Building a New Nation

1. The Years following the American Revolution Building a New Nation

2. The Articles of Confederation • In 1777, the Articles of Confederation were put forth as a plan for the American government. • This plan called for no executive branch or judicial branch. • It modeled the Continental Congress, calling for between two and seven delegates from each states. These delegates would be selected each year by the state legislatures, and no delegate could be in office more than three out of every six years. • The number of delegates from each state did not matter because the delegation from each state as a whole cast only one vote. • Simple decisions required a simple majority of seven states. Decisions such as declarations of war required nine. Approving or amending the Articles required a unanimous vote.

3. The Articles of Confederation • The requirement of unanimous approval caused the acceptance of the Articles of Confederation to be slowed by five years. • This was because of problems with lands to the west of the existing states. Those states without land claims wanted these lands to be national domain. The eight states with colonial-era land claims wanted these to be maintained. • The compromise to this issue stated that any land relinquished would become national domain. • After the Articles were put into effect, it was clear that it was not functioning well. Delegates would often avoid attending meetings of the Continental Congress, and little progress was made on any issue.

4. The Laws of the States • States were sovereign and all-powerful in the first years after the Revolutionary War. Most states also wrote their own constitutions; six of them included bills of rights. • In many states, voting rights were limited to those white males who held property. However, only three states actually had written legislation stating that voters had to be male. As a result, small numbers of women participated in elections, especially in New Jersey. A similar situation occurred regarding African American voters. • During this time period, many states also began a path toward abolishing slavery or gradually emancipating slaves. Gradual emancipation occurred in states such as Pennsylvania or New York, while abolition occurred in the northern-most states.

5. Financial Difficulties • Huge war debts caused the years following the American Revolution to be financially troubling. • Continental dollars had lost so much value that it took 143 to buy something in the 1780s that had cost only one in 1775. • Robert Morris was chosen to be the superintendent of finance. He had resigned in 1778 amidst controversy, but returned in an attempt to aid the economy from 1781-1784. His ideas included an import tax and the creation of the Bank of North America.

6. Land • Thomas Jefferson was appointed to draft a national domain policy. He proposed widespread settlement, representative government in new states, and the abolishment of slavery in those states. • Eventually, these ideas were developed into the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. It included a three stage process for statehood: • Congress would appoint officials for a territory with a small population. These officials would adopt a legal code and appoint magistrates to administer justice. • When the free male population that possessed voting rights and property reached 5,000, the territory would be allowed to elect its own legislature and send a nonvoting delegate to Congress. • When the population reached 60,000, the territory could write a state constitution and apply for full admission to the United States of America.

7. The Constitution • After the chaos that had arisen with Shays’ Rebellion, it became clear that the current government was not functioning properly. • A meeting of delegates occurred in Annapolis in September 1786. However, only five states participated in what was supposed to be a revision of trade regulation powers. • At last, fifty-five men assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787. While several important figures did not attend, such as Patrick Henry, this meeting eventually served as the Constitutional Convention.

8. The Constitution • The Virginia Plan was the first proposed by the delegation from that state. It consisted of fifteen points. It proposed a three-branch government (legislative, judicial, and executive). However, it proposed a two-chamber legislative branch for which the number of delegates for each state would be determined by that state’s population. • In this plan, Congress was given the majority of powers. It was able to veto state legislation and use military force to ensure that states obeyed national laws. The executive and judiciary branches were allowed to veto the actions of the legislative to ensure that no one branch had absolute power.

9. The Constitution • The New Jersey Plan was introduced as an alternative to the Virginia Plan. It called for a single-house legislative branch in which each state had only one vote. This Congress would be given the power to tax, regulate trade, and use force on insubordinate state governments. • It created a three-person plural presidency for an executive branch. • It maintained many of the aspects of a confederation in that the national government was to be an assembly of states rather than of people.

10. The Constitution • The Great Compromise between the two proposed plans was settled on in July, breaking a long stalemate between proponents of each plan. • The compromise called for a bicameral legislature. The number of delegates to the House of Representatives would be determined by population, while each state received two votes in the Senate. • The three-fifths clause arose as a solution to the counting of slaves for a state’s population. Each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person. • The President was to be elected by an electoral college. The state legislatures would choose the electors. This put the duty of choosing an executive leader out of the hands of the people.

11. The Constitution • Federalists were what those supporting the Constitution called themselves. They targeted states that were the most likely to ratify the document as they campaigned for the ratification of the Constitution. • By May 1788, eight states had ratified. Only one more state was needed to put the Constitution into effect. • The Antifederalists, who opposed the Constitution, were also at work attempting to block the ratification. They specified reasons for disapproval such as the fear that individual rights would be ignored in the face of such power. Some were also concerned that the men likely to be elected to office would have little to no knowledge of the lower and middle classes.

12. The Constitution • On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified the Constitution, providing the ninth necessary vote. However, four states still held out, including New York and Virginia. • In an effort to promote federalism and the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote a series of 85 essays that were published in New York newspapers and later republished under the title The Federalist. • Eventually, each state ratified the Constitution. Rhode Island finally accepted the document in May 1790.

13. The Bill of Rights • In September 1789, twelve amendments were proposed to be added to the Constitution. Ten of these were eventually approved and ratified by the states. • Eight of the ten amendments dealt with individual liberties while the final two addressed states’ rights versus federal authority. • The addition of these amendments as the Bill of Rights comforted some Antifederalists that were concerned about individual rights in the new government.