The Constitution And its beginning

1. The ConstitutionAnd its beginning

2. Before we get there. We have to take a look back at the other crucial documents that impacted out country. The first is the Declaration of Independence Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson and other committee leaders of the Continental Congress in 1776

3. How did it impact the Constitution? • It explained why we needed to try and break from England • It lists many abuses brought about by bad leadership • This is a list of what gov should not be allowed to do. Key guide to the rights maintained in a limited government

4. Independence! • 1781- A plan for rule had already been debated and accepted • Our plan: The Articles of Confederation • Included many features aimed at allowing the goals of the Declaration to be put in place

5. The Articles Cont. • These articles allowed for: • 1. The dominance of local and state authority • 2. Control of taxes at the regional level • 3. A voluntary union by the states

6. Problems? They could not effectively deal with threats from: Foreign Nations Feuding States Or the massive financial crisis

7. Specific Weaknesses No separate executive branch was established No methods for the central government to collect taxes were present No federal judiciary was created to settle interstate disputes No amendments could be added without unanimous state approval. (None ever were)

8. As a result: Only two pieces of legislation were passed Disputes between states raged over taxes and trade and no central authority could settle the problems Veterans of the Revolutionary War were not paid

9. As a result continued The central government had no funds State governments were broke and had no place to turn National credit in key European banks collapsed

10. No agreements on tariff attempts, trade negotiations, or key issues such as support from France, or Great Britain Growing disputes between Northern and Southern States Shay’s Rebellion

11. Predicted that the Articles would fail and called for their removal almost every year of their existence.

12. The Convention Convenes Alexander Hamilton recommended to meet in Philadelphia in the spring of 1787, this request was forwarded to the Continental Congress. Two ground rules would govern the convention proceedings. First, all deliberations were to be kept secret. (Detailed word about the debates remained guarded until the publication of Madison’s notes in 1840.) Second, no issue was to be regarded as closed and could be revisited for debate at any time.

13. The Convention convened on May 25, 1787, at the State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. It opened several days later than planned because of the slow arrival of some delegates. All of the states were represented except for Rhode Island, which declined to attend.

14. Demographics of The Delegates -55 delegates (none from RI) -33 Lawyers -half were college graduates -7 former governors -7 plantation owners -8 business leaders -age 26-81 (avg. age 42) -all male, all white

15. Washington as President Washington, noted for his patience and fairness, was selected as the presiding officer. Interestingly, a number of prominent figures of the day did not attend, including Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams*, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock.

16. The stated goal of the Convention — the revision of the Articles of Confederation — was quickly discarded, and attention given to more sweeping changes. Discussion turned instead to two competing concepts of how a new government should be formed, the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.

17. Virginia Plan • Virginia Plan • Favored large states • Strong central government • Bicameral (two house) legislature – larger house elected by the people (House of Representatives, and a smaller house that was selected by larger house (Senate) • (This would change in the 17th Amendment)

18. New Jersey Plan • New Jersey Plan • Agreed with strong central government…BUT • Congress would be unicameral (one house) with states having equal votes • Did not want large population states to dominate the legislature

19. How do we Compromise? Connecticut Compromise A bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives membership apportioned according to the state populations An upper house, the Senate, which would have two members from each state, elected by the state legislature (popularly elected today)

20. What to do about the slaves? 3/5’s Compromise Agree to allow the South to count 3/5 the population in each state to balance the power of North and South 1808 Slave Trade

21. Madisonian Principles of Gov’t Popular Sovereignty – power to govern belongs to the people, gov’t based on the consent of governed Separation of Powers – division of gov’t between branches: executive, legislative and judicial Checks and Balances – a system where branches have some authority over others Limited Government – gov’t is not all-powerful, and it does only what citizens allow Federalism – division of power between central government and individual states

22. Separation of Powers • Prevents an all-powerful ruling body • Legislature – passes law (Congress) • Executive – enforces law (President) • Judiciary – interprets law (Supreme Court)

23. Amending the Constitution Meant to be difficult Require action from national and state gov Amendment proposed by 2/3 vote in each house of Congress and ratified (accepted) in at least ¾ of state legislatures

24. Was it a Republic or Democracy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVD0bZ5H4MY&feature=youtu.be

25. When The Convention finished The most difficult task began That was to get approval from the states. They had to get nine of the 13 states to approve the Constitution before it would officially become law

26. State Conventions Citizens of the States did not get to vote on whether or not they wanted the Constitution Instead they used special state conventions to try and ratify the Constitution And the states put up a fight, Why?

27. How did the Framers convince the conventions? • They used they anonymous newspaper articles published in Newspapers around the nation, the goal of these articles: Convince the public that this Constitution was the best chance for our nation to succeed. • These were called “The Federalist Papers” • – in favor of adoption of US Constitution creating a federal union and strong central government

28. Who wrote the papers? Alexander Hamilton 51 articles: nos. 1, 6–9, 11–13, 15–17, 21–36, 59–61, and 65–85 James Madison 29 articles: nos. 10, 14, 37–58 and 62–63 John Jay 5 articles: 2–5 and 64 Nos. 18–20 were the result of a collaboration between Madison and Hamilton.

29. James Madison

30. Federalist #10 Madison addresses biggest fear of gov’t Faction – a group in a legislature or political party acting together in pursuit of some special interest (think fraction – ½, 1/3, etc) Founding fathers were concerned that our government would be ripped apart Madison defends our national Constitution

31. Separation of Powers check the growth of tyranny Each branch of government keeps the other two from gaining too much power A republic guards against irresponsible direct democracy or “common passions” Factions will always exist, but must be managed to not severe from the system.

33. John Jay

34. Their opponents: The Anti Federalists Patrick Henry: Was their main voice Why did they oppose the Constitution?

35. Patrick Henry

36. Their Beliefs: Central gov’t would threaten liberty Aristocratic tyranny could happen Demanded a guarantee of individual rights and liberty States power was too limited

37. Demanded a Bill of Rights 10 amendments to the Constitution guaranteed individual freedoms and rights limited power of national government, guaranteed rights to states Ratified in 1789, Bill of Rights added 1791