Historical Documents•The Articles of Confederation

•The Northwest Ordinance •The Federalists Papers •Anti-Federalists Papers

•Bill of Rights

Bell Work

Think about what might happen if we did not have a national government and instead each state was independent without any national control.

List 5 things that you might happenBe ready to share ideas with class

The British Surrender at Yorktown

17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula.

After a month of bombarding General Cornwallis surrendered to the French and American Forces, on October 19th, 1781

Treaty of Paris

Peace talks that end the war in the city of Paris, France in 1782

Treaty signed in September 1783Confirmed U.S. independence Set boundaries for the United States

Experimenting with Confederation

As citizens of a new and independent nation, Americans had to create their own political system.

After the Revolutionary War many Americans favored a republic style of government.

Republic = a government in which citizens rule through their elected representatives

Experimenting with Confederation

Many citizens feared democracy placed power in the hands of the uneducated masses

Democracy = government directly by the people

The Articles of Confederation

Created by the Second Continental Congress, ratified in 1781

Confederation = a union of independent states, an alliance

The Articles set up a Congress; each state had one vote regardless of population

The Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation did not create a Judicial Branch, or Executive Branch

There was no President

Power was divided between state and national governments

The Articles of ConfederationNational Governments Powers

Declare WarMake PeaceSign TreatiesBorrow MoneySet the Standards for coins, weights and

measurements Established a postal service

Problems with The Articles of Confederation

Amending the Articles was difficult; took consensus from all 13 states

Congress had no ability to raise money, it had to ask states for money

The Articles of Confederation Successes

Land Ordinance of 1787 – Plan for surveying land

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – Procedure for dividing the land into no fewer than three and no more than five states

Northwest Ordinance also set requirements for the admission of new states

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787

New States

1. Ohio2. Indiana 3. Illinois4. Michigan5. Wisconsin

5 Major Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

1. A weak national government

2. Congress could not tax or regulate trade

3. One vote per state no matter the size of the population or land size

4. The national government did not have an executive or judicial branch

5. No common currency among the states

Other weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Congress could not enact and collect taxes

Each state had only one vote in Congress, regardless of population

Nine out of thirteen states needed to agree to pass important laws

Articles could be amended only if all states approved

Other weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

There was no executive branch to enforce laws of Congress

There was no national court system to settle legal disputes

There were thirteen separate states that lacked national unity

Creating a New Government

Articles of Confederation only lasted from 1781-1789

There were too many weaknesses to run an effective national government

Federalism – power is divided between a national government and several state governments.

U.S. Constitution mini-lecture

The Constitutional Convention met in 1787 to draft a new Constitution

One of the biggest debates at the Constitutional Convention was over representation

The Great Compromise1. 2 Senators / State2. 1 representative /30,000 people 3. Three-Fifths of a state’s slaves to be counted as

part of the population

U.S. Constitution mini-lecture

Federalists = supporters of the Constitution

1. favored the balance of power between the states and the national government

Antifederalists = opponents of the Constitution

1. opposed having a strong central government

Antifederalists

Anti-Federalists thought that the solution was not good enough. They wanted more representation.

They worried that 1 person could not

adequately represent 30,000 people.

Federalists disagreed.

WAR OF WORDS / The Federalist

A Series of 85 essays defending the Constitution

Written by three influential supporters of ratification

1. Alexander Hamilton2. James Madison3. John Jay

WAR OF WORDS /Letters from the Federal Farmer

New Constitution was that it contained no guarantee that the government would protect the rights of the people or the states.

Fought aggressively for the Bill of Rights; Individuals protections from the federal government

Ratification

After the Constitution was written, it had to be ratified by 9 states.

The Anti-Federalists lost the battle, but won the war.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution—the Bill of Rights—were ratified in 1791.

These addressed many of the issues that the Anti-Federalists raised in the conventions.