benefits them

Amend: to change, to add

Ratify: to sign and give value, to put in affect

Federalism: support for the Constitution, favored a strong national government

Economic Depression: sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies

Weaknesses of Articles:

• Did not raise enough taxes to maintain the government, fund an army, and pay for debts.

  • the nation does not have the power for taxing so cannot raise money

    • the states should pay, but there is no way to make them pay

    • nobody payed a sufficient amount

  • focused more on foriegn debt rather than domestic (in the country)

  • couldn't pay for the army

• Hard to make amendments to the AoC

  • needed 13/13 states approval

  • rarely would all of them appear together at the same time

  • severely hard, but not impossible

• Didn't maintain order in the country or earn respect of states and citizens so they follow laws

  • They didn't keep Shay's Rebellion in check

  • They didn't pay soldiers' wages

    • those who had served in the Revolution were just given IOUs

    • never actually played

  • Respect of states and citizens are very low

  • Rarely states listened to the national government

  • No army to maintain order

    • disassembled after the Revolution in fear of them harming the citizens and getting out of control

• No central government    

  • was a joke, had little power

  • could do nothing to make the states obey

Shays' Rebellion

• Farmers in Massachusetts (leader = Deniel Shays)

• Economic problems (farmers rebelling against taxes)

• November 1786, Massachusetts

• They thought taxes caused them to be in debt

• it made people worry about how a weak central government might respond to future rebellions

Constitutional Convention

• after early discussions, the delegates realized the AoC would be too difficult to revise

• decided to create entirely new document

• George Washington elected to be the president of the convention

• 55 delegates gathered from 12 states

• some of the nation's greatest leaders attended such as:

  • benjamin franklin

  • george washington

  • james madison

  • alexander hamilton

• delegates continuously disagreed over how the government should be altered

• many final decisions of the Constitutions were made through compromise

• influenced by Enlightenment ideals

• Americans waited 4 months to learn of what was happening

  • doors and windows closed in order to be able to freely speak their minds

  • guards stood at door

Virginia Plan

• Author: James Madison & Edmund Randolph

• Called for a government with three branches.

  • The legislative branch would have two houses

    • House of Representatives and Senates

    • # of representatives depended on population and size of the state.

  • The judicial branch would apply & interpret the laws

  • An executive branch would carry out, or execute, the laws.

• Bigger states liked the Virginia plan because they got more representatives and more power in Congress

New Jersey Plan

• Author: William Patterson

• Called for a government with three branches.

  • The legislative branch would have just one house

    • All states got equal amounts of representatives.

  • The judicial branch would apply & interpret the laws

  • An executive branch would carry out, or execute, the laws.

• Small states liked the NJ plan because each state got an equal vote, so the big states wouldn't overpower the small ones

The Great Compromise

• Also known as the Connecticut Plan

• Author: Roger Sherman

• Structure of Government:

  • House of representatives would represent the population

  • Senate would include only 2 delegates from every state

• It took components from both the Virginia & NJ plan

  • Virginia Plan → House of Representatives

  • NJ Plan → Senate

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