The Main IdeaAfter the Revolution, American leaders struggled to form a national

government and eventually wrote the Constitution.

Reading Focus

• What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

• What did the founders discuss when drafting the Constitution?

• What was involved in ratifying the Constitution?

Creating a New Government 11.1.111.1.211.3.5

Problems with the Articles of Confederation

• The states formed new governments quickly after the Declaration of Independence, but had trouble with central government principles.

• Americans wanted a republic that ruled “with consent of the governed” instead of a monarchy or supreme authority.

• After the Revolutionary War, America still worked under the Articles of Confederation, which established an association of independent states.

• Under the Articles, the central government had power to set national policies and carry on foreign relations.

• The Articles also had several weaknesses:

All states had to agree to amend the Articles.

No executive branch to enforce laws passed by Congress

No judicial branch to interpret laws passed by Congress

9 of 13 states needed to agree in order to pass laws.

Congress could not regulate trade.

Congress could not impose taxes to repay war debts.

In your opinion, what was the biggest weakness of the Articles?

Why?

The Pros and Cons of IndependenceStruggles

• Economic problems in the states:

– New England’s valuable trade with Britain and British West Indies was ruined.

– Paper money issued during the war wasn’t backed up with gold or silver, which led to inflation.

– The states collected taxes, sometimes in “hard currency” instead of paper money.

– People who could not pay taxes were jailed.

• Poverty led to many riots:

– During Shays’s Rebellion in Massachusetts, angry farmers shut down debtor courts.

Important Plans

• In 1784 Jefferson proposed a plan to settle the Northwest Territory

– Each of ten districts could join Congress when population hit 20,000.

– Later, districts could be admitted as new states.

• Congress had its own plan

– Surveyed land was divided into a grid of townships.

– Each had 36 sections, four government owned.

• In 1787 Congress passed a law for western settlement, promising religious freedom but not allowing slavery.

The Constitutional Convention

• Frustration with the Articles of Confederation built for years among many Americans.

• In the fall of 1786 George Washington and James Madison convened a meeting of the states in Maryland, but delegates from only five showed up.

• Congress then called the states to meet in Philadelphia in 1787 for a Constitutional Convention.

• James Madison kept a diary with a detailed account of this event, which was a turning point in American history.

• Because of his role, James Madison is often called the Father of the Constitution.

• The convention unanimously chose George Washington as its president.

Virginia Plan

• Proposed a new form of government with three branches: executive, judicial, legislative

• The legislature would be bicameral, with an upper and lower house.

• Members would be chosen in proportion to each state’s population.

• Disliked by small states that would have less power

New Jersey Plan

• Retained many of the features of the Confederation

• Gave Congress additional powers

• Suggested a one-house legislature with equal representation for each state

• Tried to equalize power for states

Plans for Representation in Government

The Great Compromise

• A Connecticut plan to balance state powers

• Two-house legislature: upper house Senate represented the state, the lower house the population.

• The Three-Fifths Compromise allowed only part of the slave population to be counted.

Executive Branch

• President and cabinet

• Carries out laws

• Makes treaties and nominates judges

• Vetoes laws

Providing Check and Balances

Judicial Branch• Supreme Court

and lower courts• Interprets laws

as they relate to the Constitution

• The delegates needed to find a balance of power between the Congress and the president.

• Questions arose about states’ rights versus federal powers.

• The outcome was a compromise: instead of people directly choosing a president, state legislatures chose electors to do it.

• The delegates set up a system of checks and balances.

Legislative Branch

• Makes the laws

• Gives advice and consent to president

• Can pass over vetoes with two-thirds vote

Do you think there is one branch of Government that is more

powerful than the others? Why do you believe that?

Federalists

Anti-federalists

When the Constitution was finally published, supporters and opponents presented their arguments.

• Wanted to ratify, or accept, the Constitution• Believed in a strong national government • Believed the separation of powers in the Constitution

limited government power• Popular with the wealthy• Inspired the Federalist Papers, essays written by James

Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, which offered practical arguments for strong government

• Feared a strong national government would lead to tyranny and abuse of states’ rights and individual liberties

• Did not trust government to protect people’s rights• Popular with farmers and planters• Thought the new government favored the wealthy and

educated over ordinary people

Ratifying the Constitution

Debates

Compare and Contrast national government and state

governments. Would you be for a strong centralized government

or for states right? Why?

The Fight for Amendments

• Before agreeing to ratify the Constitution, Antifederalists wanted a Bill of Rights added to protect individual liberties.

• Only 9 of 13 states needed to ratify the Constitution• Some important states only agreed because they were

promised a Bill of Rights.• Article V gave Congress or state conventions the right to

propose amendments, which then went to the states for approval.

• James Madison, a supporter of the Constitution, took charge of getting a Bill of Rights through Congress so that the document would finally be ratified.

• By 1791, ten approved amendments became the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights protected individual rights.

• The first eight amendments dealt with individual civil liberties.

• The Ninth Amendment stated that listing certain rights in this document did not mean that other unlisted rights did not exist.

• The Tenth Amendment defined two types of government powers: delegated and reserved powers.

– Delegated powers are those given out to the three branches of government.

– Reserved powers belonged to the states or the people.• Most of the amendments echoed rights listed in the Virginia

Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason.

The Main IdeaUnder presidents Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, the United States continued to shape its new government while facing both

foreign and domestic challenges.

Reading Focus

• What actions did Washington take when he became president?

• What challenges did the United States face in the 1790s?

• What were the main events of Jefferson’s presidency?

• What were the causes and effects of the War of 1812?

Forging the New Republic 11.1.3

Washington Takes Action as President

• The Constitution mentions “heads of the executive departments” but does not specify what those cabinet departments are.

• Congress created the first three executive departments and Washington began to choose his cabinet:

• Hamilton wanted a strong centralized nation with a role in world affairs.

• Jefferson envisioned a more rural nation with power residing in state governments.

– Along with James Madison and Jefferson, those who shared these beliefs called themselves the Democratic-Republicans.

• The Judiciary Act of 1789 organized a judicial branch with a six-person Supreme Court, as well as district courts and circuit courts of appeal.

– Washington named John Jay as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Thomas Jefferson, an Antifederalist, was secretary of state.

Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist, became secretary of the treasury.

Henry Knox became secretary of war.

2. The government should raise revenue by passing tariffs.

Hamilton’s Financial Plan

3. The United States should create a national bank and mint to stabilize the banking system.

• The new government had no money to pay for daily expenses, and owed money to foreign nations, private lenders, and soldiers.

• Hamilton did not share Republican ideals, and believed the wealthy were the key to a stable government.

• Hamilton created a controversial three–point plan.

1. The federal government should take on both state and national debt.

• Some thought Hamilton’s plan favored the wealthy who bought war bonds from original bondholders.

• Southerners protested — they had already paid their war debts.

• Tensions in the North and South were partially solved by moving the capital from New York to Philadelphia, and finally to Washington, D.C.

Inaugural Address

Supreme Court Grows Stronger

Key Election Facts

• 1800: first election that changed the party in power• The tied election between Jefferson and Burr led to the 12th

Amendment, which set up separate ballots for president and vice president

• Jefferson’s presidency was to be guided by two principles:– Reducing taxes passed under Hamilton’s plan– Reducing the size and influence of the federal

government

• Jefferson’s March 1801 inauguration date gave Federalists time to create several new judgeships.

• Adams worked late into the night appointing Federalists.• Secretary of State James Madison refused to deliver a

commission to one of the “midnight judges.”• In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court ruled that

the Constitution couldn’t make Madison deliver it.• This crucial decision established the Supreme

Court’s right to declare laws unconstitutional.

Jefferson’s Presidency

Obama Supreme Court Unprecedented Debate

Obama's Remarks

White House Press and Carney

Judicial Review makes the supreme court extremely

powerful. Do you believe that the judiciary is to powerful?

Why or Why not?

The Louisiana Purchase

• One of Jefferson’s major achievements was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, known as the Louisiana Purchase.

• The purchase of new territory raised complicated questions for Jefferson.

– He was a strict constructionist and followed the Constitution literally.

– The Constitution didn’t give him the authority to purchase new land.

• Jefferson finally decided that the right to purchase territory was implicit in the constitutional power to make treaties.

• Once the purchase was approved, Jefferson sent out expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark expedition.

• The Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Pacific Ocean and mapped and surveyed much territory along the way.

The War of 1812

• Americans were happy about the Louisiana Purchase and reelected Jefferson by a landslide in 1804.

• In 1803 the Napoleonic Wars broke out between France and Great Britain.

• The U.S. was involved, as both French and British warships stopped American merchant ships, and the British began seizing and drafting Americans at sea.

• Americans were angered by the British seizures and also when they discovered the British were helping Native Americans against the settlers in the Northwest Territory.

• A group of young members of Congress known as the War Hawks called for war against the British to protect American interests.

The War of 1812: Causes and Effects

Causes

• British impressment of American sailors

• International conflicts over commerce

• British military aid to Native Americans on the Northwest Territory frontier

Effects

• Foreign respect for the U.S.

• National pride

• Increase in American manufacturing

• Less Native American resistance

• The War of 1812 was the second war between the British and Americans in North America. It ranged from Canada in the north to Louisiana in the south.

• In the final battle, Americans won a decisive victory when General Andrew Jackson led American troops against a large British force in New Orleans.

• Unfortunately, while Jackson fought at New Orleans, a peace treaty had already been signed. Slow communications prevented Jackson from receiving the message.

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