Writing and Ratifying the Constitution

1. Writing and Ratifying the Constitution VUS.5

2. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues involved in the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution and how the principles of limited government, consent of the governed, and the social contract are embodied in it by • a. explaining the origins of the Constitution, including the articles of Confederation. • b. identifying the major compromises necessary to produce the Constitution, and the roles of James Madison and George Washington. • c. describing the conflict over ratification, including the Bill of Rights and the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-federalists. • d. examining the significance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in the framing of the Bill of Rights.

3. Setting the scene • During the Revolutionary War • The states created constitutions for themselves. • These constitutions kept the powers of the governor of each state quite limited. • The states gave most of the power to the state legislatures. • The first United States government was the Articles of Confederation. The national government could not tax, regulate commerce, establish a common currency, or provide for the national defense. The national government had no executive or judicial branch, and in the legislature, each had one vote regardless of size.

4. Key Questions • 1. Why did the states decide to send representatives to a Constitutional Convention in 1787? • 2. How did the differing views of the Federalists and the Anti-federalists and other conflicting interests force compromises in the new Constitution? • 3. How did the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom influence the Bill of Rights?

5. Shays Rebellion • In 1787, Daniel Shays led farmers in a rebellion against the Massachusetts state government. • The Revolutionary War had left the colonists with large debts and a depressed economy, and Shays and his followers hoped to stop foreclosures on their farms. In response, the state militia struggled to regain control while the national government could do nothing.

6. Shays Rebellion led to THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787 • This crisis convinced the states of the need to meet in a Constitutional Convention with the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. This convention was held in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.

7. Background of the Convention • Confronted by the many weaknesses of the Articles, the delegates engaged in heated debates over whether they should go beyond their original charge and draft an entirely new plan of government. On the one hand, the Articles did uphold the Enlightenment principals of limited government, consent of the governed, and social contract.

8. Federalists • George Washington was unanimously chosen as the conventions chairperson, and James Madison, , later called the “ Father of the Constitution,” did much of the actual writing. He also kept the most detailed notes of the proceedings. • Madison was joined by Alexander Hamilton In urging the delegates to write a new constitution with a stronger government. Supporters of a strong national government were called Federalists.

9. Anti-Federalists • Other delegates, called Anti-Federalists, questioned whether a stronger national government could be prevented from abusing the rights of its citizens. These delegates insisted on sufficient safeguards for the people’s rights.

10. The Conventions Compromises • The first major compromise was a response to Madison’s plan for a federal government with an executive branch, a judicial branch, and a legislative branch in which representation was based upon population. • The convention compromised by providing for a legislature of two houses. In the House of Representatives, representation would be based on population. In the Senate, it would be equal for each state.

11. Compromise #2 • The delegates had to consider whether to count enslaved Africans for the purposes of Taxation and representation. • the Southern States wished to have the slave population included for representation in Congress but not for calculating their tax burden. • Northern states wished to see slaves counted for tax purposes but not for representation.

12. Compromise #2 continued • The practical but morally questionable compromise was to count five enslaved Africans as three free persons for representation in Congress and for taxes on the states. This “three-fifths compromise” was the first attempt by the government to address the explosive issue of slavery.

13. Compromise #3 • As for the idea of government in three branches, the Anti-Federalists insisted that each branch have the power to check and balance the other two.

14. Bill of Rights • The most serious worry of the Anti-Federalists, however, was that a strong national government would endanger the rights of the citizens, as the British government had done before the Revolution. • In order to get the new Constitution ratified (approved by the states) the Federalists accepted a plan to provide a set of amendments called the Bill of Rights.

16. Virginia Documents • The Virginia Declaration spelled out Virginians’ basic liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to a jury trial in both civil and criminal cases.

17. Virginia Documents #2 • The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which outlawed the practice of government support for one favored church. This document took a critical step toward “separation of church and state,” the view that the government neither promote a certain religion nor interfere with the religious practices of its’ citizens.

18. Virginia Documents 3 • Both of the aforementioned documents were important reassurances in taking care of the anti-federalists. The most serious worry of the Anti-Federalists, however, was that a strong national government would endanger the rights of the citizens.

19. Conclusion • Americans desire to avoid a tyrannical government led to our national government lacking important powers. This government under the Articles of Confederation would be of little use in the crisis posed by Shay’s Rebellion. Recognizing the need for a more effective national government, the states sent representatives to the Constitutional Convention.

20. Conclusion 2 • The convention would write a new constitution where powers were shared between the national and state governments. • Compromises were worked out to balance these powers in ways that would satisfy the small and large states, as well as other concerned groups.

21. Conclusion 3 • The national government was given important powers including the power to tax, to regulate the currency, and to provide for the national defense. • People who supported these new powers were called Federalists. • Those that thought the Constitution went too far in strengthening the national governments were called Anti-Federalists.

22. Conclusion 4 • Ratification was accomplished only after the promise to add a Bill of Rights that met most of the concerns of the Anti-Federalists

23. Vocabulary • Confederation –alliance of states formed to coordinate their defense and their relations with foreign governments • Articles of confederation- an agreement establishing a formal government among the states in 1781 • Legislative branch- the part of government that makes the laws • Executive branch- the part of government that executes or carries out the law • Judicial branch- the part of government that judges whether the laws have been broken • Unicameral legislature- government having a single legislative house • Bicameral legislature- legislative branch with two houses or groups of representatives as in the United states congress

24. Virginia plan-a plan presented by the delegates from Virginia at the Constitutional Convention, called for 3 branches of government with a bicameral legislature in which each state membership would be determined by population or its financial support for the center of government. • Veto- the power to overturn any act of a state legislature • New Jersey plan- Constitutional Convention proposal for a federal government having a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state regardless of population. • Great compromise- agreement of 1787 that created a bicameral legislature, and a constitution, it established that representation in one house was to be proportional to population, and in the other representation was equal among states • Three fifths compromise- an agreement at the constitutional convention to count the slaves as 3/5 of a person when determining the population of a state.

25. Separation of powers- constitutional provision that separates the powers of the federal government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. • System of checks and balances- united states system of government in which the power of each of the three branches of government is limited by that of the other. • Electoral college- body of electors chosen by voters in each state to elect the president and vice president • Faction – a conflicting group • Ratify – to formally approve a suggested action • Bill of Rights- the first ten amendments to the constitution which guarantees freedom of speech, religion, and other basic rights. • Cabinet- heads of the major departments of the United States government who advise the president.

26. Administration- the office and the executive branch of a government and their policies and principles. • Nationalists- the member of a 1780’s political group advocating strong national government to control the states • James Madison- the fourth president of the united states, called the father of the Constitution for his leadership at the Constitutional Convention • Federalists- those persons who supported the ratification of the Constitution in 1787-1788. • Anti federalists- those who opposed the new constitution between 1787-1789 on the grounds that the central government that it would create would be too powerful.

27. Alexander Hamilton- Officer in the war for Independence: delegate to the Constitutional Convention; federalist and first secretary of the treasury • District of Columbia- ten square mile tract of land on the Potomac river near Washington’s home at Mount Vernon • Washington- first president of the United states from 1789-1797; led American forces in the war for independence; set several federal precedents, including the two term maximum for presidential office.