Chapter 6 Part 1 - The Constitution and The New Republic

by the 1780s, Congress under the AoC became so weak that...

-its existence was negligible

-many delegates left Philadelphia to escape the people who demanded pay/tax relief

-only 8 states voted on the Northwest Ordinance

at first, the AoC satisfied a majority of the people...

however...

1. the reason Americans fought the war was to remove a tyrannical authority; thus, they wanted a government with lots of power in the states

2. there was no way to deal with the nation's problems, especially economic ones

supporters for a strong, national govt. (wealthy, military, manufacturers/merchants, land speculators, money, property owners)

wealthy:

-wanted a national govt. to solve economic issues

military:

-Society of the Cincinnati were angry that govt. couldn't fund their pensions (a hereditary group of military officers similar to aristocrats)

-wanted military dictatorship & challenged Congress (put down by Washington)

-posed a danger to the freedom & happiness of the Republic

manufacturers/merchants:

-replace state tariffs with one national duty

-replace state commercial policies with a national one

land speculators:

-wanted to remove Indian obstacles from westward expansion

money:

-people wanted to stop states from issuing paper money (inflation)

-need a national govt. to fund debt

property owners:

-looked for protection from mobs (like Shay's Rebellion)

common principle of the Revolution & Bill of Rights

frequent conflicts between liberty, order, and personal rights became a central feature of American democracy

eventually, the diverse demands for a stronger national govt became so strong that...

defenders of the existing national govt. also agreed that it needed strengthening -- specifically, its power to tax

Alexander Hamilton

who?

-political genius, lawyer, military aide to Washington

what?

-unhappy with the weak central govt. under the AoC

-called for a national convention to overhaul the AoC document

James Madison

-ally of Hamilton

-called for a meeting to discuss interstate commerce at Annapolis, Maryland

-delegates from 5 states attended the meeting, who approved Hamilton's call for a Constitutional Convention of special delegates from every state (in Philadelphia)

later, he devised a detailed plan for a new national govt.

the purpose and hope for the Constitutional Convention...

purpose:

-to discuss ways to improve the Constitution

hope for the Convention:

-little hope as Washington as originally uninterested

-after Shay's Rebellion, Jefferson thought rebellions are a good thing now in then; however, Washington was alarmed

-he went to attend the Convention, causing others to support the meeting as well

the founding fathers

55 men who represented all states except for RI attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

-were very well-educated & products of the Revolution

George Washington's role in the Convention

chosen as the leader of the Convention:

-Convention closed to the public & press

-ruled that each state delegation = 1 vote

-major decisions would only require a simple majority, not every single state

Edmund Randolph of Virginia

proposed a plan:

-a national govt. should have a legislative, executive & judiciary

-called for a govt. very different from the AoC (which had no executive branch)

-this was immediately approved

-he also introduced Madison's Virginia Plan

Madison's Virginia Plan

plan called for a national legislature made of 2 houses

-in the lower house, states are represented in proportion to their populations (Virginia = 10x representatives of Delaware)

-in the upper house, representatives are elected by the lower house (smaller states might have no upper house representatives)

oppositions:

-oppositions from smaller states like NJ

-argued that the Convention was not to change the AoC, only to revisit it

-William Paterson from NJ proposed a govt. with only 1 house with equal representation, but the govt. had the right to tax

-his plan was tabled (postponed) & Virginia Plan was still the main discussion

changes to the Virginia Plan to satisfy the smaller states

members of the upper house are now to be elected by state legislatures rather than lower houses (each state has at least 1 upper house representative)

arguments over representation in the houses (states, slaves)

Would the states be represented equally in the upper houses?

Would larger states still have more upper house representatives?

Did slaves count when determining the size of population in representation?

arguments over slaves:

-Southern states wanted slaves to count for population, but not if the govt. were to levy taxes

-Northern states wanted slaves to be counted in taxation, not representation

-no one wanted slaves to have right to vote/citizenship

the Convention was at a risk of collapsing...

Benjamin Franklin saved it from collapsing:

-said that if the govt. failed, it meant that establishing govts. was only left to war & conquest

Grand Committee & Great Compromise

the Convention created a "grand committee" with a delegate from every state to resolve disagreements

-proposed the "Great Compromise" to solve representation issues (which was accepted in 1787)

the new national legislature would:

1. lower house representatives on population

2. slaves are 3/5 of a vote in determining representation & taxation

3. upper house representatives are represented equally (each state had 2 members)

important compromise on slavery

Southern states feared that the national govt.'s power to regulate trade could affect their economy

-thus, legislature could not tax exports or imported slaves

-no authority to stop slave trade for 20 years

-violated natural right of liberty, but needed to sustain the Constitution

the definition of citizenship

the Constitution had no true definition of citizenship:

-no list of individual rights (a bill of rights restrict the power of the national govt.)

-Madison opposed a bill of rights as it would limit the govt's rights

-other delegates feared that without one, the govt. might abuse its authority

James Madison, the leader of the creation of the Constitution of 1787

Madison solved two obstacles to the creation of a national govt. -- question of sovereignty & limiting power

question of sovereignty

question of sovereignty:

-source of tension between America & Britain, which still continues to exist

-how did both national & state govts. rule?

-Madison argued that all levels of govt. ultimately came from the people (no one was truly sovereign)

-"We the People" (opening phrase of the Constitution) expresses that all power comes from the people, not the states