Transcript Test #2 Lecture notes

TEST #2 LECTURE NOTES
The Constitution and New Nation
VUS5-6
STATE CONSTITUTIONS

Virginia Declaration of Rights—George Mason
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Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom—Thomas
Jefferson
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Reiterated the notion that basic human rights should not
be violated by governments
Outlawed the established church—the government would
not favor just one church—idea of religious freedom
Bill of Rights—James Madison

Madison consulted the Virginia Declaration of Rights
and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom when
creating amendments that would eventually become the
Bill of Rights
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
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After the Revolution, American political leaders were
afraid to create a powerful central government like that
of Great Britain
Thus, the new leaders of the American Nation created
the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation:
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Provided for a weak national government—power wrested with
the state, not federal government
Congress had NO power to tax or regulation commerce
between the states
No common currency ($) was created for the new nation—each
state could have its own $
Each state had only 1 vote regardless of the state’s size
There was NO executive (president) or judicial (supreme court)
branch
Articles of Confederation Video
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE (1787)

Established rules for the organization of land west of
the Appalachian Mountains
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Provided rules for electing assemblies in the western
territories
Laid out the process through which a territory could
become a state
Stated that all new states would be equal to the original 13
states
Protected civil liberties in the territories
Placed limits on the expansion of slavery in the new
territories
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Territories south of the Ohio River could have slavery
Territories north of the Ohio River could not have slavery
The states actually worked together on the Northwest
Ordinance
FACTORS LEADING TO THE
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The Articles of Confederation proved to be
ineffective
 Several factors will lead the government to look into
making changes to the Articles of Confederation
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Boundary disputes between states
Poor foreign relations
Unpaid war debts
Falling crop prices
Shay’s Rebellion
SHAY’S REBELLION
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Led by Daniel Shays in Mass.
Farmers were heavily in debt after the Revolutionary
War
The Mass. government began taking their farms for
payment
In 1786, Shays called together 2,000 angry farmers
and attacked the court house at Springfield.
The state government raised an army and ended the
rebellion
The significance of Shay’s rebellion:
The Articles of Confederation had given the national
government too little power
 Americans were worried that the national government
could not maintain order

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION—
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
A convention was convened and met in Philadelphia
to amend the Articles, but a new Constitution was
eventually created and the Articles were tossed out
 Key leaders of the Convention

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George Washington
President of the Convention
 Rarely participated in the debates

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James Madison—”Father of the Constitution”
Usually led the debates
 Kept very detailed notes and records of the proceedings
 Created the “Virginia Plan”—proposed the idea of 3 branches of
government which became the foundation of the new
government
 He later created the Bill of Rights which were added to the
Constitution

James Madison
KEY ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE
US CONSTITUTION
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Made federal law the supreme law of the land when
constitutional
States still had considerable leeway to govern themselves
Checks and Balances (Separation of Powers)—Madison’s
“Virginia Plan”
Created 3 co-equal branches of government—Executive (enforces
laws—president), Judicial (decides constitutionality of laws—
Supreme Court), Legislative (makes laws—Congress)
 Helped to avoid a too-powerful central government
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Creation of the Senate
Helped to balance the power by large and small states
 Each state, regardless of size, has 2 Senators
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Creation of House of Representatives
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The number of representatives for each state is determined by
the state’s population—larger populated states have more
representatives
KEY ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE
US CONSTITUTION (CONTINUED)

3/5 Compromise
An attempt at making Southern states happy
 Counted slaves as 3/5 of the population when
determining representation in the House of Rep.
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Limited powers of the federal government to
those in the Constitution
 Amendments
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RATIFICATION PROCESS
Before the Constitution could take effect, it had
to be ratified, or approved by the states
 9 of the 13 states had to ratify the Constitution
for the document to take effect

FEDERALISTS VS. ANTI-FEDERALISTS
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Not everyone in the newly formed United States was in favor
of ratifying the newly drafted Constitution
Some were afraid the Constitution would create a too
powerful central government (Anti-federalists)
Wanted a Bill of Rights added to the Constitution before
ratification—without the Bill of Rights, the Constitution would
not have been ratified
 These Anti-federalists were more conservative
 The leading Virginian opponents (against) to ratifying the
Constitution were Patrick Henry and George Mason
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Others believed the new nation needed a strong central
government to promote economic development (Federalists)
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The Federalists saw the federal government as needed to solve
national problems
The leading Virginian proponents (in favor of) of ratifying the
Constitution were George Washington and James Madison
Patrick Henry
George Mason
THE FEDERALISTS PAPERS
A collection of letters published in newspapers by
the Federalists explaining the ideas expressed in
the Constitution
 Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,
and John Jay
 The Federalist Papers were designed to persuade
the American people to ratify the Constitution

BILL OF RIGHTS
The Anti-Federalists would only ratify the
Constitution if a Bill of Rights was added—a
series of amendments to the Constitution
 Guarantees the rights of individuals and states
 Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and
petition

EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD—DEVELOPMENT
OF COMPETING POLITICAL PARTIES
Several factors helped to create competing
political parties in America’s early government
 National Bank Controversy

Washington and Hamilton created the Bank of the
United States
 Hamilton and Jefferson greatly disagreed that
Congress had the power to create the bank because
the Constitution did not give this power to Congress
 Hamilton argued that Congress had the “implied
power” to create a national bank because of the
“necessary and proper” clause
 Greatly extended Congress’s power and led to the
Whiskey Rebellion
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WHISKEY REBELLION, 1794
Farmers in western Pennsylvania protested a tax
on whiskey
 Washington sent an armed force against the
farmers
 From then on, most people in the West opposed
the Federalists
 The Whiskey Rebellion proved that the Federal
government had the power to enforce laws
 Whiskey rebellion video
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EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
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Several factors led to the development of political
parties in the early American government
Controversy over the Federalists’ support for the
Bank of the US
 The Jay Treaty between the US and GB
 The undeclared war on France
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The differing parties developed after George
Washington’s presidency ended in the late 1790s
FEDERALISTS
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Led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton
Believed in a strong national government and
industrial economy
Were supported by bankers and business
interests in the Northeast.
Alexander Hamilton
John Adams
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS
Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
 Believed in a weak national government and an
agricultural economy.
 Supported by farmers, artisans, and frontier
settlers in the South
 Opposed to the Federalists’ support for
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the Bank of the United States
 the Jay Treaty
 the undeclared war on France
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James Madison
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1800
Won by Thomas Jefferson
 The first American presidential election in which
power was peacefully transferred from one party
to another
 Jefferson is elected president by the House of
Representatives because there was a tie in the
election
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Jefferson and Alan Burr both had the same amount
of votes
 The House voted and elected Jefferson
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IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT
DECISIONS—JOHN MARSHALL’S COURT

John Marshall will serve as the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court
He was from Virginia
 Appointed by President John Adams
 He served as the guiding force of the early Supreme
Court
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Marshall’s precedent-setting decisions helped to
establish the Supreme Court as an independent
and equal branch of the national government
John Marshall
IMPORTANT SUPREME COURT
DECISIONS—JOHN MARSHALL’S COURT
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Marbury v. Madison
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Established the power of the federal courts to declare laws
unconstitutional: “judicial review”
McCulloch v. Maryland
The state of Maryland was placing taxes on all bank notes from
the National Bank of the US
 A National Bank cashier brought suit against the state because of
the tax
 Marshall and the Supreme court made 2 important decisions:
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1.) Congress has powers that are not expressly written in the Constitution
2.)prohibited the states from taxing agencies of the federal government
 states did not have power to impede or control the laws of the federal
government
 “the power to tax is the power to destroy”
Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824
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Established the federal government’s right to regulate all aspects
of interstate commerce (interstate waterways)
EXPANSION RESULTING FROM THE
LOUISIANA PURCHASE
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The land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific
Ocean was contested by France and Spain
1800 Napoleon forced Spain to give him the land
President Thomas Jefferson was afraid that Napoleon
would close the port of New Orleans to American
shipping traffic
1802: Napoleon closed the port of New Orleans to
American trade, effectively killing the Mississippi River
as a shipping and trading lane
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This would nearly kill the US’s trade in the west
1803: Pres. Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to
purchase the Louisiana Territory
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The US bought the land for $15 million
The US gained 830,000 square miles of land—doubling the
size of the US
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
LEWIS AND CLARK
Jefferson had the new land, but had no idea of
what the nation had purchased
 Jefferson chose 2 men to go and explore the new
territory
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Meriwether Lewis—Jefferson’s personal secretary
 William Clark—an Army officer
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Lewis and Clark received help from an American
Indian woman named Sacajawea
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Sacajawea served as the explorers’ guide and
translator
M. Lewis
W. Clark
THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”
When George Washington left the office of
president, he warned the United States to stay
isolationist—not to get involved in any alliance
with a foreign nation
 The American Government tried to follow this
advice until Great Britain and France went to
war in the early 1800s (and extension of the
French Revolution)
 The US tried to trade with both Great Britain
and France, but GB and France kept harassing
American ships

France tried to keep American goods from England
 England tried to keep American goods from France

THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”
Great Britain began to imprison American sailors
and force them into the British Royal Navy
 The United States did not like its citizens being
forced into the British Navy
 Great Britain was helping many Indians fight
against American settlers
 War Hawks
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A new breed of politicians who pressed for war against
Britain because of their actions against Americans at sea
and settlers on the frontier.
 Allies of President Madison

THE WAR OF 1812—”MADISON’S WAR”
The Federalists opposed James Madison’s war
resolution (“his” war on Great Britain)
 The Federalists even threatened to seceded from
the Union
 The Federalists also wanted to add more
amendments to the Constitution—although none
were added

Major Battles of the
War of 1812
RESULTS OF THE WAR OF 1812
The United States emerged victorious in the war
 America’s victory caused the US to lay claim to
the Oregon Territory
 The victory also to increase American migration
into Spanish controlled Florida
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ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA—ADAMSONIS TREATY
Americans from Georgia were migrating into
Spanish held Florida—causing problems between
Florida’s natives and the settlers
 The Americans wanted the US government to
buy Florida from Spain
 1819: Adams-Onis Treaty
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Spain agrees to sell Florida to the US for $5 million
MONROE DOCTRINE
Issued by Pres. James Monroe in 1823
 The Doctrine warned Europe to stay out of the
Americas—both North and South America
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The American continents should not be considered for
future colonization by any European powers
 Nations in the Western Hemisphere were inherently
different from those of Europe, republics by nature
rather than monarchies
 The United States would not interfere in European
Affairs
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Cartoon depiction of the Monroe Doctrine
AMERICA’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
(1789-1824)
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Industrial Revolution—a time when goods were
stopped being produced in homes and were produced
in factories
Before the War of 1812, the US got most of its textiles
(cloth) from Great Britain
During the War of 1812, the US received a lot less
cloth
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The Americans were almost forced to start producing their
own textiles
Francis Cabot Lowell
Lowell recognized the need for more textiles in the US
 Lowell created a new type of spinning and weaving
machine that was run by water
 He built a factory in Massachusetts to produce cloth
 His factory helped usher in the Industrial Rev. to the US
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AMERICA’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
(1789-1824)
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Eli Whitney
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Created the Cotton Gin
The Cotton Gin removed the seeds from cotton and
cleaned the cotton
The machine was 50 times quicker than a human
The Cotton Gin made cotton cheap
The demand for cotton increased, causing a need for
more cotton plantations in the south
The Cotton Gin secured slavery in the south—lots of
slave labor was needed to keep up with the demand
for cotton—the South=“Cotton Kingdom”
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney
TARIFFS
The United States Government passed tariffs
(taxes on imported goods)
 These taxes were issued to protect the young
American Industry
 The industrial North favored high protective
tariffs to protect the Northern manufactured
goods from foreign competition
 The agricultural South opposed (were against)
high tariffs that made the price of imported goods
more expensive
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TRANSPORTATION IN EARLY AMERICA—
WESTWARD MIGRATION
Early Pioneers went west along poor wagon road
in Conestoga wagons
 Others used the vast network of rivers to travel
westward
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TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPS
As industry began to better develop, better
transportation was needed to get products from
factories to the market
 Growth of the railroads due to the steam engine
 Canals linked the interior to Atlantic port cities
 Led to the growth of an industrial economy
 Better roads were eventually created
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Turnpikes: built by private companies that charged
tolls. Usually built of stone and gravel
 National Road: 80-foot wide stone road begun in 1811
and by 1852 almost 600 miles linking Maryland with
Illinois
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ERIE CANAL
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Erie Canal: 8 years to dig; 40 feet wide, 4 feet
deep, 363 miles long; linked the Great Lakes with
New York City
WESTWARD EXPANSION AND
MIGRATION
The people of the United States began to slowly
move westward, past the Appalachian Mts. Into
Indian territories
 People moved from the coastal states into the
Midwest, Southwest, and Texas
 Sought economic opportunity in the form of land
to own and farm
 “Manifest Destiny”
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The belief that it was America’s “Manifest Destiny” to
stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific provided
political support for expansion
 This belief caused the frontier to constantly be
pushed further west
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WESTWARD EXPANSION AND
MIGRATION
During this period of westward migration, the
American Indians were repeatedly defeated in
violent conflicts with settlers and soldiers.
 They were forcibly removed from their ancestral
homelands
 Native Americans were viewed as “savages,” not
only uncivilized but uncivilizable
 Most whites hungry for valuable land wanted the
Indians removed from east of the Mississippi
River
 The Indians were either forced to march far away
from their homes (“Trail of Tears”) or forced to
live on reservations
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WESTWARD EXPANSION AND
MIGRATION
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“Trail of Tears”
In 1830, Congress passed the Removal Act, paying
the Indians for the land and removing them to the
West
 The Cherokee, who had adopted many European
ways, tried to resist.
 In 1838, the US government forced out the remaining
15,000-17,000 from Georgia
 About 4,000 died of small pox, along with starvation
and exposure, en route to resettlement in the Indian
Territory in what later became Oklahoma
 By the end of the 1830s, virtually all the important
Indian societies east of the Mississippi had been
removed to the West
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TEXAS—THE ALAMO
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American settlers began to move into Texas—a
territory controlled by Mexico

Stephen Austin received a grant from Mexico to
create a colony in Texas
By 1836, 50,000 Americans had settled in Texas
 The Americans in Texas soon became upset with
Mexican rule in Texas
 In 1836, the Americans in Texas declared their
independence from Mexico which will turn into a
major revolt against Mexican rule—the Alamo

TEXAS—THE ALAMO
Mexican President Santa Anna sent his army
into Texas in January 1836 and reached San
Antonio in February
 A force on 187 Texans under William B. Travis
took a stand behind the walls of a Spanish
mission nicknamed "the Alamo“
 Along with Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, the
Texans held off 5,000 troops for 10 days
 The Mexican troops finally fought their way into
the Alamo and slaughtered everyone
 After receiving word of the battle, Sam Houston
united the Texans under the battle cry
"Remember the Alamo!"
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President Santa
Anna
Jim Bowie
TEXAS—THE ALAMO
Eventually Sam Houston was able to defeat
Santa Anna, and Texas became an independent
nation
 Houston approached the United States to enter
Texas as a slave state
 Texas was finally admitted as a slave state in
1845
 Texas’ annexation will lead to a war between the
United States and Mexico—The Mexican
American War

MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
Mexico was upset when Texas became an
American state
 The US wanted war with Mexico to take
possession of California and New Mexico
 July 1846, the US took California
 In August, the US took New Mexico
 Sept. 1847, the War ended with the US as
victorious
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The US got the modern day states of California, New
Mexico, parts of Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,
OREGON TERRITORY
The territory of Oregon (modern Oregon and
Washington state) was acquired from Great
Britain in a treaty in 1846
 The US and Great Britain nearly went to war
over where the boundary of the Oregon Territory
should be
 The United States wanted the northern border of
the territory to be at 54° 40‘, giving the US more
land
 In 1846, the US was at war with Mexico and
accepted Britain’s offer at the northern border at
the 49th parallel

Jacksonian
Era—”the age of
the common
man”
JACKSONIAN ERA
Election of 1824
 Four men were running for president in 1824
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Andrew Jackson
 Henry Clay
 John Quincy Adams
 William Crawford
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Jackson was the least experienced, but many
liked him
 At the end of the election, none of the candidates
had a clear majority
 Because there was no clear winner, the election
was handed over to the House of Representatives

Henry Clay gave his support to John Q. Adams
 The House vote gave the election to John Q.
Adams
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Adams received 13 state votes
 Jackson received 7 state votes
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Many of Jackson’s supporters believed that
Adams and Clay had created a “corrupt bargain”
 Adams made Clay his Secretary of State
 The Democratic-Republican party split after the
election of 1824
 Supporters of Adams and Clay became National
Republicans
 Supporters of Jackson became Democrats
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John Q. Adams
Henry Clay
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The changing character of American politics in
the “age of the common man” was characterized
by
Heightened emphasis on equality in the political
process for adult white males
 The rise of interest group politics and sectional issues
 A changing style of campaigning
 Increased voter participation
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Election of 1828
Before the election, property restrictions were lowered
Andrew Jackson ran on a platform that favored a federal
government with limited powers as well as a strict
interpretation of the Constitution
He was a reform candidate whose hickory broom would
sweep clean the “corruption”
the age of the “common man” had begun
Jackson won the 1828 presidential election
Jackson personified the “democratic spirit” of the age by
challenging the economic elite
Jackson also used a “Spoils System”
He rewarded loyal party workers, campaign supporters, and
financial contributors with government positions
 a “kitchen cabinet” of close friends

Jackson felt that the executive branch should
dominate.
 Jackson alone vetoed twelve (12) bills. 9 by all
the previous presidents
 he acted out of personal disapproval rather than
on constitutional grounds
 Jackson was also instrumental in the removal of
Indians from their lands—”Trail of Tears”

CHANGE IN POLITICAL PARTIES
The Federalist Party disappeared.
 New political parties, the Whigs and KnowNothings, were organized in opposition to the
Democratic Party.
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PANIC OF 1837
A financial crisis built on speculative fever
 Somewhat caused by the actions of Andrew
Jackson and his refusal to renew the charter of
Second Bank of the United States
 The end of the Second Bank of the US created a
period of runaway inflation
 May 1837: banks in New York City would only
accept payment in gold and silver coins
 Bank failures ensued
 The US fell into a 5-year depression
