chapter 2
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Chapter 2. Origins of American History. I.English Heritage A.Basic Concepts of Government 1. ordered government 2. limited government - the concept that government is not all powerful - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
I. English Heritage
A. Basic Concepts of Government
1. ordered government
2. limited government - the concept that
government is not all powerful
3. representative government - government
in which people elect delegates to make laws
and conduct government
B. Landmark English Documents
1. The Magna Carta
a. barons forced King John to sign it in 1215
b. first document to establish a limited
government
c. right to a trial by jury, due process of law,
I. Growing Colonial Unity
A. The Albany Plan (1754)
1. Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and
Rhode Island discussed the growing
problems with the French and Native Americans
2. Ben Franklin proposed the formation of
an annual congress made up of
delegates from the 13 colonies
a. have the power to raise
military and naval forces;
make war and peace with the native Americans,
regulate trade with
them...
b. denied by the colonies and
the Crown
B. Stamp Act Congress (1765)
1. formed in response to the Stamp Act
(1765) – first direct tax on colonists
2. argued they had no representation in
Parliament, so the Stamp Act was
illegal
3. first open political act of defiance
C. Boston Tea Party (1773) – colonists dressed as
Mohawk Indians (led by Samuel Adams)
dumped 342 chests of ritish tea into the
Boston Harbor
D. First Continental Congress
1. met in response to the
Intolerable Acts (1774)
2. delegates from all colonies except
Georgia imposed an embargo on
British goods
3. King George III declared “The New
England governments are in a
state of rebellion.”
4. April 19, 1775 first shots of
Revolutionary War are fired in
Lexington and Concord, MA
"the shot heard 'round the world”
E. Second Continental Congress
1. May 10, 1775 – delegates from all
thirteen colonies met in
Philadelphia
2. assumed powers of a central
government
3. John Hancock was named its
president, George Washington
was named the commander of the
Continental Army
4. acted as government throughout
the war
III. Independence
A. June 7, 1776 – Richard Henry Lee
introduced a resolution stating the “that
these United
Colonies are, and of right out to be,
free and independent states.”
B. Declaration of Independence
1. committee of five was supposed
to write it
a. mostly written by Thomas
Jefferson
2. July 4, 1776 – the Congress approved the
Declaration of Independence
a. John Hancock was the first
to sign it
3. 3 Parts:
a. begins with a statement of
the purpose of the
Declaration
b. middle consists of complaints
against King George III
c. ends with statement of how
determined
Americans are to break free
C. First State Constitutions
1. Common Features
a. popular sovereignty
- People Vote
b. limited government
c. civil rights and liberties
d. separation of powers and
checks and balances
I. The Articles of Confederation– the first
constitution of the entire US; more
like “a firm
league of friendship”
A. Governmental Structure
1. Congress was the sole body
created
a. it was unicameral and the
States could choose their
delegates in whatever way they wanted
2. established no executive or
judicial branch
3. each state had one vote in
Congress
C. Weaknesses
1. one vote for each State,
regardless of size
2. Congress was powerless to lay and
collect taxes or duties
3. Congress was powerless to regulate
foreign and interstate
commerce
4. no executive branch to enforce the
acts of Congress
5. no national court system
6. Amendments could be made only with
the consent of all States
7. nine of the 13 states were required to
pass laws
D. The Critical Period, the 1780s
1. the new nation was in debt
2. Shay’s Rebellion – Mass.
Farmers, led by Daniel Shays, tried to take
over the Springfield arsenal for weapons;
they failed
Section 4: Creating the Constitution
A. Organization and Procedure
1. George Washington – was the
president of the convention
2. each state delegation would have 1
vote
3. needed a majority of the States to
conduct business
a. a majority of the votes cast
would carry any
proposal
4. adopted a rule of secrecy to protect
themselves from outside pressure
5. threw out the Articles and decided
to create a new
Constitution
II. Compromises
A. The Connecticut Compromise
1. blend of the Virginia Plan (by James
Madison) and the New Jersey Plan (by
William Patteron)
a. Virginia Plan
Ø called for a government with three branchesØ bicameral legislature – lower house based off of
population, lower house chooses the upper
house
Ø Congress would choose the National Executive and
the National Judiciary
Ø goal was the creation of a truly national
government with greatly
extended powers
b. New Jersey Plan
Ø unicameral legislature with each of the
States equally
represented
Ø weak federal executive of two or more
people chosen by
Congress
Ø the federal judiciary would be composed of
a ”supreme Tribunal” appointed by executive
2. legislative branch to have 2 parts
a. House of Representatives –
membership based on state
population
b. Senate – 2 from each state
B. The Three-Fifths Compromise
1. argument between the Northern and
Southern states as to whether or not
slaves should be counted as citizens
2. all “free persons” should be counted,
and so too, should “three-fifths of all
other persons”
3. win for the South because they have
now have a larger population
4. win for the North because there was a
direct tax based on population paid to
Congress
C. Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise
1. Congress agreed not ban the slave
trade until 1808 and that it would
regulate interstate and foreign commerce,
but it could not tax exports
D. Sept. 17, 1781 – the Const. was signed by the 39
remaining delegates
Section 5: Ratifying the Constitution
I. Federalists and Anti-Federalists
A. Federalists
1. favored ratification
2. led by the Framers
3. stressed the weakness of the
Articles
B. Anti-Federalists
1. opposed ratification
2. two biggest sources of contention
a. greatly increased the
powers of the central
government
b. the lack of a bill of rights
II. Ratification
A. Delaware was first (Dec. 7, 1787)
B. ratified on June 21, 1788 when New
Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it
1. Virginia was 10th (June 25, 1788)
2. New York City was selected as a
temporary capital
3. George Washington was elected
president and John Adams was the
first vice president