THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AFTERMATH OF WAR

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

AFTERMATH OF WAR • Following the American Revolution, Americans were looking for the right national government – they found it easy to establish state governments, but had trouble with the structure of the national government • They turned to the Articles of Confederation which placed serious limitations on the power of the national government, giving the majority of the power to the states • Congress remained the central institution of national government with expanded power to conduct wars and foreign relations and appropriate, borrow, and issue money – it did not have the power to regulate trade, draft troops, or levy taxes directly from the people • Congress had to ask the states for troops and taxes and dealt with the refusal of the states to do so – each state had one vote and at least nine states had to approve an important measure and a unanimous decision on any amendments made to the Articles

LAND LAWS • • The most notable achievements of the Articles of Confederation were the land ordinances of 1784, 1785, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1784 – divided the west into ten self-governing district that could apply for statehood when its population equaled the number of free inhabitants of the smallest states Ordinance of 1785 – Congress created a system for surveying and selling western lands that called for the territory north of the Ohio River to be marked off into neat rectangular townships broken up into 36 identical sections Northwest Ordinance (1787) – abandoned the ten districts created in 1784 and created a single Northwest Territory that could be divided into three to five territories with guaranteed freedom of religion, right to trial by jury, prohibition of slavery, and a minimum of 60, 000 to apply for statehood

SHAYS’ REBELLION • One of the main events that caused attention to be drawn to the idea of modifying the Articles or even creating a new Constitution was Shays’ Rebellion • Farmers were becoming dissatisfied with increased taxes and began to rally behind Daniel Shays who issued a set of demands that included paper money, tax relief, a moratorium on debt, relocation the capital from Boston to the interior, and the abolition of imprisonment for debt • In January 1787, Shay and his followers advanced on Springfield to seize weapons from an arsenal there and were met by an army of state militiamen and dispersed – the rebels were sentenced to death, but later pardoned • The main consequence of the rebellion was the impact it had on the movement to create a new constitution

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

THE VIRGINIA PLAN • From May to September 1787, fifty-five men met in the Philadelphia State House – the “Founding Fathers” had an average of forty-four, were highly educated, and were afraid of democracy (true democracy) • Virginia had the best prepared delegation with James Madison as its leader, bringing a detailed plan for national government, allowing the Virginians to control the agenda throughout the convention • The Virginia Plan, proposed by Governor Edmund Randolph, called for a new national legislature with two houses – the lower containing representatives based on population and the upper containing members elected by the lower house

THE NEW JERSEY PLAN • Opposition grew out of the fear that the smaller states would be shut out by the larger states • William Paterson of New Jersey submitted an alternative plan for a “federal” government, rather than a “national” government, keeping the existing one-house legislature, giving Congress expanded powers to tax and regulate commerce and giving each state on vote • Congress voted to table his proposal and focused back on the Virginia Plan

THE GREAT COMPROMISE • The conflict between the larger states and the smaller states was finally settled on July 16, 1787, with the approval of the “Great Compromise”, also known as the Connecticut Compromise after its principle architect, Roger Sherman • The compromise stated that there would be a legislature where the lower house had representation based on population with each slave counting as three-fifths of a free person for representation and taxation purposes (2 years), and an upper house with two members per state, elected by members of the lower house (six years) – also there would be an executive who was chosen by the electoral college and would serve for four years

THE PREAMBLE • The next problem that developed was in the area of sovereignty – the question was how could both the national and state governments retain their sovereignty and still coexist • The solution was found in the federal system where each level had certain powers, all derived from the citizenry • The opening phrase of the Constitution, created by Gouverneur Morris, expressed the idea that all power comes from the people (except the election of senators, the president, and judges)

FEDERALISTS AND ANTIFEDERALISTS • After much debate, on September 17, 1787, thirty-nine delegates signed the Constitution • The delegates had exceeded their instructions and feared that opposition to the Constitution would arise – problems began to surface across the country with two factions developing • One group, called Federalists, supported the Constitution with such members as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay • Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, under the pseudonym “Publius” wrote a series of essays supporting the Constitution (Federalist Papers) • The other group, called Anti-Federalists by their opponents, presented themselves as the defenders of the true principles of the Revolution

THE BILL OF RIGHTS • By 1788, the Constitution had all the necessary votes to go into effect • The first elections under the new Constitution took place in the early months of 1789 with George Washington becoming president and John Adams becoming Vice-President • By early 1789, everyone began to realize the necessity for a Bill of Rights to legitimize the new government – twelve were ratified on September 25, 1789, and ten were finally ratified by the end of 1791 with nine placing limitations on Congress and the tenth reserving certain powers to the states • The Constitution had created a legislative and executive branch explicitly, but left the courts somewhat vague – the Judiciary Act of 1789 created a Supreme Court with six justices, thirteen district courts with one judge apiece, three circuit courts of appeal with on district judge and two Supreme Court justices