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Constitutional Beginnings. Chapter 5. Historical Context of the U.S. Constitution. The men who wrote it The problems they struggled to solve The way their solutions gave birth to a republic. Confederation Crises.
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Constitutional Beginnings Chapter 5
Historical Context of the U.S. Constitution • The men who wrote it • The problems they struggled to solve • The way their solutions gave birth to a republic
The American colonists had exported their political, social, and religious patterns and values from the Old World to the New World. • The governments of the colonies was influenced by the structure of the English Parliament. • Ex. Virginia’s House of Burgesses was the first representative assembly in the New World. • Principles of representation, participation, and leadership training in self-government
English Bill of Rights (1689) • Colonists expected certain rights as Englishmen: • Legislatures had some authority over the governors • After Glorious Revolution (1688) and English Bill of Rights gave Parliament authority to tax. • Colonies assumed the right to levy taxes and to change their colonial constitutions.
Britain was too busy fighting wars and was too far away to bother with the colonies and leniently allowed them to self-govern, for the most part. • Government was not very centralized in the colonies because of a lack of transportation and communication.
Two events in 1760 that made America ripe for independence • 1. The end of the French & Indian War – Britain owed huge debts for fighting this war. • 2. George III became king of Great Britain – He reasserted the political strength of the crown.
Tension & War in America • George III and Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765. • Colonists had to quarter British troops – standing peacetime army. • Colonists believed these actions violated their rights. • Petition of Right – guaranteed basic civil liberties to British subjects.
Tension & War in America • Colonists’ Response • Tarred and feather British customs officials • Burned officials in effigy • Protests in response to Boston Massacre • Boycott British products • Boston Tea Party • British pass the Intolerable Acts.
Tension & War in America • First Continental Congress meets in 1774 in Philadelphia. • Samuel & John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, et al. • Declaration of Grievances • Second Continental Congress meets 1775-1789. • War begins at Lexington and Concord 1775.
American Independence 1776 • Two tasks faced by the Continental Congress: • 1. Deal with the military emergency around Boston • 2. Present a formal declaration of independence.
American Independence 1776 • George Washington sent to deal with the military issue. • A committee was appointed to draft the declaration: B. Franklin, J. Adams, R. Livingston, R. Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson • Jefferson wrote it. • Continental Congress approved it on July 4, 1776.
Declaration of Independence • Enlightenment Influence • Natural laws • 1. All men are created equal • 2. They are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights (including life, liberty, pursuit of happiness) • 3. Government is instituted to secure these rights • 4. If government becomes “destructive” of this purpose, it can be abolished. • Christian Influence • Natural law and God’s law are the synonymous
Romans 1:20 • “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
John Locke’s Social Contract • John Locke’s idea of the social contract was foundational to the Declaration of Independence passed by the Continental Congress. • The social contract had been used long before Locke, though. • Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact • Puritans and their Congregationalist Churches
Was Thomas Jefferson a Christian? • He was a deist. • Deism: • 1. belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation. • 2. belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it. • Roger Sherman was a Christian.
The Declaration of Independence • Activity on the Declaration of Independence • Working with a partner, extract the grievances and find and tell about a specific example of the grievance in one well-written paragraph. • Do NOT duplicate grievances.
War for Independence • During the war the Second Continental Congress functioned as the national government. • New state governments were formed to replace the colonial governments. (Remember they no longer consider themselves colonies, but independent countries.) • State legislatures tended to be strong; the executive weak. • States refused to yield the power to tax to the Continental Congress.
Articles of Confederation Government Chapter 5
Articles of Confederation – established by the Second Continental Congress. • Ratified in 1781 • Gave broad powers to the states • Unicameral legislature • No executive • One vote per state
The crucial weakness of the Articles of Confederation was the inability of the national government to enforce its policies. • Could not levy taxes • Could not force states into compliance • Not well-respected by state legislatures
Calls for Change • Two events precipitated a change in the government: • 1. Commercial dispute between Virginia & Maryland over Potomac navigation rights. (identified a need to regulate commerce between states) • 2. Shay’s Rebellion – debtor/farmers protest against foreclosures (caused people to fear anarchy)
Calls for Change • These two events led people to call for a revision of the Articles of Confederation.
Constitutional Convention • Held in Philadelphia, PA beginning on May 25, 1787. • Lasted 4 months. • George Washington unanimously chosen to preside over the convention.
Constitutional Convention • Two important procedural rules: • Rule of secrecy • Organized as a “committee of the whole.”
Constitutional Convention • Within 5 days the delegates decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and start over to establish “a national government…consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.”
Constitutional Convention • Areas requiring compromise: • Representation • Slavery • Commerce
Constitutional Convention • Representation • Virginia Plan favored large states. • Bicameral congress • Representatives allotted based on population • House of Representatives would elect the Senate. • Legislature had expanded powers to enforce laws, and elect the chief executive and the judiciary.
Constitutional Convention • Representation: • New Jersey Plan favored small states. • Unicameral Congress • One state, one vote • Congress to elect weak plural executive
Constitutional Convention • The large states feared that they would be under-represented with the New Jersey plan. • The small states feared domination by the large states under the Virginia Plan.
Constitutional Convention • Solution: The Connecticut Compromise or Great Compromise • Bicameral legislature • Lower house elected based on population • Senate would have equal representation from each state.
Constitutional Convention • Next issue: Slavery • Question: Should slaves be counted in determining representation in Congress? • Solution: Three-fifths Compromise – A slave counted as 3/5 of a person for purposes of representation. Of course a slave could not vote.
For every one hundred slaves, how many were added to the population rolls for representation purposes?
Constitutional Convention • Next issue: Commerce • South feared that the slave trade would be halted and that the Congress would tax them by levying export duties on their goods such as cotton, timber, & indigo.
Constitutional Convention • Commerce, continued • Solution: • Congress would regulate foreign and interstate commerce. • Congress would not impose export duties on the states • Congress would not interfere with the slave trade for at least 20 years.
Constitutional Convention • Other provisions include: • President elected by electoral college. • President can make treaties with Senate approval. • Limited government. • On September 17, 1787 the Constitution was signed.
Nine of the 13 states were required to ratify the Constitution. • However, had New York chosen NOT to ratify, the New England states would have been cut off from the lower states. • Had Virginia voted NO, the southern states would have been cut off from those north of Virginia.
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists • Federalists were pro-Constitution. • Anti-Federalists were opposed to the Constitution. • Publius (Alexander Hamilton) vs. Cato (George Clinton)
Federalist Papers • Eighty-five essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay in support of the Constitution.
The Anti-Federalist • A collection of writings opposing the Constitution. • Patrick Henry, George Mason, Edmund Randolph, George Clinton, et al
Arguments against the Constitution • 1. Did not want the federal government to have the power to tax • 2. States’ Rights were being curtailed by the Constitution. • 3. We the People vs. We the States • 4. Step toward tyranny • 5. Absence of a Bill of Rights
Patrick Henry • “I smell a rat!” • The “…salaries and fees of the swarm of officers and dependents on the government will cost this continent immense sums.”
The Constitution was approved by 11 states by July 26, 1788. An election date was set, as was an inauguration day for the new government: March 4, 1789.
