The Critical Period

constitution

constitution (state constitutions): a document that sets the laws, principles, organization, and processes of a government.

1. Spell out rights of citizens

2. Limit the power of the government

Articles of Confederation

Cause:

• Colonies needed to be united by a national government in order to win independence

• Difficult to write one plan that all states would approve

• Reluctant to give up power to a central government

• Few Americans saw themselves as citizens of one nation (loyal to their own states)

• Feared replacing the "tyranny" of British rule with another strong government

Effect:

• The Articles of Confederation (1777) created a loose alliance of 13 independent states.

Problems under the Articles of Confederation

• Congress had very limited powers

• Congress could not regulate trade

• Congress could not tax

• Congress needed to ask states to borrow money

• No president

• No system of courts to settle conflicts

Land Ordinance of 1785

• Set up a system for settling the Northwest Territory

• Area would be divided into townships (36 sections of 1 square mile each)

• Congress would sell sections for $640

• Every township would create a public school

Northwest Ordinance, 1787

• Established a government for the Northwest Territory

• Guaranteed basic rights to settlers

• Outlawed slavery

• Once a state has 60,000 it became its own state

• Created: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin

Shays' Rebellion

Cause: farmers could not repay loans after war when prices dropped. State raised taxes and the courts seized farmed

Effect: An organized uprising led by Daniel Shays. More than 1000 farmers took part. Attached the courthouses and prevented the state from seizing farms.

Fact: Many Americans saw Shays' Rebellion as a sign that the Articles of Confederation were not working.

Constitutional Convention

Gathering of state representatives on May 25, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation.

The Virginia Plan

Plan at the Constitutional Convention that called for a strong national government with three branches and a two-chamber legislature.

The New Jersey Plan

Plan at the Constitutional Convention, favored by smaller states that called for three branches of government with a single chamber legislature.

The Great Compromise

Plan at the Constitutional Convention that settled the difference between large and small states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slaves in any state would be counted in its population.

The Slave Trade Compromise

Northerners agreed that Congress could not outlaw the slave trade for at least 20 years.

Ratification of the Constitution

Approved on September 17, 1787

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union..."

Republic

A government in which citizens rule themselves through elected representatives.

Federalists

Supporter of the Constitution and a strong national government

Antifederalists

People who opposed the Constitution and a strong national government

John Locke

• Declared that all people had natural rights to life, liberty, and property

• Believed that government is an agreement between the ruler and the ruled

Baron de Montesquieu

• Stressed the importance of rule of law

• Powers of government should be clearly defined and divided

• Three branches

Bill of Rights

• First 10 amendments of Constitution

• Written by James Madison

• Written list of freedoms the government promises to protect