Creating a Nation

1. Creating a Nation Unit 4

2. Day 1The Articles of Confederation, our First Constitution • The ArticlesofConfederation provided a framework for a national government. • The Articles of Confederation was our country’s firstconstitution, or plan of government.

3. Play clip 1, Overview

4. After the Revolution • Revolutions are difficult-overthrowing Great Britain wasn’t easy at all for the American colonists- but building a strong nation was much harder. • The end of the war brought liberty , but America also faced problems. 1. The Continental army was unfed, undersupplied, and unpaid, which led to near mutiny. 2. With the Revolution over, a massive debt of $27,000,000.00 had to be paid in gold.

5. Play clip 2, After the Revolution

6. UNITED states? • In 1776 as states began to write their state constitutions, The Second Continental Congress began to write a national constitution. • However, writing this constitution was very difficult because in 1776 few Americans considered themselves citizens of one nation. • Instead, they felt loyalty to their own states.

7. The Articles of Confederation are ratified • Although states seemed unwilling to turn over much power to the national government, the Articles of Confederation were drafted in late 1777 to administer the nation during the Revolutionary war. • The Articles then went to the states for the required ratification by all thirteen states. After ratification in 1781, the Articles became the first Constitution of the United States. • Ratification was delayed because of a dispute among the states over western land claims by some states. • Maryland would not ratify the Articles until all lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River became public land.

8. Who wrote the Articles? • The main author of the Articles, John Dickinson, called our first constitution a “firm league of friendship” among the states. • It established a loose alliance of states rather than a strong central government. • Dickinson and other writers feared a strong central government because of their experience with the British King and the Parliament. • They purposefully created a weak national government under the Articles. • Under the Articles the Continental Congress became the Confederation Congress, a national lawmaking body in which each state had one vote.

9. National Government Under the Articles of Confederation

10. National Government Under the Articles of Confederation

11. Play Clip 3, Articles of Confederation

12. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation • Obvious Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation • Most power held by ________________ • _____________ branch of government • Legislative branch has ________________ powers • No _________________________ branch • No _________________________ system • No system of _______________________ and _______________________

13. END Day 1

14. Laws Passed Under the Articles • Land Ordinance of 1785 • Northwest Ordinance of 1787

15. Congress passed Land Ordinance of 1785 to raise money to paydebts. Ordinance provided for surveying and dividingwesternlands. Land was split into townships. Each township was divided into sections for sale to the public. The Confederation Congress passes the LAND Ordinance of 1785

16. The Confederation Congress Establishes the Northwest Territory • Congress passed Northwest Ordinanceof1787. • Established NorthwestTerritory and a system for creating new states • Included what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin • Required the provision of publiceducation and bannedslavery

17. The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

18. The Impact of Adding New States END Day 2

19. Day 3The New Nation Faces Challenges • Under the Articles of Confederation the United States was an unstable nation. • Even as America expanded westward, it continued to have problems with other nations.

20. The United States had Difficulties with other Nations • Britain refused to turn over its forts in U.S. territory to American control. • Britain did not allow American ships to trade with the British WestIndies • Britain imposed high tariffs on Americanmerchants.

21. Spain Closed the Lower Mississippi to Shipping • In 1784 Spanish officials closed the lower Mississippi River to U.S. shipping. • Western farmers and merchants were furious because they used the Mississippi to send goods to eastern and foreign markets. • The Confederation Congress tried to work out an agreement with Spain, but the plan did not receive a majority vote in Congress. • The plan could not be passed, so Spain broke off the negotiations.

22. The United States Faces Trade Barriers

23. Impact of Closed Markets • Closing markets in the British West Indies caused American exports to drop. • Cheap British goods flowed into the United States. • The ConfederationCongress had no authority to pass tariffs, or order states to pass tariffs, to help correct unequaltrade with Britain. • States worked independently to increase their own trade instead of improving the situation for the wholecountry. End Day 3

24. Day 4A Failing Economy History: Benchmark F: Indicator 5b: Creating a stable economic system and Indicator 5c: Dealing with war debts. Economics: Benchmark C: Indicator 4: Explain how lack of power to regulate the economy contributed to the demise of the Articles of Confederation and the creation of U.S. Constitution. Government: Benchmark B: Indicator 3a: Shay’s Rebellion, Indicator 3b: Economic instability, Indicator 3c: Government under the Articles of Confederation

25. Internal Economic Problems Plagued the New Nation • The Confederation Congress had no power to regulate interstate commerce, making trade difficult across state lines. • Inflation was a problem in many states, which struggled to pay off war debts by printingmoney. • Money was not backed by gold or silver, so it was worth less. • Loss of trade with Britain combined with inflation caused an economic depression. • Depression is a period of low economicactivity combined with a rise in unemployment.

26. Farmers Face Hardships Under the Articles • Farmers experienced extreme hardship after the war. • Throughout the war, demand for food had increased. • To keep up with this demand, many farmers had borrowed money from banks to buy more land and equipment. • However, after the war the demand for farm products decreased. • Farmers grew more food than they could sell and then could not repay the money they had borrowed. • The banks began taking the farmers’ land away to pay their debts. • When Spain closed the port of NewOrleans, farmers could no longer ship their goods for export.

28. Shays’ Rebellion • DanielShaysled Massachusetts farmers in a revolt over high taxes and farmforeclosures in August 1786. • The ConfederationCongress had no power to put down Shay’s Rebellion • Shays’sRebellion was put down by state militia in January 1787. • Tried to force the shutdown of the SupremeCourt in Massachusetts • No one’s property could be taken to pay off debts if the court was closed. • Many citizens agreed with the farmers and their cause. • State officials freed most of the farmers.

29. Causes Effect Shays’s Rebellion Constitutional Convention

31. Many Americans Called for Changes in the National Government • Shays’sRebellion showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, since the Confederation Congress couldnotrespond to Massachusetts’s call for help. • People saw that the ideals of liberty were notprotected. • People called for a strongercentralgovernment that could protect the nation in times of crisis. • The Virginia legislature called for a national conference to change the Articles of Confederation. • The Confederation Congress was called together in May 1787 in Philadelphia to revise the Articles.

32. End Day 4Begin Day 5

33. Day 5Creating the Constitution A new constitution provided a framework for a strongernationalgovernment. History: Benchmark F: Indicator 6: Explain the challenges in writing and ratifying the U.S. Constitution including: a: Issues debated during the convention resulting in compromises (i.e., the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise and the compromise over the slave trade).

34. A New Constitution • Delegates realized the Articles of Confederation had toomanyweaknesses • Each state sent delegates to the ConstitutionalConvention to write an entirely new constitution

35. Play Clip 4, Constitutional Convention

36. The Constitutional Convention Met to Improve the Government of the United States • ConstitutionalConvention held in Philadelphia in 1787. • Convention leaders included JamesMadison, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. • Because of James Madison’s many contributions to the formation of the U.S. Constitution, he is called the Fatherofthe Constitution

37. Play Clip 5, Great Men of the Constitutional Convention

38. The Issue of Representation Led to the Great Compromise • Virginia Plan (large state plan)- representation was based on POPULATION (written by James Madison) • NewJersey Plan (small state plan)- gave eachstate an EQUAL number of votes • Great Compromiseresolvedissue with a two-house legislature (bicameral) • A lowerhouse—the HouseofRepresentatives—provided for representation based on state POPULATION. • An upperhouse—the Senate—provided for two representatives from each state. (EQUAL representation)

39. Great Compromise END Day 5

40. Day 6How Would Slaves be Counted for Representation?

41. Debate Over Slavery Led to the Three-Fifths Compromise. The South Wanted slaves to be counted as part of their population for representation but NOTtaxation The North Wanted slaves counted only to determine taxes but not for representation Three-Fifths Compromise Resolved differences by counting each slave as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation

42. The U.S. Constitution Created Federalism and a Balance of Power • Ensured popularsovereignty: idea that politicalauthority resided in the people. • Provided for federalism: sharing of power between states and federal government. • Required states to obeyauthority of the federalgovernment. • Gave states control over functions notassigned to the federal government.

43. Slave Trade • Some delegates believed slavery was wrong and the slave trade should be banned. Many southern delegates said that they would leave the Union if the Constitution immediately ended the slavetrade. • Northerners agreed that Congress could not outlaw the slave trade for 20 years.

44. Checks and Balances Constitution designed to balancepower between three branches of government

45. End Day 6

46. Day 7History: Benchmark F: Indicator 6b: The Federalist/Anti-Federalist debate and 6c: The debate over a Bill of Rights.

47. Federalists Supported Constitution Desired strong central government Liked balance of powers in Constitution Made speeches and pamphletsadvocating change in government Antifederalists Opposed Constitution Feared central government would be toopowerful Concerned about lack of guarantee of individualrights George Mason became Antifederalist over rights issue Federalists and Antifederalists engaged in debate over the new Constitution.

49. The Federalist Papers Played an Important Role in the Fight for Ratification of the Constitution • Federalist Papers: series of essays supporting the Constitution. • Written anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. • Federalist Papers argued that new federal government would notoverpowerstates. • Widely reprinted in newspapers around the country; influenced the Constitutiondebate.

50. Battle for Ratification • 9 states needed to ratify the Constitution. • All states except Rhode Island held ratificationconventions for citizens to discuss and vote on the Constitution. • Delaware was the first state to ratify, in 1787, and RhodeIsland was the last, in 1790. • New York and Virginia debated over ratification, but finally ratified. • Political leaders knew these states were important, since Virginia had the largest population in the nation and New York was an important center for business and trade.