Unit 4 -- Confederation and Convention (1775 to 1789)

Unit 4 -- Confederation and Constitution (1775 to 1789)

What’s a Confederation? A loose collection of States that come together for universal support and defense
States some in sovereign and remain so
Continental Congress and the War
Enlightenment and a government of men
States designed by men coming together – that’s where power should lay, not in a despotic central government
States-Rights vs. Mercantilism and Colonies
Articles of Confederation – ultimate expression of enlightened thinking – benevolent upper-class giving power to the masses – "Top Down" directed social revolution vs. French "bottom up" violent revolution
American Congress (Continental Congress)

Each state has one vote – protects states like Rhode Island and Delaware
can wage war – doing just that during the Revolution
can negotiate with foreign powers (treaty of 1783)
responsible for administration of territorial lands – NW Ordinances of 1785 and 1787
can issue money (continentals), but powerless to stop individual states from doing so
Unicameral legislature (one house) – no executive or judicial branches

Problems of the Confederation Government:

too much power to citizens and states
powerless to control states
could not stand between states (slavery outlawed in Mass in 1780)
no real power against foreign powers (Britain and Spain) because its own house was out of order
Britain – forts in the NW and Impressment – Britain refused to even send an official representative to America until 1791
Spain – Navigation of the Mississippi River and Right of Deposit (trade) in New Orleans. In 1784, the Spanish governor of Louisiana closed the river to American traffic
US also owes money to France and can’t repay it

Soft vs. Hard currency – major problem that turned conservatives against the Confederation government – leads to Shays’ Rebellion – Soft (Paper) money causes hyperinflation – no hard currency to back it up – What type of currency do we have today?
Shays’ Rebellion

Daniel Shays – Massachusetts farmer heavily taxed and deeply in debt
Leads a rag tag army (remember Nathaniel Bacon of Virginia in 1676?) against Massachusetts government
Throughout 1786, western Massachusetts farmers, many of them war vets, beg the government in Boston to help them by issuing some form of relief from high taxes. When the legislature adjourns without addressing their concerns, three counties erupt in rebellion. Armed bands disrupted courts and prevented foreclosures.
Jan 1787 -- About 1200 farmers descend on the armory in Springfield. The rebellion is broken up by a militia force

What’s important about Shays? The rebellion is used by many American leaders to call for a stronger government.

Federalists – those who favor a strong central government – Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, John Adams

Antifederalists – favored leaving or just changing the Articles of Confederation – Jefferson, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry
In reality, Shays was simply the trigger for change. Many conservatives had already decided that a stronger central government was necessary
March 1785 – Representatives from Virginia and Maryland meet at Mount Vernon at Washington’s invitation to discuss questions regarding navigation on Chesapeake Bay. At Madison’s suggestion (He’s a delegate from Virginia), another meeting is called for all 13 states to discuss interstate commercial and boundary problems.
September 1786 – Annapolis Convention – Only 5 states show up, but Alexander Hamilton (A New York delegate) saves the day by calling for a general convention to revise the constitution of the Federal Government

February 1787 – American Congress endorses the upcoming convention, but only to revise the Articles
Everyone knows a new constitution will be drafted, particularly in the wake of Shays’ Rebellion.
25 May 1787 – Philadelphia convention opens with 25 delegates. Eventually 55 will show up and 39 will sign the new constitution
Jefferson (in France at the time) – calls the convention "An Assembly of Demigods"

Constitutional Convention

May 1787 – Constitutional Convention opens in Philadelphia
Twelve states sent delegates – Not Rhode Island
Brief sketch of the delegates:

white
educated
wealthy – and want to stay that way
conservative
2/3 lawyers
many planters – no "farmers"
not representative of average citizens
½ had been officers in the Revolution
generally young – less than 50 yrs old
shared a sense of crisis regarding the Confederation government
Students of the Enlightenment, but distrustful of "Mobocracy"

Most people around the country know that the men in Philadelphia are going to create a new constitution rather than reform the Articles

Federalists – favor a strong federal government

includes some monarchists like Alexander Hamilton
Washington, Hamilton, Jay, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Madison

Anti-Federalists – favor states-rights

Sam Adams, Jefferson, Patrick Henry
Once the convention convenes, it quickly makes a couple of important decisions

Washington elected president of the convention – he carries a tremendous amount of national respect as savior of the revolution and a logical conservative out for the good of the people
The proceedings will be closed to the public. The convention hall is shut and the delegates work in the heat every day throughout the summer.
Virginia quickly took the lead with its proposal for a new government

Virginia Plan

largely the work of James Madison – a brilliant student of government
plan was predicated on the idea that governments derived their power directly from the people, not the states (Enlightenment)
Three branches of government – legislative, executive, judicial
Legislative – bicameral based strictly on population in both houses
Powerful executive
Executive and Judicial branch could veto congressional action
Federal government could overrule states and could force states to obey federal laws
Virtually eliminated the voice of the smaller states

New Jersey Plan

resembled the existing Articles of Confederation, but with a few revisions – tries to give the American Congress more power
Unicameral legislature with one vote per state
Plural president (actually three men) – elected by congress – more in line with the English version of a prime minister, but with more than one person
Did give more power to Congress than the Articles
Right to tax
Regulate trade
Use force on unruly state governments
power of the national government rested on the states (confederation idea behind the Enlightenment)

for a while, it seemed that the convention would dissolve
Next, Alexander Hamilton laid out his own plan

Hamilton’s Plan

bicameral legislature – upper house to serve for life
president who would serve for life and could veto the legislature
State governors appointed by Congress. These governors would have veto power over state legislatures
very much reminiscent of British system
In the face of Hamilton’s plan, most members agreed that the Virginia plan looked reasonable

Great Compromise – reached in mid-July

Government with three branches and power over the states
Bicameral legislature

Senate – upper house – 6 year terms – appointed by state legislatures – 2 Senators per state – designed to protect both small states and wealthy people

House of Representatives – lower house – 2 year terms – based on population (bigger states will have more votes) – elected directly by the people
Strong Executive – President elected by the Electoral College – designed to protect the people from themselves – president to serve 4 year terms
Strong Judicial Branch – consisting of a Supreme Court and other federal courts – all federal judges to be appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate and would serve for life

The next question that came up had to do with slaves – should they be counted for taxation and representation purposes? This question will foreshadow the conflict over slavery that would eventually tear the country apart.
Southern states – count slaves for representation (slaves people)
Northern states – count slaves for taxation (slaves property)

3/5 compromise (no one really knows where they came up with 3/5)

3/5 of the slaves in a state to be counted for both taxation and representation
no mention of "slave" or "slavery", but rather "all other persons"

Other slave provisions of the new Constitution

Slave trade allowed until 1808
Fugitives to be returned to their owners

The Constitution makes a distinction between Democracy and Republicanism. (Make sure to define these two words for the kids) The United States is not a Democracy, but rather a Republic. The founding fathers made sure the people were protected from themselves

Electoral College really elects the President (just ask Al Gore)
Senators elected by State legislatures (changed by the 17^th amendment in 1913)
Federal Judges not elected, but appointed to serve for life

Thirty-nine delegates eventually signed the Constitution on 17 Sep 1787. Now they had to sell it.
IN order to bypass the Articles and Congress, it was decided to submit the Constitution directly to the states and that only 9 had to ratify it. Also, special conventions, rather than state legislatures would ratify the Constitution. Once 9 states ratified it, the new government would go into effect
Problem – substantial numbers of people would oppose the Constitution – in three of the most populous states (NY, VA and MA), Anti-federalists held the majority

The Ratification Fight

Nine states had to ratify the constitution

Federalists – favored the new constitution

Anti-Federalists – opposed the new constitution
Federalists decided to concentrate on states that they knew win, hoping to gain momentum. It was a great strategy. Since Federalists tended to be the elite members of society in the states, they controlled most of the legislatures (and thus the conventions)
The first 5 states were easy

Delaware – Dec 1787

Pennsylvania – Dec 1787

New Jersey – Dec 1787

Georgia – Jan 1788

Connecticut – Jan 1788

The first real fight came in Massachusetts.
popular vote in the state gave the convention to the Anti-Federalists (legacy of Shays combined with easterners like Sam Adams)
vigorous newspaper campaign finally swayed enough votes
Federalists promised that amendments that would protect individual and state rights would be taken up by the first Congress
Final vote (February 6, 1788) – 187 to 168

Maryland – 28 April 1788
South Carolina – 23 May 1788
New Hampshire – 21 Jun 1788 (9^th state to ratify – puts the Constitution into effect)

Nine states had ratified the constitution, but could the government ever really exist without Virginia or New York, the two most populous and powerful states?

Anti-Federalists concentrated their hopes on these two states.

Virginia – Anti-Federalists led by Patrick Henry and George Mason. Mason had been a delegate to the convention, but had refused to sign the Constitution

Federalists finally won in Virginia by drawing up twenty proposed amendments and by agreeing that the people could always take back any power given to the federal government (sets up Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions as well as the Nullification Argument)

Virginia – by a vote of 89 to 79, Constitution passes on 26 Jun 1788

In New York, Federalists faced a real fight

Federalist Papers – a series 85 essays published anonymously in separate New York newspapers between October 1787 and July 1788 by Hamilton, Madison and Jay designed to sway public opinion for the Constitution and refute specific Anti-Federalist arguments, particularly those that said that the new federal government would be tyrannical and too powerful

Federalist 10 – most famous – written by Madison – refuted the idea that a republic would only work in a small country. On the contrary, a large country would have many diverse factions that would hold each other in check.
New York -- join the Union by a vote of 30-27 on 26 Jul 1788
The New Government was supposed to go into operation on 4 Mar 1789 in New York City (Washington wouldn’t be inaugurated until 30 Apr 1789)
North Carolina and Rhode Island held out until after the government was in operation
North Carolina – 29 November 1789 – only joins after the Bill of Rights is submitted by Congress to the States
Rhode Island – held out until 29 May 1790 (over a year after the government was in operation) – only joins after the United states threatens the little state