Transcript The Constitution of the United States

Government by the States
Angela Brown
Chapter 5.1
Page 122
The Declaration of
Independence
• Approved by …
• The Continental
Congress
• In 1776
• By delegates from 13
separate states
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Mindset of the Nation
• Citizens thought of themselves as citizens
of individual states not of a nation.
• “The United States are” plural not “The
United States is” singular of today.
• It was not a nation but a confederation…
• An alliance of separate governments that
work together.
Articles of Confederation
• Adopted by the
Continental Congress
in 1777
• Approved in 1781
• Established a limited
national government
with most of the
power belonging to
the States.
Branches under the Articles
• Only one branch of government: legislature
• Carried out duties of both the executive and
legislative branches
• Each State maintained its own court system.
There was no judicial branch.
Weaknesses of the Articles
• The Articles lacked the power to tax.
• Congress had to petition the States for
money.
• States could send as many representatives
as they wished but…
• Only one vote per State regardless of size
• Could not regulate foreign and interstate
commerce
• No separate executive branch to enforce
acts of Congress.
• No national court system to interpret laws
• Passage of any measure required 9 of 13 states to
agree.
• Today we need only a majority to pass a measure
and 2/3 vote to overturn a Presidential veto.
• Changes to the Articles required all 13 states to
agree.
• Today Amended by 2/3 of both houses and 3/4th
of the State legislatures.
Democracy and Republic
• Americans agreed the nation should be a
democracy.
• Or a government by the people
• They favored the creation of a republic.
• A government run by the people through elected
representatives.
• Question: How much influence should ordinary
citizens have in governing the republic?
Nationalist
• National debt in 1786 equaled $50 million.
• Some sought to strengthen the national
government
• George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James
Madison, and Alexander Hamilton led the charge.
• They were educated in European History and
agreed with Thomas Paine
• They feared America would meet the same fate as
Rome if changes were not made.
Annapolis Convention
• Nationalist convention held in 1786 in
Annapolis, Maryland
• Purpose: to discuss economic problems that
could not be solved by the Articles.
• 12 delegates from 5 States attended
• They agreed to call another convention to
Philadelphia in 1787 to try to fix the
government.
Shays’ Rebellion
• Citizens who had loaned money to the states
during the war pressed the states to pass
high taxes to collect the money to pay off
their debts.
• Massachusetts legislators passed the
heaviest tax to be paid in specie – gold or
silver, no paper money
Unrest
• Farmers grew desperate as the courts seized their
property.
• Daniel Shays was a war veteran facing jail for his
debts.
• In 1786 he led a rebellion driving off tax collectors
and petitioning the courts protesting the taxes.
• When the courts rejected the petitions, the rebels
forced the courts to close.
Rebellion Ends
• Riots ended in at an arsenal in Springfield
• Congress could do nothing.
• The state government raised an army an ended the
rebellion in January, 1787.
• Many rebels moved to states with lower taxes.
• Shays and a few others were arrested and
sentenced to death.
• He appealed the sentence and was later freed.
Effects
• The rebellion demonstrated a need to
strengthen the government to avoid civil
unrest.
• In May 1787, the convention opened in
Philadelphia.
• 12 States sent delegates (all but RI)