Overview

“So we beat the British in the Revolutionary War … now what?”

“We have to form a government ... but how?”

In this section we will address the history of these very important questions. Just how did this new government come about? The information on this page is mirrored as a PowerPoint presentation. This section includes lessons on the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution; the “unfavorable” state of the Confederacy; vocabulary, synonyms, antonyms and analogies used in the Constitution; understanding the meaning of the preamble; and the slavery issue.

• Americans distrusted a strong, central government. It sounded too much like the British government that they had defeated.

• Americans believed in “consent of the people” — that is, people should be involved in the decisions of the government.

• To give people a voice and to avoid a single, strong government, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781 and were considered the “first constitution.”

  • The Articles of Confederation were rules that governed 13 state governments that were joined very loosely as a country.

  • There were many problems. It was hard to pass laws. Nine of the 13 states had to agree and vote for the law.

  • There was no power to collect taxes, so taxes were not paid.

• Shays’ Rebellion was the breaking point that showed that a weak national government as provided by the Articles of Confederation was not going to work.

• Delegates from each of the states were sent to Philadelphia in 1787 in order to fix the problems of the Articles of Confederation.

• It was soon determined that an entire new government would need to be formed.

• A Constitutional Convention was held.

  • The participants met in secret, with windows nailed shut, in order to preserve their work.

  • Leaders who met at the convention became known as our Founding Fathers.

  • James Madison was viewed as the most influential of the delegates.

• There were different views on how the new country should be governed.

  • The Virginia Plan stated that the government should be split into legislative, judicial and executive branches.

  • Further, Congress would have two groups, one elected by the people and the second chosen by the first group. (Some delegates felt that ordinary citizens were not responsible enough to vote.)

  • The number of representatives of the House would be determined by the population of a state. Smaller states like Delaware were enraged by this.

• The New Jersey Plan was then proposed. In it Congress would have only one house (not two), with each state sending the same number of representatives. Larger states, like New York, were enraged by this.

• Then came “The Great Compromise.” The founders decided to use both plans, calling for the House to be based on the population of the state (which favors the large states) and the Senate to have equal representation (which protects the small states).

• Many Americans began to agree that slavery was not an acceptable practice. Southern plantation owners did not want to lose their cheap source of labor and had great influence on the convention.

• In order to keep the South happy, it was decided that every five slaves would count as three people (in determining the size of a state). This is called the “Three-Fifths Compromise.” By doing this, the Constitution acknowledged and allowed slavery.

• Of the 13 states, nine had to ratify (approve) the Constitution.

  • While this happened state by state, many articles appeared in newspapers and books trying to convince states to approve of or disapprove of the Constitution.

  • Federalists were those who believed in a strong national government to protect all individuals. They felt this showed more unity.

  • Anti-Federalists were against a strong national government. They wanted the power to be strongest with the states.

• What the Constitution does:

  • Article 1: Creates the legislative branch, which empowers lawmakers to make the laws of the land.

  • Article 2: Creates the executive branch, the enforcers who carry out the laws of the land. The president is the highest authority.

  • Article 3: Creates the judicial branch, the judges who interpret the laws of the land. The Supreme Court is the highest authority.

  • Article 4: Defines the relationship between the national and the state governments.

  • Article 5: Explains how to amend the Constitution.

  • Article 6: Explains the supremacy of national law and the payment of public debt.

  • Article 7: Explains how to ratify the Constitution.

• What the Constitution does not do:

  • It does not protect the rights of the citizens of the United States. The Bill of Rights does this and was added to it (amended) after the Constitution was ratified.

  • It does not speak of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This is from the Declaration of Independence.

• Some reminders:

  • The Declaration of Independence represents a breaking away from England.

  • The Constitution outlines how the government works.

  • The Bill of Rights discusses individual freedom and rights