Transcript If all men were angels, no government would be necessary.

Journal # 25
“If all men were angels, no
government would be necessary.”
Attributed to John Adams
Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
• THE
UNITED
STATES IN
1783
• In addition to
the Thirteen
Colonies,
Great Britain
ceded all land
east of the
Mississippi
River to the
young
republic
THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION AND THE
CONSTITUTION
THE SECOND
CONTINENTAL
CONGRESS: AMERICA’S
FIRST CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT
(Right) A French engraving showing
Congress in action.
(Below) The committee Congress selected
to draft the Declaration of
Independence.
ALEXANDER
HAMILTON,
ADVOCATE OF
NATIONAL
POWER
• A Continental Army veteran
and former member of
General George
Washington’s staff,
Hamilton became a New
York congressman.
• He openly criticized the
weaknesses that the Articles
of Confederation built into
America’s first central
government.
SHAYS’ REBELLION
(Left) Rebellious Massachusetts
farmers close the courts to prevent
confiscation of their lands for
unpaid back taxes. (Below) The
insurrection caused George
Washington to question if
Americans were capable of
governing themselves.
A VULNERABLE
FRONTIER
Americans moving west,
including pioneers, traders, and
land speculators, found their
interests threatened by the
British, Spanish, and various
Indian tribes.
A NAKED FRONTIER
The Articles of Confederation left
Congress unable to field a military
force strong enough to protect
American settlers west of the
Appalachians. (Left) A tense
confrontation in the Ohio Valley.
(Below) White hunters scan the woods
for hostile Indians.
SPAIN TURNS UNFRIENDLY
In 1784, Spain closed the Mississippi River to American traffic, which prevented
farmers living west of the Appalachians from floating their produce to market.
THE 1st AMERICAN
REGIMENT: THE
REPUBLIC’S
PITIFULLY SMALL
MILITARY
In 1784, Congress reduced
American military to a single
regiment, the 1st American
Regiment. Ranging in authorized
strength from 700 to 840, this force
was too small to deter Indian
attacks or British and Spanish
efforts to stifle American growth.
DISGRUNTLED
VETERANS
Angry about not receiving the back
pay and pensions promised for their
services in the Revolution, former
Continental Army officers became
some of the leading advocates for a
stronger central government.
INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA
Where the Constitutional Convention met in 1787.
GEORGE
WASHINGTON,
ADVOCATE OF
NATIONAL POWER
• Alarmed by Shays’
Rebellion, Washington
desired a stronger
central government.
• He would lead
Virginia’s delegation at
the Constitutional
Convention in 1787.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
An 1833 engraving of George Washington presiding over the convention.
JAMES MADISON,
ADVOCATE OF
NATIONAL POWER
• Another member of the
Virginia delegation,
Madison wanted a
national government
that would be supreme
to state governments.
• He did not get
everything that he
wanted, but he actually
wrote most of the
Constitution.
BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN,
ADVOCATE OF
NATIONAL POWER
• The oldest delegate at the
Constitutional
Convention and the most
famous man in America
next to George
Washington, Franklin
used his influence to
persuade his fellow
delegates to work in a
spirit of compromise.
• http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=EL76FUgwh8I
CREATING
THE
PUBLIC
DOMAIN
To encourage
ratification of the
Constitution, all
the states with
land claims west
of the
Appalachian
Mountains ceded
that territory to
the federal
government to be
sold for the
benefit of the
nation as a whole.
Chapter 7
THE CONSTITUTION ADOPTED
This modern painting of the climactic moment in the Constitutional Convention contains
recognizable portraits of many of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington
standing on the dais at right and Benjamin Franklin seated at center.
THE FIRST PAGE
OF THE
CONSTITUTION
OF THE UNITED
STATES, 1787
THE BATTLE FOR RATIFICATION
A cartoon satirizing the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists in Connecticut.
LEADING ANTI-FEDERALISTS
Those suspicious of the new central government and the broad federal powers proposed by
the Constitution included such former revolutionary firebrands as Samuel Adams of
Massachusetts (left) and Patrick Henry of Virginia (right).
THE
FEDERALIST
AND ITS
AUTHORS
(Right) Alexander
Hamilton.
(Bottom left) John Jay.
(Bottom right) James
Madison.
THE BILL OF
RIGHTS